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Sunday Communion
Service 11:00am |
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Stanley
Congressional Church |
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94 Fairmont Avenue |
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Chatham, NJ 07928 |
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| Silver Celebration of the Inclusive Community |
We call it a silver anniversary.
Silver and gold are symbols of excellence and beauty in our culture.
Silver gets our attention. It is a gift we make to people we love.
It is the silver anniversary of The Inclusive Community and we are eager to celebrate it.
When this novel, brave, visionary idea was launched in 1986, none of us imagined it would last so long or bring so much meaning, joy, and friendship with it. Nor did we anticipate the media attention, all of it favorable that enabled us to witness to what we do to a large constituency.
We have shown, time and again, in this quarter of a century, that Catholics and Protestants have so much in common that they can make a profoundly Christian community happen.
We have moved three times, from Passaic to Nutley to Chatham—in three different counties of New Jersey. We took with us the dream of a united Christian Church and we were convinced that Christ meant something like this when he prayed that all might be one.
October is the special anniversary month of The Inclusive Community because it brings us St. Francis of Assisi Day on October 4 and Reformation Sunday. These two Church reformers, Francis and Luther, inspire us.
Over the years, we have touched the lives of many people and created a unique way for them to join our Community. One may accept membership as a Catholic or Protestant and remain so identified. The pastors we install have been ordained as Catholic priests or Protestant pastors. We find in their respective callings a calling for all of us to find Christ and God in all that is authentic and loving in our varied traditions.
We opened our twenty-fifth year with an unforgettable celebration on October 5, 2010 in the Padovano Peace Pavilion at Ramapo College. We filled the building with song and story, with joy and with friends who came from across the country to be with us. A silver anniversary brunch in a private dining room at the College continued the conversation we have had with one another for many years.
We shall close our twenty-fifth year on Saturday October 1, 2011, at 11:00 AM in the same venue as we began the year, with a gathering of our members, friends and former pastors, with officers of the New Jersey Association UCC for a rededication to the ideals that were a silver moment in our lives.
We are planning a special worship service, with special music. That celebration will be followed by a luncheon in one of the campus dining rooms. All are welcome. Please RSVP via the “Contact Us” tab on our home page.
Like silver, they have endured.
Rev. Dr. Anthony T. Padovano
Pastor: The Inclusive Community
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| President, Church Council-Wayne Ortelli |
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The
Inclusive Community-UCC
