Welcome Statement

First Congregational United Church of Christ, Watertown, SD Welcoming Statement

Based on welcoming statement from Prince of Peace Lutheran, Philadelphia, PA

Who is welcome here?

If you are Asian, Hispanic, Native American, Black, White, or multi-racial . . .

If you are three days old, 30 years old, or 103 years old . . .

If you are male or female or transgender . . .

If you are a Republican, Democrat, Independent, or not registered to vote . . .

If you are single, married, divorced, separated, or partnered . . .

If you are straight, gay, lesbian, or bisexual . . .

If you are Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, Jewish, Buddhist, atheist, agnostic, or a life-long Congregationalist . . .

If you have never set foot in a church, attend only on Easter and Christmas, or attend every Sunday . . .

If you are fully-abled, living with a disability, or a person of differing abilities . . .

If you have or had addictions, phobias, mental illness, or physical illness . . .

If you own your own home, rent, live with your parents, or are homeless . . .

YOU ARE WELCOME HERE!

This congregation is committed to being a loving and welcoming community.

In faithfulness to God, and to the best of our ability, we work to provide programs, ministries, fellowship, and pastoral care to all who seek God in this place.

We dedicate ourselves to living the UCC church’s motto:

“No matter who you are, no matter where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here!”

Pastor's October Message
Siblings in Christ,
October has always felt like a month of transition. The days grow
noticeably shorter. The air gets cooler. The trees put on one last
spectacular show before letting go of their leaves. We know what
is coming—winter is never very far away in South Dakota—but for
a few weeks, we get to live in that beautiful space between

summer’s activity and winter’s rest.
There is something deeply spiritual about that rhythm.
We spend so much of our lives accumulating: responsibilities,
commitments, possessions, expectations, worries. Autumn
reminds us that there is also a season for letting go. Trees do not
cling desperately to leaves that have finished their work. They
release them and prepare for a season of rest, trusting that new life

will come again.

Maybe October is a good time to ask ourselves what we are
carrying that no longer serves us. What can we release? Where
do we need rest? What might God be inviting us to set down so that

there is room for something new to grow?

That seems especially appropriate as we celebrate the Feast of St.
Francis on Sunday, October 4. Francis had a remarkable sense of
kinship with the created world. He saw the sun and moon,
animals and plants, earth and water not simply as things for
human beings to use, but as fellow participants in the goodness of
God’s creation.
Normally, we mark St. Francis Day with an afternoon Blessing of
the Animals. This year, however, October 4 is also the Prairie Lakes
Association Fall Meeting, so we will do things a little differently.
I’ll have written blessings available after worship, along with some
treats for your animal companions, so you can take a blessing
home and celebrate with them there.

And if you aren’t heading to Redfield for the association meeting, I
strongly encourage you to spend some time outdoors that
afternoon. Take a walk. Sit under a tree. Notice the colors.
Listen to the birds. Pay attention to the cool air. Give thanks for
the creatures with whom we share our lives and this planet. Enjoy
autumn while it is still autumn—because around here, we know

how quickly it can become winter!
The Prairie Lakes Association Fall Meeting itself has a new schedule
this year. We’ll gather in Redfield beginning with lunch at noon,
followed by worship and the association business meeting. Our
Conference Minister, Rev. Roberto Ochoa, will also be joining us.
I’ll be leaving for Redfield immediately after worship that Sunday,
and anyone who would like to attend and carpool with me should get

ahold of me.

And as October begins, one more date is already appearing on the
horizon: All Saints’ Day, which we will observe on the first
Sunday of November. It is another moment in the church year
that invites us to remember — to give thanks for those who came
before us, to grieve those we have lost, and to recognize that our

lives are part of a story much larger than ourselves.

Perhaps that is October’s invitation: to notice the season we are actually in. To give thanks for what has been. To
release what has finished its work. To cherish the beauty around us while it is here. And to trust that even when
the world grows cold and quiet, God is still at work beneath the surface, preparing for life to come.
Blessings,
Pastor Dustin