Challenge Sunday set
Uniontown Church of the Brethren will begin a renewal process on Nov. 22, a day it calls Challenge Sunday. Invitations announce the Challenge Sunday schedule will include 9:30 a.m. Sunday school and 10:30 a.m. worship at the church, located at 20 Robinson St.
“We challenge you to unite with the Uniontown Church of the Brethren and its commitment to renewal. Come join us in a service that initiates our journey into the ‘Springs of Living Water,”‘ wrote members of the Springs of Living Water Renewal Team, which includes the Rev. Vincent Cable, Charlotte Cable, Amy DeFazio, Eric Gottheld, Ed Hijurick, Cecile Hijurick, Rheba Howard and Sandy Stein. The church is part of the Western District of the Church of the Brethren, which has 22 of its 60 churches taking part in the renewal. Materials are being paid for by an anonymous donor.
Cable, who is pastor of Uniontown Church of the Brethren, is coordinator of five participating churches in the Greensburg-Uniontown-Pittsburgh Cluster, which includes Uniontown, Connellsville, Bear Run in Mill Run, County Line in Champion and Markleysburg. The churches will assist and encourage each other throughout the renewal process. Each church is on its own schedule.
The Western District’s journey is being made with the assistance of author David S. Young, who wrote the book “Springs of Living Water,” which is being used for the renewal process.
According to his biography, Young, of Ephrata is an ordained minister in the Church of the Brethren and has held permanent and interim positions in small and large churches since 1970. He has helped numerous churches facilitate renewal. He and his wife, Joan, have established the Springs of Living Water revitalization initiative for congregations desiring new life. Young holds a doctorate of ministry in church renewal from Bethany Theological Seminary. He has authored several books.
The renewal is expected to be a gradual progression.
“This is a three- to four-year process,” said Cable. “+ We will look at what we do right and try to build on it.”
DeFazio, chairwoman of the renewal team, explained the congregation will receive disciplines folders on Challenge Sunday, which will focus on Advent, Christmas and Epiphany.
“In this season, we are particularly aware of how God reaches out into our lives to draw us closer to him,” reads the disciplines folder.
The folders will offer suggestions for daily Scripture readings. “There will also be a challenge form, asking for a six-week commitment to do more than you are currently doing,” said DeFazio.
That means making a personal commitment with such suggestions as participating in worship, Sunday school, a spiritual preparation for Christmas and sharing the disciplines folder as well as asking for suggestions for 2010.
Disciplines folders will be distributed throughout the church year. Each time a disciplines folder comes out, participants will be asked to make a new commitment.
DeFazio said the church will also have three Bible studies that meet at different times during the week. Participants can join a Bible study or study on their own.
Another handout from the church noted, “Spiritual disciplines may include but are not limited to those found in Richard Foster’s book ‘Celebration of Discipline.’ Some disciplines to be covered will include meditation, prayer, fasting, study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance and joy.”
Another handout shows spiritual movements and the Path of Renewal. They are divided into two movements of reflection, including the Journey Upward, which includes entering a deeper spiritual walk, calling and training a renewal team and beginning to discern a biblical passage. The Journey Inward includes doing a self-study through congregational gatherings to identify strengths, do spiritual appreciation, use service leadership, discover originating mission, understand demographics and handle special topics. Cable said this will take a year to 18 months. The seventh step, the Journey Outward, will take another two to three years to implement a plan, he said. The plan includes enlist, train launch; mentor, encourage, celebrate; have an appreciative inquiry; use gifts, promote creativity; build on strengths, continue to cast vision; attend to the movements of God, do interventions from self study; develop a healthy church with a mission, continue to cast vision; evaluate and move to the next step of the plan.
Uniontown Church of the Brethren plans to have a congregational meeting on Jan. 31 with dinner and small group encounters that look at positives.
“Some congregations come up with hundreds. That includes little things, like we tape our worship services for shut-ins,” said Cable. Future congregational meetings will have different emphasizes. For more information, visit www.cobuniontown. org.