Hello there, United Church of Christ, Pittsfield! After years of conversation between First Church of Christ and South Congregational Church, all the technical steps required for us to be a single, reunited congregation are done. After close to 175 years, we’re one church once again. There’s still a lot of work to do, but now it’s the work of one church instead of two.

During our final votes last Sunday (actually February 21st, this was written earlier), those who were legally members of First voted with a blue card, and those who were legally members of South used yellow. Then, after our final votes as separate legal bodies (in a gesture paint mixers might appreciate), we all brought out our green cards and voted on new bylaws, a new slate of officers, and a budget. What I didn’t think of in advance nor notice until the moment was that our paraments were all green, too.

Paraments are the different colored fabric in the front of the church on the altar, pulpit, and lectern, and it is usually reflected in the stole the pastor wears over his shoulders, too. The colors change with the church seasons, holidays, and special days like weddings, funerals, communion, and baptisms. Green is the color used the most, but what’s interesting is that it is the color used between times: the short time between Christmas and Lent and the long time between Easter and Advent.

This in-between time is called “ordinary time.” Yep, we have fancy names for a lot of church stuff, but the season that takes up the most days on the church calendar? Ordinary time. I actually love this. 

This poem by the Christian mystic, preacher, and theologian Howard Thurman is called “The Work of Christmas.”

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the broken,

To feed the hungry,

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among others,

To make music in the heart.

This is the ordinary work of a church. It’s supported by having meetings, raising money, studying the Bible, having potlucks, worshipping, and praying together. It’s done by folks who feel a call on their heart and those who do it as a favor to another. It’s done through the prayers said in public, and those prayers said in the middle of the night. It’s done in the name of a church and, sometimes, even in spite of the Church. It is the ordinary work of faithful people trying to be faithful together.

Last weekend, this was the kind of church that the United Church of Christ, Pittsfield, covenanted to be. If you’re called to this work and have been waiting on the sidelines for all this reunification stuff to be finished, now’s the time to come back. If you’re reading this from afar, this is a good time to find a church committed to this work and come alongside them.

These are extraordinarily difficult days for the world in many ways. However, I also believe that this season of the world calls for the ordinary work of the church. God has always needed churches that do this work. Now, maybe more than ever.