Embedded Files
Kimberly P Chastain, Pastor
How quickly the season changes.
We have scurried our way through November,
the autumn is gone
and winter is here:
the frost a little more real
and the cold more so.
We’re on the cusp of something,
something born of good news.
The frost may grasp the dying light
and the sun may be thin and cold,
but at the heart of it all
there is a word set free,
born of the prophets
and lingers among us.
Now that the air is crisper,
the light thinner,
the day weaker,
we can perhaps hear it
more clearly:
God is putting on skin;
justice is on its way.
Blessings, Pastor Kimberly
Becky Kindig, Associate Pastor
Greetings friends!
It’s been a great fall. It was great to see more and more people as you came back from summer trips, long overdue, refreshed and restored. The colors on the trees were magnificent this year and the weather stayed beautiful for longer than usual to let us enjoy them. Our fall schedules fell into place with the school year and the choirs restarting. We’ve gotten to talk together, learn new things, and listen to where God is calling us next.
This fall I have continued making Sunday school packets to mail home — with a big thanks to Marilynn Guinane for all her help with them! And we are planning ways to do some more things together with the kids. During our couple potlucks this fall, there have been activities for the kids to do so they can continue to build relationships with each other.
At the September potluck, we had a station to count the money in the Palm Sunday Fish Boxes that were collected while I was out on medical leave. (They had been safely put away for when I got back and then discovered again!) Aiden was a master counter and helped us get it all rolled. The youth collected $117.50 for the One Great Hour of Sharing offering and that has now been sent in.
We are now looking forward to Advent when we will have crafts for all ages to do together!
I have also continued our outreach at Binghamton University with the Interfaith Council. We continued our monthly Common Ground conversations where students, faculty, and staff could gather as we talked about a topic common to each of our faiths. This fall we have talked about holidays, climate change, and rituals, and had some great discussions with Jewish, Catholic, Buddist, Hindu, Muslim, Bahai, Atheist, Baptist, and Presbyterian participants. We also started an idea called Soul Care events so that members of the BU community can find ways to nurture their souls – regardless of whether they had a faith tradition or not. Our first event was a Drum circle in October, thanks to Elikem Nyamuame who generously donated his time and talents to help get us in tune with our heartbeats and out of our heads. The Interfaith Council is planning on more Soul Care events in the spring. It has been such a blessing to be able to do some of my work there and show people what it looks like to have discussions about difference with an open and curious attitude.
Also in these last few months, I have done a lot of listening as I have gotten to see more of you and others, since I have been able to spend more time at the church. It has been great to catch up with you, hear about your joys and concerns, as well as your thoughts. One thing I have heard over and over again is that our church is a sanctuary where people care about other people — a respite from the world we hear about in the news. I have heard it from many of you as members, I have heard it from our building partners, from our guests, and from people in the community. We care about each other and show that in our actions towards one another. We care about the community we live in and want to make it a better place for all our neighbors. And we care about people in other places and take to heart what Jesus taught us about caring for immigrants, the oppressed, homeless, hungry, or lost. This is a special community here at UPC.
This November marks my 10-year anniversary to coming here and joining you in ministry, and my 9-year ordination anniversary of when you offered me call and I was ordained as a minister of Word and Sacrament. I remember fondly that first time I walked through the lobby doors from the parking lot to meet with the Personnel Team and talk about coming to teach Sunday school for a while. The feeling of the Holy Spirit rushing over me as I walked through the doors took me aback, and I knew then that whatever you offered me, I should say yes to it, because something special was happening in this place. And so I did, and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Being a part of this community gives me hope that the loud voices we hear in society that are full of hate, indifference, or greed are just the minority, because I can see God working through us in this small corner of the world making a difference in people’s lives every day.
This November also marks one year of my diagnosis with Myasthenia Gravis, which has changed my whole world. I started strong immune-suppressant medication to stop my immune system from attacking my muscles, and will always need to have a mask on around other people. I have alarms on my phone that go off every three hours to take other medication to help my muscles move. I have weekly physical therapy and extra doctor’s appointments, and I was out for six weeks for major surgery. I’m so thankful for the prayers and support that you all have given me through it all this year. Where some congregations would have questioned a pastor’s ability to continue doing ministry with such an illness, you all just went with the flow and continued to see me and not my disabilities, and I am so grateful. Whether I come through the doors with a walker or cane, or now sometimes a wheelchair, you all have allowed me the grace to just use whatever tools that help me live my life and have not treated me as less abled, just differently abled, and more important, still me. And I am so grateful.
UPC is a special congregation, but it isn’t just by chance. You all work hard to put your faith into action and you take bringing the love of God to the world seriously. May we continue to care for each other so that we can continue with whatever work God is calling us to next!
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Becky
Page updated
Report abuse