We have been establishing our DNA, our defining characteristics and values, almost from the very beginning. That beginning was on Sunday afternoon, July 20, 2003. Exactly one month before that July date, there was a meeting of a Florida Conference Committee which was held at the home of MaryHelen and Ben New, which I attended as the member of the staff of the Florida Conference assigned to the committee. Deanna was with me. Following that meeting, Ben New asked us to go with him to see The Villages. As we drove, Ben and MaryHelen described the excitement, the rapid growth, and the lifestyle of The Villages, asking whether the Florida Conference could help in trying to get a new UCC congregation started.

We agreed to have the Florida Conference pay for a series of newspaper advertisements inviting those who might be interested to attend a meeting to explore the possibility of starting a new United Church of Christ congregation in The Villages.

So, from the very beginning, a major defining characteristic of this new church is being THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST in The Villages. What does that mean? The purpose of this sermon series and of the special Mission Statement Workshop which will be held on the final day of this series, is precisely intended to help us, all of us, working together, to answer that question - What does it mean to be The United Church of Christ at The Villages.

For the next eight Sundays (omitting May 30 when Deanna and I will be in Pennsylvania participating in the Confirmation of a granddaughter, who, incidently, is considering the ministry as her vocation) we will explore the principle items of belief published by the United Church of Christ as the defining characteristics of What We Believe in the United Church of Christ. On the last of these Sundays, June 13, we will gather for a work time to write the first draft of our congregation's Mission Statement.

The Mission Statement will become our vision. It will describe what we imagine we will be when we grow up. It will capture what we, collectively, believe that God is calling us to do and to be. This statement is, in the opinion of many, one of the most important things we will do. Proverbs 29:18 reminds us that WHERE THERE IS NO VISION, THE PEOPLE PERISH. This new Mission Statement will be our vision, it will keep us from perishing, it will hold us to our self determined task, and it will weld us together into a community which honors its call from God.

So for the next eight Sundays, we will be preparing ourselves for this very important work. On April 25, we will explore the phrase that is part of the logo of the United Church of Christ: That They May All Be One, part of the prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17:21.

On May 2 the phrase which some attribute to St. Augustine: In Essentials Unity, in Non-essentials Diversity, in All Things Charity, will call us to define our Essentials - what are those concepts which are so central and critical to our faith, so defining for our congregation, that we cannot allow deviation or distortion. Once establishing this central core of our belief, our core values, our core identity, we can then, comfortably, invite people to be diverse in everything else, as long as all things are processed in love, in charity.

On May 9 we will examine the statement that the Unity of the Church Is Not of its Own Making. We will struggle with the concept that being united in our Christian faith is not our decision to make. Even more critically, we will struggle to understand what it means to accept that the Unity of the Church is God's will.

On May 16, the unique characteristic of the United Church of Christ, namely the fact that we prefer Testimonies of Faith, rather than Tests of Faith will be the topic of the sermon and the discussion group following the service of worship. Because faith can be expressed in many different ways, the United Church of Christ has no formula that is a test of faith. Down through the centuries, however, Christians have shared their faith with one another through creeds, confessions, catechisms and other statements of faith. There is a Statement of Faith which was adopted by the General Synod of the United Church of Christ which we will explore on that Sunday.

On Sunday, May 23 we will look at the new UCC identity campaign based on the belief that THERE IS YET MORE LIGHT AND TRUTH TO BREAK FORTH FROM GOD'S HOLY WORD. This affirmation by one of the founders of the Congregational tradition assumes the primacy of the Bible as a source for understanding the Good News and as a foundation for all statements of faith. It recognizes that the Bible, though written in specific historical times and places, still speaks to us in our present condition. It declares that the study of the scriptures is not limited by past interpretations, but it is pursued with the expectation of new insights and God's help for living today. We will discover some of the implications of the belief that GOD IS STILL SPEAKING.

As stated earlier, on Sunday May 30 the Wealand's will be in Pennsylvania for their granddaughter's Confirmation and a guest minister will be leading the worship service.

On Sunday, June 6 - we will explore the meaning of the historic belief that we, all, are in the Priesthood of All Believers. We will look at the implications of that belief for our personal life, behavior, and faith response. We will also look at the manor in which the UCC sets some people aside for special ministry in a way that does not deny or invalidate the belief in the Priesthood of all Believers.

On Sunday, June 13, the last of the sermons in this series, we will look at Responsible Freedom. As individual members of the Body of Christ, we are free to believe and act in accordance with our perception of God's will for our lives. But we are called to live in a loving, covenantal relationship with one another--gathering in communities of faith, congregations of believers, local churches. We are free to express our opinion, but not to shout "fire" when there is no fire, in a public gathering.

Following each of the worship services in which one of these sermons is presented, those who are interested are invited to gather to discuss the sermon and its implications for the Mission Statement, as well as its implications for our individual and our communal lives.

Each sermon will be in print and will include a set of discussion questions to get the discussion started. The questions are not intended to limit or "box in"; the discussion. The group gathered will be completely free to take the discussion into areas of their own choosing.

During each discussion, Deanna will take notes, and compile the notes into a summary of all discussions which will be made available to those participating in the Mission Statement Workshop on June 13.

In this entire process, we will be guided both by the words from Proverbs 29:18 WHERE THERE IS NO VISION, THE PEOPLE PERISH and by the words written in the letter to another new church, one started many years ago in Phillipi:

Philippians 2:1-8

(1) If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, (2) then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. (3) Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. (4) Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. (5) Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: (6) Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, (7) but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. (8) And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross! (New International Version) Amen.