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National Association of Congregational Christian Churches,  P.O. Box 288, Oak Creek, WI  53154
414-764-1620 
Email: naccc@naccc.org   Web Site: http://www.naccc.org

by Rev. Phil Jackson

This is my last article in the NA News. My books are half packed; my mind is half here and half in Yarmouth Port; and by the time you are reading this I will be long gone from the National office. So, I have reflected a bit and thought I would share with you some final thoughts:

• We have a critical shortage of clergy. Where will our next clergy come from? They will come from our Churches. Only as clergy and laity promote ministry and are sensitive to the calling of others will this problem be solved. If it wasn't for the encouragement of my home pastor, I would have never become a minister.

• One gift that all clergy need is the gift to know when to leave a church and how to leave it gracefully. This is especially true when the minister is retiring.

• For Congregationalism to work— all must be created equal in the church and all issues must be on the table for all to see.

• For Congregationalism to work—everyone must belly up to the table (or shut up).

• What is new and popular in the church world is not necessarily best, but neither is the old and traditional.

• Youth are not the future of the church. They are the church as much as you or me.

• The NACCC exists to serve the local church—period!

• Where your wallet is, is a good indication of where your heart is. Remember- money is real theology.

• The churches that are involved in the NACCC and use our services tend to be our most healthy churches. Really!

• Finally, it's not about you! It's not about me! It's about Jesus!

Thanks for the privilege of serving God by serving you.

New contact information:
Phil and Michelle Jackson
27 Minnetuxet Way
Yarmouthport, MA 02675
508-362-6038
pmlsjack@aol.com

In his 1971 Congregational Lecture, Raymond A. Waser wrote:

Christianity is an historical religion. It points to One in time and space in whom dwelt the godhead bodily. But we cannot pitch our tents on that first century Mount of Transfiguration.  [. . .] the church proclaims that God in Christ is contemporary in the experience of men and women, and not only speaks and acts in individuals but in the fellowship of the churches. The Holy Spirit is the present tense of God.

Rev. Dr. Lloyd Hall is the Association's Historian
and serves Plymouth Congregational Church of Lansing, MI
 

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