The Unfolding Path

"No trumpets sound when the important decisions of life are made," says Agnes DeMille. "Destiny is made known silently." This book is a collection of sermons made in a time of transition and decision. They are sermons from the last four years of our 38 year tenure at the United Church of Gainesville (UCC), a progressive, inclusive church in this university community. We treasured our ministry in this church. We planned a lot. We organized more. The path of our lives and of our ministry unfolded before us in ways we dreamed but also in ways we never imagined. This book is a reflection of that unfolding path.

Each of the sermons here holds a special place in our hearts, because as we preached them, we knew they were part of that underlying decision to retire, leaving our ministry which was intricately woven into our lives. These sermons were not only for our congregation. They were also for us as they moved us forward into an unknown chapter of our lives where we would find a renewed sense of ourselves and of our spiritual journey.

Each year at the United Church of Gainesville the ministerial staff establishes worship themes based on input from the congregation, from current cultural, political, and social issues, and from the rhythm of the liturgical year. "This I Believe," "Soul Stations," "Burning Questions," and "Psalms for the Journey" are a few examples of the themes that informed our sermons. Three sermons included in this book are like fairy tales. One sermon is all jokes. There's a sermon based on a movie, and another that rises from an Advent choir anthem.

These sermons typically challenge the conventional wisdom of the day. They, like any good love songs, convey heartbreak and hope, with hope always having the edge. We offer The Unfolding Path for you in the important moments in your life where destiny is made known silently.

We mention the Compact of the United Church of Gainesville quite often in this book. Writing a compact or covenant is a tradition that dates back to the days of the Pilgrims in the early Congregational Church. In this spirit the United Church of Gainesville's Compact was drafted by the founders of this church in 1965. It informs much of what is written in these sermons.

We join as a spiritual community in this compact:
To worship God, however known,
To welcome into our church those of differing understanding and theological opinion,
To learn from our religious heritage yet to grow by seeking new dimensions of truth.
To follow, even imperfectly, the way of Jesus in personal involvement with each other,
And, strengthened by this bond,
to act in Christian concern for the welfare of all people.

Dettagli