 from
the Minister & President
Please pray for our Annual Meeting delegates
May, 2004
Myron Eells, a Congregational minister, served as a missionary
pastor to the Idaho Territory in the mid-to-late 1800's. During
his service in Boise City, when he was more than 200 miles
from his closest ministerial colleague and 500 miles from
any church or ecclesiastical organization, he called a meeting
of, and formed (all by himself) the Idaho Territory Association.
He elected himself, in various guises, to all offices and
committee positions. With a straight face, he sent an account
of the affair, complete with committee reports, to The
Pacific, which published it on July 11, 1872.1
Myron Eells took the trouble of forming the Idaho Territory
Association (even before there were others with whom to associate)
because it was inconceivable to him that a Congregationalist
or Congregational Church could live in isolation from others.
Meetings were then, and are today, the vertebrae that hold
our life together, give us structure, and allow us to be a
living answer to the prayer of Jesus "that they may all
be one." 2
The members of the Annual Meeting Planning Committee believe
this so strongly that they are asking every congregation in
the Massachusetts Conference to take time in Sunday worship
to pray for the delegates to Annual Meeting and the Annual
Meeting itself (scheduled for June 11-12 in South Hadley,
Massachusetts).
Pray that our delegates will be safe in their travels. Pray
for loved ones of delegates who remain at home. Pray that
delegates will both bear Christ to the Annual Meeting and
meet Christ in the worship, business, and conversation that
will occur, and in the people they meet. Pray for peace among
delegates as they seek to discern the mind of Christ in challenging
resolutions from our churches and Associations. Pray for peace
between our churches as delegates "debate and determine
controversies of faith and cases of conscience …"
3 Pray that Christ will bless us by his presence
and that the Holy Spirit will inform, inspire and equip delegates
to do the business of the church. Pray that Christ will enrich
us all as delegates return to share their experience and the
decisions of Annual Meeting with their church and Association.
Additionally, the members of the Annual Meeting Planning
Committee would like to recruit willing individuals to pray,
by name, for specific delegates. Are you such a person? Would
you consider saying a prayer, each day between now and Annual
Meeting, for the delegation from a church other than the one
in which you hold membership? If so, please contact Willie
Sordillo at 508-875-5233, ext. 225, or sordillow @macucc.org.
If you agree to assume this spiritual discipline, we will
provide you with the names of a delegation from one church.
I close with these words from Pilgrim Deed and Duties:
A Handbook of Congregational History and Outlook: "Freedom
and democracy are not complete except as they exist in connection
with the fraternal spirit of fellowship. Congregationalism
is profoundly convinced of the importance of fellowship in
all its forms. The churches of a denomination should draw
together for counsel and encouragement and in the promotion
of their common undertakings."4
Remembering the example of Myron Eells, and as a people who
seek to be a living answer to the prayer of Jesus "that
they may all be one," let us pray for the Annual Meeting,
our delegates, and the Massachusetts Conference of the United
Church of Christ.
1 The First Century: Background and Resources
About the Central Pacific Conference of the United Church
of Christ, by Donald J. Sevetson (1994)
2 John 17.11
3 The Cambridge Platform (1648)
4 Published by The Pilgrim Press, 14 Beacon Street,
Boston (1916)
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