The Regional Synod of New York includes classes and congregations that are urban, suburban, and rural; large, medium, and small; black, white, Asian, Hispanic, and multiracial; progressive, moderate, and conservative—as well as those that don’t comfortably wear such labels. United in and through Jesus’s saving love, we rejoice in the diversity of our family of faith and we delight in the inclusive message of the Gospel. We honor Scripture as authoritative and divinely inspired, even as we recognize that we may have differences in faithful interpretation. Recognizing that our love is our response to God’s love and our grace a reflection of God’s grace, we welcome all.
This letter is #4 in a series of Dear Friends letters I’m writing for 2024, focusing on the word “connection.” If you’d like to go back and read the first three letters in this series, please visit my RCA missionary page at rca.org/tenclay; scroll down to the Resources section on the right-hand side of the page and click on the links for the three 2024 Dear Friends letters. This letter is focused on another labor of love that has been
The role of being a minister has become more emotionally demanding than ever before. Given the tremendous responsibility that is placed on the shoulders of Ministers, it is helpful to focus our pastoral duty around the clock. Like never before, pastors are faced with meeting compliances not only in our churches but Cities and Counties regulations as well. The long hours and weight of accountability and responsibility that often comes with walking alongside people through the challenging issues faced in the life
