July 2009

Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.  ~Henry James

Summer is here … although this was one of the coolest Junes in my memory. The kids are out of school, vacations are just around the corner, and soon our beautiful mountains will be completely obscured behind the daily haze.

The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.  ~Author unknown, commonly misattributed to Mark Twain

Summertime at many churches means empty pews as people leave town, go to the beach, or just sleep in. That’s not a big issue at Redlands UCC. Our attendance fluctuates somewhat over the course of a year, but there’s not a huge drop off in the summer. Except for the inevitable trips out of town, it seems most folks come to church before they head off to their favorite swimmin’ hole.

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.  ~John Lubbock

I believe this phenomenon has a lot to say about why RUCC’ers attend church. We don’t come to church as an afterthought. We don’t just squeeze it in when it’s convenient. It’s an intentional relationship with this community of our brothers and sisters in faith. Many people have told me their whole week is improved by coming to church on Sunday morning.

A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.  ~James Dent

This sense of family is not limited to the regular crowd. I have been blessed to attend quite a few new member orientations where people interested in membership share lunch with the church board and other members. One of the most frequent comments I’ve heard about why people chose to attend RUCC is the sense of welcome, friendship, and acceptance.

A life without love is like a year without summer.  ~Swedish Proverb

For this year’s Summer Series, we’ll be exploring what inclusiveness means in our lives and in the life of our church. What does it really mean to be an open and affirming community? Where in our personal lives have we felt excluded? Who have we excluded (intentionally or unintentionally)? This will be another opportunity to have sacred conversations and get to know each other (and ourselves) on a deeper level. I hope you will be there, unless of course, you’re on a summer vacation!

Then followed that beautiful season... Summer...Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

With optimism and hope,
Loring Fiske-Phillips