Jim Antal

Yesterday was a good beginning at Tikkun Olam – a Hebrew phrase that means "repairing the world" (or "healing the world"). You don’t have to visit the area outside Old South Church to realize that the world is in need of deep repair – deep healing.

Tragedy brings out caring and courage. But this remains a tragedy. And our hearts remain broken, while Jesus stands embracing the fallen, the wounded, the broken and the shocked.
 

Jesus weeps… our hearts break… overwhelmed and in shock we grieve.  Those who lost their lives, and those who are wounded, and their families and loved ones – we lift all of them in prayer.

 The way I see it, God's sovereignty does not end where politics begins. Our Reformed tradition has held this view for centuries. To put it another way: As people of faith, we acknowledge God as the Lord of every aspect of our lives, including even our politics.

You're invited to join Jim Antal, Bill McKibben, and many others on Friday, September 28 at 10:30 AM to deliver tens of thousands of signatures on a climate change petition to the Romney Headquarters in Boston.

Yesterday I received an invitation to take 5 minutes to contact my elected congressional representative to ask a simple question: “Do you support ending subsidies to the fossil fuel industry?”

Two opportunities to make a difference by investing less than 5 minutes of your time.

Two features from this morning’s news are deeply connected to the bold leadership which our Conference of churches - the Mass Conference UCC - has shown over the past 30 years.

MInister & President Jim Antal invites you to participate in events celebrating the earth, the Awakenings Conference in Holyoke, and our Annual Meeting.

Each year, we are given the opportunity to learn again the lean lessons of Advent: watchful waiting, sustained hope, untempered joy, limitless love, and passionate peace. All are ongoing mysteries.

Just as Advent is a time of “coming” – we are quickly approaching a time of Conference staff transition. Since last May, when I first shared with you the plans for these transitions, the Conference staff, Commissions and Board along with the leaders in many of our Associations have been preparing. I thought that everyone might benefit from a brief rehearsal of the changes that will take place when the new year arrives.

A pastoral letter to the Conference regarding all those whose lives have been upended by an unprecedented series of extreme weather events.

By the Rev. Dr. Jim Antal
Minister and President, Massachusetts Conference, UCC

Bodies make the difference - for economic justice, for the environment and for the hungry.

Jim Antal invites your congregation to engage in these activities:

• Lenten Carbon Fast 2012 – Plan  now for a weekly Lenten discussion around the Carbon Fast and sign up now via facebook
• How Green is my Church? – See where you stand in our Green Congregations assessment and plan how you will become more green
• Surround the White House on November 6 to urge President Obama to “say no” to the tar sands pipeline
• Do It In Durban
• February 12, 2012 – National Environmental “preach in”
• Who is your congregation’s environmental contact?