Plymouth UCC Church
  • Welcome!
    • I'm New Here
    • I'm a CSU Student
    • LGBTQ
    • How Do I Join?
    • Staff Writings
  • Worship
    • Join Worship Online
    • Download Bulletins
    • 6pm Service Link
    • Newcomer Card
    • Easter Flowers
    • Learn More >
      • What is Worship?
      • Sermons
      • Music Program
      • Dinner Church
  • News & Events
    • Today's Schedule
    • Upcoming Events
    • Calendar & eNews
  • Living Our Faith
    • Faith Statements
    • Staff Reflections
    • Social Justice & Outreach >
      • N2N Sleepout
      • Grocery Cards
    • Christian Formation Overview >
      • Children
      • Youth
      • Adults >
        • Lenten Blog 2021
        • Visiting Scholar
        • Sophia Circle
    • Calling & Caring
    • Labyrinth
  • Connect
    • Community
    • Lay Leadership
    • Gallery
    • Contact Us >
      • Clergy & Staff
      • Text Connection
      • Building Rental
  • Give
    • Online Giving
    • Pledge Card
    • Evergreen Partners
  • Members
    • Forms & Resources >
      • General Forms
      • Calendar Request Form
      • Newsletter Submissions
      • Zoom Resources
      • Kitchen Videos
    • Weddings & Funerals
    • Library
    • Constitution & Policies
    • F1Go
  • Welcome!
    • I'm New Here
    • I'm a CSU Student
    • LGBTQ
    • How Do I Join?
    • Staff Writings
  • Worship
    • Join Worship Online
    • Download Bulletins
    • 6pm Service Link
    • Newcomer Card
    • Easter Flowers
    • Learn More >
      • What is Worship?
      • Sermons
      • Music Program
      • Dinner Church
  • News & Events
    • Today's Schedule
    • Upcoming Events
    • Calendar & eNews
  • Living Our Faith
    • Faith Statements
    • Staff Reflections
    • Social Justice & Outreach >
      • N2N Sleepout
      • Grocery Cards
    • Christian Formation Overview >
      • Children
      • Youth
      • Adults >
        • Lenten Blog 2021
        • Visiting Scholar
        • Sophia Circle
    • Calling & Caring
    • Labyrinth
  • Connect
    • Community
    • Lay Leadership
    • Gallery
    • Contact Us >
      • Clergy & Staff
      • Text Connection
      • Building Rental
  • Give
    • Online Giving
    • Pledge Card
    • Evergreen Partners
  • Members
    • Forms & Resources >
      • General Forms
      • Calendar Request Form
      • Newsletter Submissions
      • Zoom Resources
      • Kitchen Videos
    • Weddings & Funerals
    • Library
    • Constitution & Policies
    • F1Go

"All Good Gifts"

10/20/2020

0 Comments

 
PictureImg: J.A. Ferguson
Friends,

First … a Big Thank You to All who have pledged for 2021! We deeply appreciate your faithfulness in sharing the abundance that God has shared with you!

And it is not too late to pledge…just go to the Plymouth Pledge page on our website to fill out an online pledge card. If you would like to become an Evergreen Partner and have your pledge deducted automatically from your bank account each month you can go to our Evergreen Partner page. Thank you in advance for pledging for 2021!

Performing in the musical Godspell for an entire year during my sophomore year in college was a life-changing and life-shaping experience for me. It still impacts my life. There is a prayer of thanksgiving in the back of our New Century Hymnal, #844, which I have used many times in worship to dedicate the offering because it is good theology – and because it reminds me of one of Godspell’s most beloved show tunes, “All Good Gifts.”

“All good gifts around us come from you, O God. You have given us life, and new life in Christ. As you have given us gifts, so we offer our gifts that we may be gifts to one another, even as Jesus so taught and lived. Amen.”

I offer you the video below this week to celebrate our 2020 pledge campaign, “Pilgrims on a Journey.” It is a beautiful rendition of Godspell’s “All Good Gifts” recorded by the ensemble, “Trumpets.” And it is dedicated by them to all our frontline workers during the pandemic. Here in northern Colorado we can offer up thanks and prayers particularly for the firefighters still working on the front lines of the Cameron Peak Fire as well as all the other folks who have been on the job throughout the pandemic.

With you, my fellow pilgrims, on the journey,
Picture

Author

The Rev. Jane Anne Ferguson, Associate Minister, is a writer, storyteller, and contributor to Feasting on the Word, a popular biblical commentary. She is also the writer of sermon-stories.com, a lectionary-based story-commentary series. Read more

0 Comments

S-T-R-E-T-C-H TIME!

10/22/2019

0 Comments

 
It's not enough to build muscle and achieve aerobic fitness. 
We need to think about flexibility, too.
Stretching helps!

PicturePhoto by Inspired Horizons Digital Marketing on Unsplash
It’s Stretch Time at Plymouth! We have a Big Stretch Goal in our 2020 budget! Let’s rejoice! Stretching makes us strong! This Sunday is Consecration Sunday, the day we bring our pledge cards to the communion table in worship and ask God to bless them. (If you won’t be here, you can pledge early online or by mail or in the office.) 
 
According to the Harvard Medical School website and David Nolan, a physical therapist at Massachusetts General Hospital: Stretching keeps the muscles flexible, strong, and healthy, and we need that flexibility to maintain a range of motion in the joints......Regular stretching keeps muscles long, lean, and flexible, and this means that exertion "won't put too much force on the muscle itself," says Nolan. Healthy muscles also help a person with balance...
 
What does this have to do with our 2020 budget? We have grown as a church, built muscle strength in staff and programming. We built a governance structure that breathes life into our aerobic fitness as we agilely recruit volunteers who respond to the crucial issues of our times and develop the spiritual formation of our congregation. We are larger and stronger that we were  ten years ago with more professional staff that give us better infrastructure. 
 
Now it's time to stretch ourselves with a large budget goal for 2020 so that we maintain our muscular flexibility in our growing staff support of God’s work through Plymouth. We need to stretch so we can have a larger range of muscular motion in our extravagant welcome to the northern Colorado community and to CSU students, staff and faculty. With a larger congregation we need to maintain healthy balance in our programming and in balancing the work shared between staff and volunteers. Stretching keeps us flexible and agile, as well as strong and  balance, for the movement of the God’s Holy Spirit in our mission and ministry as a vital congregation. 
 
This past Sunday, our conference minister, the Rev. Sue Artt, thanked us for the great generosity of Plymouth as we are the largest contributor in the conference to Our Church’s Wider Mission that provides basic support to our conference and national staff. We also excel in our four other special UCC offerings and our own community-wide and international mission giving. Sue also challenged each of us to S-T-R-E-T-C-H in giving to our 2020 budget so we can continue our strong work for God’s realm. She quoted the late Joseph Campbell, who said, “Money is neither spiritual or non-spiritual. Money is congealed energy. Releasing it is releasing life’s possibilities.” 
 
The energy of money can release life’s possibilities when spent well. When our intention, integrity, and stretching toward a meaningful goal are aligned, we release the energy of our treasure, time and talent. Generosity is generated in surprising ways! (If you were not hear this past Sunday morning, I invite you to listen to Sue’s sermon.)
 
The strength and flexibility of Plymouth as an outpost of God’s realm in a troubled world will only be maintained through the willingness of each Plymouth member to take the risk of releasing our individual congealed energies of money. Where can you take the risk of stretch in your budget? Some of us can release large amounts of money’s congealed energy. Others small. Either way it’s the s-t-r-e-t-c-h that counts. 
 
Join me in this opportunity to stretch and release God’s possibilities through Plymouth.
 
Blessings,

Picture
PS: Plymouth changes lives! The Stewardship Board has made a series of videos demonstrating how this happens; see them all at plymouthucc.org/give.

Author

The Rev. Jane Anne Ferguson, Associate Minister, is a writer, storyteller, and contributor to Feasting on the Word, a popular biblical commentary. She is also the writer of sermon-stories.com, a lectionary-based story-commentary series. Read more

0 Comments

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    December 2016

    Categories

    All
    2020
    Abundance
    Adult Formation
    Advent
    Alli Stubbs
    Alternative Giving Fair
    Animals
    Apocalypse
    Art
    Ash Wednesday
    Bach
    Bees
    Being Church
    Being The Body Of Christ
    Being The Church
    Beng Alive
    Better Angels
    Birthday
    Black Lives Matter
    Blessings
    Breath
    Calling & Caring
    Celtic Christianity
    Change
    Children
    Choices
    Choir
    Christian Formation
    Christmas Blues
    Church
    Church Governance
    Coffee
    Compassion Camp
    Consecration Sunday
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    Creed
    CSU
    DACA
    Darkness & Light
    Database
    Discipleship
    Education For All
    Election
    Farewell
    Fences & Bridges
    Finance
    Flexibility
    Flora Cash
    Fort Collins
    Forum
    Forum Series
    Friends & Family Sunday
    Gender
    Generosity
    Getting Settled
    Giving
    Goals
    Go Deeper
    Godspell
    Goodbye
    Gratitude
    Guest Author
    Habitat For Humanity
    Halloween
    Healthy Congregations
    Hobbies
    Holy Week
    Hope
    Housing
    Impermanence
    Inauguration
    Independence Day
    Interruptions
    Interterm
    Jazz
    John Philip Newell
    Joseph
    Joy
    Jubilee Sunday
    Known & Unknown
    Labyrinth
    La Foret
    Laura Nelson
    Lent
    Letting Go
    LGBTQ
    Listening
    Longest Night
    Magi
    Mark Heiskanen
    Masterpiece Cakeshop V. Colorado Civil Rights Comm.
    Matthew Shepard
    Ministerial Transitions
    Mission Trip
    Music
    Music Program
    Nationalism
    Newness
    New Year
    ONA
    Ordinary Time
    Organ
    Pandemic
    Parking
    Pastoral Care
    Peace
    Pendemic
    Pentecost
    Pilgrimage
    Plymouth Grounds
    Plymouth Text Connection
    Popular Culture
    Prayer Service
    Psalm 126
    Psalms
    Reformation Sunday
    Releasing
    Rep. Joe Neguse
    Rev. Carla Cain
    Rev. Hal Chorpenning
    Rev. Jake Miles Joseph
    Rev. Jane Anne Ferguson
    Rev. Mandy Hall
    Rev. Mark Lee
    Ring Lake Ranch
    Risk
    Rocky Mountain Conference
    Rooted
    Rosebud Episcopal Mission
    Sabbath
    Sabbatical
    Search Process
    Signage
    Silence
    Singing
    Sleepout
    Solstice
    Soul
    Spiritual Growth
    Spiritual Practices
    Stewardship
    Stewardshp
    Stories
    St. Patrick
    Strategic Planning
    Students
    Suicide Prevention
    Summer
    Taize
    Teacher Appreciation
    Thanks
    Thanksgiving
    The Church Organ
    The Magnificat
    Thrive
    Top Ten
    Transfiguration
    Transformation
    Tricia Medlock
    Trump
    Truth
    Tulips
    UCC
    Values
    Vespers
    Video Reflection
    Voting
    Waiting
    Weird & Holy
    Wilderness
    Wisdom
    Work
    Worship
    Yendra Tencza
    Youth
    Zoom For 7

    RSS Feed

916 West Prospect Road Fort Collins CO 80526

Worship Times

​STREAMING ONLY at 10 a.m. & 6 p.m. Sundays
Visit plymouthucc.org/streaming for details

Contact Us

970-482-9212

​Members, log into F1Go here.

Subscribe to our eNews