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A New Year @ Central

Let me first wish to all who might be reading this message a Blessed New Year!

Each and every Sunday of 2009 saw new folks coming to worship at Central. I have asked myself why this is happening. I have been pastor here since 1997 and have not seen such growth in any year. What is God doing? I have no particular insight into God's mind but I think there is a hint here of what God is about at Central.

I believe there are many people who are looking for a faith community that is Deliberately Diverse and Fully Inclusive. They are looking for a place to belong where they can be themselves and where they can live an authentic and purposeful life. They are looking for a church that is making noise through a gentle journey toward justice for all. And they are tired of the church's wrangling over sex and property.

As Carol Merritt says in her wonderful book, The Tribal Church:

People are beginning to identify more with the movement of the Spirit, rather than the rules of the institution. When a young person explains that she is more spiritual than religious, she wants to take a step back from the intolerance and hypocrisy of modern institutions and emphasize orthopraxis over orthodoxy; in other words younger generations are much more interested in right practice than right belief.

If this New Year finds you yearning for such a place to belong, then join us and help us to become the people God created us to be. You will be welcomed and we will be blessed

Love to you all,
Greg