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From the Pastor's Desk

Epiphany Greetings!

Welcome to the home of First Congregational UCC in Baraboo on the web. Whether you're a current member or friend of the congregation, found us by a search, or are just browsing, I hope you'll find the website interesting and maybe there's something that will grab your attention and make you want to spend some "real time" with us on a Sunday morning!

The church calendar says it's Epiphany--meaning manifestation or inbreaking--season. The weeks between Christmastide and Lent are a time rich in symbolism and stories of Jesus' ministry as it takes shape, disciples are called, and the tour of teaching and healing begins. Some think of it as a 'quiet' time, but I think it is far from that. Granted, it seems quiet after Christmas. But if you watch and listen carefully, the quiet betrays a depth of calling to you and me, a calling to journey with the one who is 'God with us' and find in the world around us ways big and small in which God is breaking through...in the people we see and talk to every day, in the challenges and joys of our world, as close to us as fire and air and water. We're reminded in these days that God is still speaking. The question is: are we listening? And before you or I listen for big voices or look for grandiose visions, maybe we do well to listen to the sound of our own breathing or the cry of a child or the voice of the person in the next cubicle; to take a good look in the bathroom mirror, to notice the lengthening daylight and the shift of the sun in the sky, or to actually look into the eyes of the cashier at the grocery store.

Of course, we would love to welcome you to join us on your journey through life. If you haven't been to church for a while or maybe want to check out a congregation that is progressive and open-minded (kinda like Jesus was), a congregation that embraces worship tradition but is not enslaved to it and sometimes stretches out into new words and music and thoughts--then this is a great time to join us--a rainbow people, open and affirming. We look forward to seeing you!

—See you in church! Pastor Doug