Fall 2009
Dear Friends,
"Where two or
three are gathered in my name
there I am in the midst of them"
This verse from Mathew 18:20 is the foundational verse for
the Congregational Way of living toward God. It serves as the basis
for a diverse group of people assembled by the Holy Spirit in the
company of Jesus Christ as they journey together toward reconciliation
with God. Just such a group of people, gathered by the Holy Spirit,
founded a church in Cape Coral. They described the purpose of its
gathering as follows:
The purpose of the Church shall be to bring
people to faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior,
to instruct them in His teachings and Lord-
ship, to help them grow in the grace and
love of Christ, and to commit them to His miss-
ion of making disciples of all people.
This gathered group entered into a Covenant with God and one another.
the most recent version of our church Covenant is as follows:
We covenant with the Lord and with one another,
in striving to express Christ's Spirit in our
individual and corporate live; to live together as
Christians; and to submit ourselves to the Spirit of
this church; working, giving and praying for its
increase, its purity, its peace: as we seek to reflect
the presence of God in the world.
Covenant is a way of living together in the absence of the coercive
power of human authorities. In other words, in a covenant relationship,
each and every person submits himself or herself only to the Lordship
of Jesus Christ.
Each person is at liberty to discern God's will for the community and
is responsible to God in Christ to share what is discerned with everyone
publicly. The whole community is then engaged in the process
of clarification. This process takes a great patience since each member
is given the opportunity to explain his or her perception of the directions
or actions God in Christ desires for the community.
The Holy Spirit uses each of us to use the gift of persuasion in this process
of clarification. Persuasion in a covenant relationship is always done
publicly and for the benefit of all. Then persuasion is done privately out
of the public view it becomes selfish and a subtle for of coercion. Coercion
is the tool of power; persuasion is the tool of love. God in Christ never
coerces but rather invites all to come join with the joyful brand of pilgrims,
publicly and openly journeying toward full reconciliation with God.
At the root of our Congregational Way is the belief that God entrusts to the
Gathered body the capacity to discern and clarify God's will.
I believe that our fellowship is entering a very critical time in its ministry.
During the past several years our focus has been on our financial situation,
i.e. THE MORTGAGE. I truly believe we will be debt free within this next
year. During that time we need every participant in our fellowship to
engage in the process of discerning God's will for our future ministry. Using
the Purpose Statement as a beginning and guided by our Church Covenant
we have a glorious opportunity to solidify the ministry of First Congreg-
ational Church of Cape Coral.
It is my prayer that each of us prayerfully examines our personal
covenant commitment to God and one another. Trusting in the power
of the Holy Spirit to indwell and guide us we will discern and clarify
our church's particular way of living toward God.
In Christ,
Dewey