Thursday's Thoughts 02/22/2008

February 21st, 2008 | posted by Admin

Thursday's Thoughts

Hello Fairview and Friends! It’s official! Fairview Community Church is now an Open, Welcoming and Affirming Congregation! What an exciting statement of our commitment to God that we be truly a sanctuary for God’s people (aka EVERYONE). Look for the upcoming article this weekend in the Daily Pilot!

Well, we’re officially two weeks into Lent and wow…what an amazing couple of weeks it has been! Fairview, you impress me with your commitment to the Green Lenten Project! Last week I reported on Karin and Cindy’s new purchase of a Prius, and this week I learned that Dan and Judy Armstrong bought a hybrid! Now, we all don’t have to make big purchases like theirs (wow!), but we all can make adjustments to our lives to help decrease our carbon footprint! Why not use Lent as the opportunity to give it a try? I noticed that this week Alonzo Pedrin rode his bike home from church…for those of you that don’t know…that’s like 15 miles away! WOW! Our secretary Jeannie, is always conscious of walking, and Lent or no Lent, she takes the bus to work every day!

We’ve all got good intentions…but sometimes we’re just plain ignorant about what to do. So, if you feel like you don’t know what you could do this Lent here are a couple of ways you can participate in the Green Lenten Project. We’re thrilled to have Steve Spanier join us on Wednesday March 5^th at 7pm to speak to us on “Ethical Consumption.” Come and learn how we can buy smarter and live healthier by purchasing that which is GOOD for the environment. I think we have our own “expert” in our congregation –Karen Davis! She’s intentional about all of her purchases and one might say she’s been colored green for years! Ask her about going green when you see her on the patio this Sunday!

Keep up the good work…and let me know what else you’ve tried this Lent!

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The Wide, Wide World of Theology!

Fairview Community Church is an Open, Welcoming and Affirming church,

embracing diversity in our congregation and community,

and affirming the dignity and worth of every human being created in the image of God.

We continue to honor our founding principle that discrimination

is incompatible with Christ's Gospel of unconditional love.

We believe God loves us all and calls us into community with our brothers and sisters of every race, language, age, gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, economic or marital status, and faith background. We affirm and celebrate all loving and committed relationships.

We acknowledge the history of the institutional church in condemning and excluding gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons, and in condoning such discrimination by its silence.

We commit ourselves to work diligently to end such oppression and discrimination.

We welcome our gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender sisters and brothers to join with us in hearing Jesus' call to share God's love in the full life, ministry and witness of our struggle for justice and peace.

We the members of Fairview Community Church pray our fellow congregations sharing denominational identity with the American Baptist Churches and United Church of Christ will work with us to invite all God's children into a community of love.

Following the example of Jesus, we hereby declare ourselves to be an

Open, Welcoming and Affirming Church.

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God of journeys,

We travel the road before us,

Looking to you to light the path,

Walking one foot after another,

Sharing with travelers along the way.

We journey on this Lent.

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