PASTOR DAVID WILLIAMSON'S MAY MESSAGE

     I’ve been working with two Boy Scouts on their God & Church awards.  One of their assignments was to visit a local church and learn what their membership requirements were.  The more the boys explained what they learned, the more it became clear that there are none.

     No, I don’t mean no requirements for membership.  I mean, there’s no such thing as membership.  There is no covenant.  There are no promises made to one another.  There’s no commitment to a common set of beliefs and rules and dreams. 

     At one level, I suppose it’s understandable in this day and age.  All those warnings we heard from our pastors as we grew up about the dangers of consumerism – defined by two simple questions: “What’s in it for me? and “What have you done for me lately?” – have come to roost.  Cooperation and understanding has been replaced by brutal competition and an open disregard for rules and traditions.  As a result, we have a dizzying array of options and possibilities.

     But it’s also sad.  The “prosperity gospel” is spreading around the world, replacing the grace of God with the promise of personal success.  Instead of seeking the common good, there’s an emphasis on winning.  Making “a joyful noise” to the Lord is being replaced by entertaining the masses.  Denominational and church “families” are being abandoned in favor of people who “buy” the same products or ideas.  When I started in the ministry, people would ask for a letter of transfer [of membership]; now, they call in and say we can “take them off the mailing list.”

      Jesus calls us to be His church, not His subscribers or His fans.  He calls us to “accept the cost and joy of discipleship, to be His servants in the service of Men, to proclaim the Gospel to all the world and resist the powers of evil, to share in Christ’s baptism and eat at His table, to join Him in His passion and victory.”

     I want to challenge each and every one of you to make a public declaration of faith in God’s will, God’s vision for the church.  Come and be present with us for worship and fellowship.  Forgive and embrace one another and be the church God’s Holy Spirit calls us to be. 

      And by all means, invite your family and friends to join you.

The Reverend David J. Williamson became our pastor on November 1, 2007.  Baptized, confirmed, and ordained in the United Church of Christ, he was born and raised in New York City.  He is a graduate of Hofstra University (where his son is now a student!), American University, and Yale University, and has served churches in New York and Connecticut.  A former Army chaplain, he is currently the secretary (and past president) of the Lake Erie Association of the United Church of Christ, secretary of the Sharon Hermitage Clergy Association, and chaplain of the Hermitage Fire Dept., Hermitage Police Dept., Custaloga Town Boy Scout Camp, and grand chaplain of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.  He is a master chaplain in the Federation of Fire Chaplains, and a member of the International Conference of Police Chaplains, American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, and the Hermitage Rotary Club.  His wife, the Rev. Julia Williamson (also a U.C.C. minister), is pastor of Slippery Rock Presbyterian Church in Ellwood City.