- Pastor Anna Helgen leads the "Sparkle creed" at the altar, YouTube below.
- The author of the "Sparkle creed" is UCC Pastor Rachel F. Small Stokes.
- More on Stokes.
- The Sparkle creed has been officially mentioned by the ALPB Online Ovaltines.
JEFF SARTAIN
PASTOR
What book, other than the Bible, has had an impact on your faith?
“Many years ago I read, “Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras,” by Diana Eck. It introduced me to a way of understanding God that transcends any one religious tradition.”
Growing up in the small Canadian border town of Littlefork, Minnesota Jeff learned the gift of story-telling, which he brings to his preaching. He loves learning about the ways God works in people’s lives. Jeff has served small churches in rural areas of Minnesota and Wisconsin, and he also served several years at a large inner city congregation in Minneapolis. Brief forays in professional fundraising and in social work round out his experience. A life-long learner, he continues to explore interests from learning to teach yoga and meditation to taking up the accordion, which is his latest project. Jeff and his husband, Mark, have two grown children, three-grandchildren, and a cabin in the woods of Wisconsin where they love taking their dog for an overnight get-away.
Giving Witness to Justice (est. $2.35M Debt Retirement + 10% Mission component)
Since 2016, ECLC has had to use existing cash reserves to service our mortgage liability, averaging $80-100k annually. Those reserves have now been fully spent. Our church’s finances are in a precarious situation going forward. In addition, since 2016 ECLC has run significant operating deficits in the annual budget since servicing the mortgage debt. The financial statements that were presented, mitigated this impact by using transfers from designated funds, or Council’s release of funds to balance the budget. These were dependent on existing cash reserves. To stabilize church operations, church leadership looked at several different models, including refinancing, significant staff reductions, or a capital campaign.
Free Republic Post and Comments are here.
Another video of "the Sparkle creed" is below.
