September greetings!

Dear Congregation,

September greetings! In this new month it’s nice to think that Fall is on its way with, hopefully, cooler temperatures.

On this this Labor Day week-end, I think it’s good to reflect on the fact that while Labor Day is not a religious holiday it is much more than a vacation day marking the end of summer. What we believe about work is impacted by our Christian faith. As we each look back at the jobs we’ve done thoughout our life, it’s important to reflect on how each one has impacted who we are and how our work has affected others.

I would venture a guess that we don’t often think in terms of how our Christian faith has entered into our work or how it needs to undergird how we do the work we do, whether we are the employee or the employer. If we have been fortunate, we have learned and grown from all the jobs we’ve held from our first employment as a teenager, through our various adult careers, and even into retirement volunteering.

Our faith also informs what we think the work conditions should be for other people—things like safety, justice, fair wages, and respect. I think that during the Covid pandemic we realized how necessary the work of those doing jobs thought of as low status like garbage collectors, grocery store shelf stockers, and farm workers are to the fabric of our lives.

We will have a guest speaker from the Miami Workers Center in place of the sermon on Sunday. We will hear about this non-profit’s work for employee justice in Miami.

We’ll also celebrate Holy Communion on this first Sunday of the month. If we think about it, without the labor of others we wouldn’t have the elements of bread and grape juice for the sacrament. Plan to be present!

In Christ’s love.

Pastor Candy