The Visitor is our printed publication. It’s full of news, church and community events, plus a message from our pastor.
Browse and download from the archives below. You can also Like Us on Facebook to stay up-to-date. If you would like to submit something to be considered for publication, email info@fccgreensboro.org.
Dear church: We still have several Sundays together, but this may be my last newsletter as your pastor. I’m not much for sentimental farewells, but I do love a good list, so in honor of our ten years together, here are ten things you’ve done that have made our decade together such a joy. … Read More →
Dear church: The choir music and the string quartet in worship last Sunday reminded me how important music is in this season of Advent. A couple of years ago, also inspired by our choir, I wrote this reflection; it seems like a good week to share part of it again. The way Luke tells the… Read More →
Friends, I watched the movie The Wrinkle in Time recently. It’s an adaptation, of course, of Madeline L’Engle’s classic book of the same name. It’s a gorgeous film, full of incredible imagery that complements the powerful story of love conquering evil. There are great themes of darkness and light throughout the film, as Meg Murray… Read More →
Dear Friends: I love this time of year. No, it’s not the cooler temperatures or the boots or even the pumpkin spice lattes — it’s the season when we look back at the past year at church and celebrate everything we’ve done together. What a year it’s been! We’ve dedicated babies and hosted ordinations. We’ve… Read More →
Dear Friends, This fall, our worship theme is “Choose Love” and for the past several weeks in worship, we’ve been reading the book of James, which challenges us to put our faith into action, to “be doers of the word and not just hearers.” We’ve been invited to take an action item, a “love note”… Read More →
Dear friends: Back in May, the congregation approved some major changes to the way we organize ourselves for ministry. Our new structure will require fewer people and meetings, and will allow us to do our work more efficiently. (If you need a little refresher on these changes go to www.fccgreensboro.org, click on About Us and… Read More →
Friends, Author Rick Hamlin suggests that singing is a way to pray. At times I’ve heard people say they can’t pray or they don’t know how to pray or they don’t have words for their prayers. Sometimes, too, I’ve heard people say that they don’t believe in prayer. If singing is one way to pray,… Read More →
Dear friends, The Bible was in the news a little more than usual last week, after the US Attorney General cited a passage from Romans 13 to justify the policy of separating children from their families at the US-Mexico border. I’ll be the first to admit that there’s more than one way to read the… Read More →
Last Sunday, our congregation did two important things: we adopted an open and affirming statement that proclaims clearly that all are welcome at our church, and we revised our bylaws so that our organizational structures more accurately reflect who we are and how we do ministry together. Both items were the culmination of a lot… Read More →
Dear Friends: Scholar Willie Jennings says that joy is an “act of resistance against the forces of despair.” We’ve been talking about joy in worship on Sunday mornings and at Table Topics on Tuesday evenings, and it’s got me thinking: is joy something you feel? Or something you do? I’m intrigued by the idea that… Read More →
Dear Friends: At last Sunday’s board meeting, something happened that was both significant and mostly unremarkable: The board approved the following statement and recommended that it come before the congregation for affirmation: First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Greensboro, North Carolina is an Open and Affirming Congregation. We openly welcome persons of… Read More →
Dear Friends: Wanna hear something really fun? Our new organizational plan is almost done! Squee! (What? You have a different definition of fun?) Here’s what I’m talking about: Last year, as our long range planning team completed its work of naming a vision for our congregation, one thing quickly became abundantly clear: we would never… Read More →
Friends, In the beginning of 2018, I had the privilege of travelling to Nicaragua with the Wake Forest University School of Divinity to partner with and learn from an organization called AMOS Health and Hope. The dream for AMOS stretches back to 1967 when Dr. Gustavo Parajón saw the great need for basic healthcare in… Read More →
Dear Friends: I saw the new Star Wars movie over the holiday weekend. Even to this casual fan, it was lots of fun: Light sabers! Droids! Luke and Leia! The Millennium Falcon jumping to lightspeed! In classic Star Wars tradition, it’s an epic battle between darkness and light, with the small-but-fearless band of underdog rebels, always outnumbered but… Read More →
Friends, There’s a Facebook page I follow this time of year called “Wandering Wisemen,” which follows the fictional journey of three lost kings on their way to Bethlehem. It’s an Advent calendar of sorts, with a new post each day sharing their adventures. The kings and their camel encounter all kinds of unexpected things on the… Read More →
Friends, This is one of those odd years when the first Sunday of Advent is not the Sunday right after Thanksgiving, which means that Advent doesn’t begin until December 3. As I write, that’s more than two weeks away, and there’s a lot happening between now and then: We’ve got this weekend’s Thanksgiving festivities—including a guest speaker,… Read More →
Friends: The Corner Market, a small market with produce and handmade goods, is open every Saturday at the corner of Elam Ave. and Walker, not far from the church. There are a couple of local farmers selling everything from eggs to kale to homemade jam, as well as handmade goodies of all sorts. The market… Read More →
Dear Friends: Last Sunday, just after worship, I was standing by the front door, greeting visitors and saying goodbye to folks as they left. Other people were getting coffee and catching up with each other. A couple of kids came up to show me what they’d made in children’s church. An older man gave me… Read More →
Dear Friends, Last Sunday, we trained and commissioned our acolytes, those young leaders who light the candles in the sanctuary at the beginning of worship and then extinguish them at the end. I’m proud of these kids, who take this responsibility seriously and do it well. As I often tell them, they have an important… Read More →
Friends: Newsletter, September 6, 2017Several years ago, on a trip with my family to northern Minnesota, we stopped to visit a lighthouse perched high on a cliff along Lake Superior. The Split Rock lighthouse has stood for over a century, warning ships traveling through dark and icy waters of the treacherous rocks along the shore…. Read More →
Friends, Yesterday, our ministry and program staff spent the morning together in a planning retreat. We prayed, laughed, told stories, planned, and got to know each other better. I’m delighted to be working with such capable, creative, and collaborative colleagues. (Alliteration!) I’m especially pleased to introduce you to Paul Snyder, a second-year ministry student at… Read More →
Dear friends: How wonderful to be back with you after several weeks away this summer. Thank you again to Melissa Guthrie Loy for her able leadership in my absence, as well as to the Elders and the Care Team, and all who pitched in to help. You all have been busy while I was gone!… Read More →
Friends, Even during the hot summer months, the church is at work. Even across regional boundaries and international borders, the church is at work. Even in different languages, the church is at work. My experience at the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) General Assembly has me reeling with energy (but also lingering exhaustion—I have a… Read More →
This note is from our Director of Congregational Life “All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, in love God made them all…” Friends, We’ll sing that refrain throughout the month of July as we look at wisdom literature. We’ll spend time looking at Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, and… Read More →
Friends: There were bubbles. And balloons. There was the rush of a mighty wind. There were tongues of fire. And hot dogs. And a giant slide. And cake. And communion. There were voices from the past and new friends in the present. There were gifts and hopes and promises for the future. We sang. We… Read More →
Dear friends, There were several new RSVPs in the mail this morning, indicating that our anniversary celebration on June 3 and 4 is going to be a very big deal indeed! As someone remarked to me recently, we’ve been planning for this anniversary for so long, it’s hard to believe it’s really finally here. A… Read More →