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Meet some of
our members and find out why they
joined Emmanuel
United Church of Christ.
Perhaps it could be the church you
have been looking for,
too.
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Why We Joined Emmanuel Church
We were both raised
Methodists, but before moving to Sebring we were active
in Church of Our Savior MCC in Boynton Beach. The first
year or so after moving here we continued to return to
Palm Beach county many weekends or attended the nearest
church of our denomination, Rainbow Promise MCC in
Auburndale (where we felt no warmth of welcome). Then lo
and behold gas became $4 a gallon (the first time) and
we went nowhere for several months before visiting local
churches. We hadn't found one we liked. Neighbors of
Kirk Zimmerman knew we were considering attending UCC
and he provided us with literature on Emmanuel. As long
time Floridians we knew there were two congregations,
the winter one and the year around one, and we decided
to wait until the smaller congregation was present. Our
first visit began a loving relationship. We felt more
welcome than at any church we had attended including our
beloved Boynton Beach church. We knew nothing about
Pastor George's appointment. It was his second Sunday as
pastor and what a surprise we got. It was the best
sermon that we had heard in years. Three persons deserve
special mention for making us feel at home the first few
Sundays - Jean Blough, Hilda Wakefield, and Ce Ce Crain.
The third Sunday we attended our first fellowship hour
where Connie Parsons was added to the group, and we have
been at home at Emmanuel ever since. It is our loving
church family. ~ Richard Smith and Gene Allison
~
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Why We Joined Emmanuel
Church
Izetta and I moved to Sebring
in mid 1991 having previously been members of a
UCC
Church in
Dublin, Ohio. Our subsequent
search for a church home ended when the Emmanuel
Congregation built their new sanctuary on Hope
Street jus a five minute
stroll from our home in Cormorant Point.
We were immediately welcomed
warmly by Pastor Loffer and many others who were charter
members of the congregation. The Harvest Home
Craft Festival, 1992 edition, was in the final stages
and this was right up Izettas alley. She dove in and
dragged me along to help as we worked together on the
Spaghetti Dinners, Parking Lot Sales and Harvest
Festivals.
During those early years, and with the
co-leadership of Marg Hann, Jean Blough, Kathryn
Ferguson and others, the congregation has produced many
successful fund raisers and great opportunities for
fellowship.
Izetta's Memorial Window is a constant reminder
to me of how much she loved the church and the many
friendships we have formed within this
congregation.
Emmanuel is unique within my experience for the
extent of its welcome to one and all.
I am forever grateful for the
decision we made to attend, and then to become,
Associate Members of the Emmanuel family. ~
Jim Sparks ~
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Why We Joined Emmanuel
Back in 2002 we moved into
our new home in Golf Hammock. Our neighbors
were Dick and Adda Beisel, members who told us about
this church that welcomed everyone. We had not been
attending church.
We took her up on the invitation. I don't believe
weve missed many Sundays after that first visit. Sometime later I
was asked to help with Harvest Home. That's when I
felt I had found a home, all due to the warm and
friendly welcome by Izetta Sparks. From that time
on I felt I had found my church. We have
continued to attend Emmanuel, always feeling a growing
closeness to the many wonderful members of this
church.
After many years of attending and developing many
friendships within the church, we decided it was time to
join. We
made this decision to be in support of our new minister,
Rev. George Miller. We're so pleased
we did, and think there are great things to come.
~ Gerry and Ann Wolford
~
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Why I Joined Emmanuel
First I want to thank John and Gene
for always having the pamphlet up at the
Fountainhead. That is how I found Emmanuel.
I then read all of Pastor George's sermons online and
felt as if he were speaking to me. That went on
for weeks until I got up enough courage to go to
Emmanuel. That's when I met Sam in the parking lot
and he walked in with me. Everyone was nice and
friendly. I wanted to belong to a church that
welcomed my family without everyone looking down on
us. I just want to worship the Lord!! Also,
I love the fact that we are welcomed no matter who we
are or where we are on our journey. I found what I
was looking for in Emmanuel and I thank God everyday for
the open, accepting, loving, friendly and warm
congregation at Emmanuel United Church of
Christ. God Bless You All.
~ Stephanie Burt
~
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Why We Joined Emmanuel
The reason I joined EUCC is not the
same reason I attend EUCC. As many of you know I
am a charter member; there are not many left. Marg
and Stan Hann were my neighbors and invited Bernie and I
to visit our church. I met such nice people
there. Jean and Duane Blough made us feel so
welcome we felt the friendliness from everyone. It
didn't take us long to know we belonged there. We
joined the church and before we knew it, we had grown
out of our meeting place at the Bingo hall. The
founding pastor (Bob Loffer) and his family were
inspirational to me. I admired their commitment to
help children that needed a home (no matter who they
were or where they came from). He was a wonderful
speaker, and I never wanted to miss a Sunday. We
had a church family to be proud of.
The reason I still attend this
church is very simple. This is my church. This is
where my memories are. This is where I never feel
alone, where my friends are. I am proud of
our church and that fact that no matter who you are, you
are welcome here. I love to hear the music and the
sermons and the laughter and the comaraderie with a
church family. It has been a habit. I can't
imagine not being here. I love to receive
Communion. I love to worship together with people
that have the same thoughts in common. My
husband's ashes are here in our Memorial Garden, and I
have had three great grandchildren baptized here.
For the past ten years I have been going to dinner on
Friday nights with some of our church members. The
friendships are lasting friendships. They don't
come to an end when the Sunday service is over. If
I ever doubted it, I only have to look at the basket of
get well cards that I received last year. I love
my church and everyone there. ~ Elaine Short
~
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Why I (We) Joined Emmanuel
UCC
Although we were Presbyterian when
we came to Sebring, we ruled out the local USA church as
being too far from our home to make feasible our
becoming participating members rather than just Sunday
worshippers.
On looking around we found Sebring had a
UCC church. Paul had roots in the E & R church and I had been
congregational in high school. More recently we
regularly attended the congregational church in
Wisconsin as we spent
more time being my father's caregivers. We checked it
out before our move to the area and found the message
compatible with our beliefs. Plus there was adequate
parking -- important as my Dad was becoming part of
the equation.
We became members under Bill Carroll's
watch as we became full time Sebring residents care
giving my dad by long distance as he moved into a
Wis. church nursing
home. Some people join a church and then abandon
their membership and join another church as they became
dissatisfied with some council policy or any myriad of
reasons. Why members stay members and become more
involved in the program seems more important to me.
At Emmanuel we found a genuinely welcome
congregation with a variety of stimulating educational
programs enabling us to grow on our spiritual journey
and challenging Sunday messages adding to that help.
There are also opportunities to reach out in our
community. It's been a plus to be a part of the bell
choir since its inception and be a part of our fledging
Parish Nurse program. I am happy we joined
Emmanuel and found a true church home and supportive
church family as I move on without Paul. ~
Carol
Orth
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The question of why
we joined Emmanuel UCC is a two part question for
us. The
first part is why do we go to church and the second part
is why Emmanuel.
After all, if we chose not to attend church at
all whether or not it would be Emmanuel is
pointless.
We have
heard many people say "you don't have to go to church to
be a Christian".
While we might agree with that in principle, our
response is if you are a Christian you will want to
attend church.
As our faith has grown over the years it has
become clear to us that the Bible has many passages that
encourage us to be part of a Christian fellowship. We have also
learned that being a Christian is a journey rather than
a destination.
It's a good thing because none of us will get to
that ultimate destination of being just like Jesus;
without sin.
We need constant nurturing and redirection to
keep our journey on course. Frankly, church
is the easiest way to do that. After all, no
one wants to take a long journey
alone.
Church
is about our relationships: with God and each
other. It is where we improve those relationships
by finding out what is missing and how to make it
better. And like all relationships, ours depends
on communication. Talking to God and listening for
how God is still speaking to us is how we improve our
relationship with God and continue to grow our
faith. The bottom line is we believe Christianity
is not a spectator sport; in order to be fed, you have
to be willing to eat.
So
having established that we needed to regularly attend
church, why Emmanuel? After many years of being
members of the Metropolitan Community Church, we decided
we needed to move on to a more traditional church.
MCC provides an environment for those who have been
expelled from their religious heritage because of their
sexual orientation so they can re-establish their
relationship with God. Many of these souls have
become distrustful of mainstream religion and feel
isolated from God. MCC fils that gap. But
for us, it ws time to move from being apart from
mainstream religion to being a part of
it.
The
criteria for our search for a new church home were that
it had to celebrate diversity in its members and where
they were in their faith journey. Our new church
had to walk the talk; not just say they were diverse but
prove it in their actions. This led us to the
United Church of Christ. Specifically, Edwards
Congregational United Church of Christ in Davenport,
Iowa. We have been members of Edwards for the ten
years preceding our membership transfer to
Emmanuel.
We
attended our first worship at Emmanuel in November of
2009 with an attitude of cautious optimism.
Emmanuel was one third the size of Edwards. It had
been established in the last twenty years where Edwards
was established in the early 1800's. But more
importantly, would we be welcomed as we were at
Edwards? After all, Emmanual is a "God is still
speaking" church that claims all are welcome, but that
doesn't mean they walk their talk. And, was it
fair to evaluate Emmanuel according to our experiences
at Edwards? I had hard that not all UCC's are the
same and feared we might be walking into relihgious
quick sand here; feeld good at first then you
drown.
Time had
come to find out if this might be our new church home as
we approached the entrance door to the narthex. But before we
could even get in the door we were welcomed by someone
holding the door open for us. Not shutting it
in our face as I might have feared. I don't remember
who that was but thank you. As we entered,
everyone made us feel welcomed. We were asked to
sign the guest book and given name tags. They didn't
stick very well but tha''s not the point; the welcome
did. In the
Sundays that followed we began to feel more and more a
part of our new church family as we continued to be
welcomed by everyone we talked to. We were
home. In
the weeks that followed we asked Pastor Jim to begin the
membership transfer process for
us.
That's the long answer. The short answer
is that we needed to find church and have found Emmanuel
to be a "God is still speaking" UCC church that welcomes
all no matter who they are or where they are in their
faith journey with an extravagant welcome in actions and
deeds, not just words. ~ Tracy Miller and Clyde
Durrah
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My father and my brother were ordained
Congregational ministers. My teenage years were spent
living at Lake Byrd Lodge in Avon
Park which was
then the Florida State Congregational Conference Center.
I was privileged to meet and get to know many of the
State and National Congregational leaders who came to
attend meetings and conferences. In 1957 we actively
participated in the discussions of joining together the
Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational
Christian Churches, and as members of the
Avon Park
Congregational church we welcomed this merger and became
United Church of Christ. In 1990 with the birth of
Sebring Emmanuel, several dedicated families from the
Avon Park church
volunteered to move their membership to Emmanuel and
help strengthen the New Church Start and a strong bond
was formed.
In recent years the leadership of the Avon
Park
Church has chosen
a path more non-denominational and less involved in
United Church of Christ. The congregation there
continues to do great work and are successfully reaching
out to others, but we have missed the denomination
connection
that has meant so much to us for 70 plus years.
Sebring Emmanuel has provided that connection. Phil and
I already had many friends here and having known the
church since its organization we felt right at
home. We
love the friendliness, the loving support offered to
members in times of sorrow, the fiscal responsibility of
living within our means while still continuing to dream
big and the assurance that ALL are welcome.
And we are warmed by
the joy and good humor we find each Sunday. Now you just
know that God has a
sense of humor or he never would have pu tup with us
this long... Thank you, Emmanuel for welcoming us. ~
Nancy and Phil
Weber
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Chuck and I moved to Sebring in 2001. We
had always been very active and life members of the
United Methodist Church.
However, we thought since we had made a major life
change that we would look at different churches in the
area (including the Methodist Churches)to see what was
the best fit. We checked out the Lutheran Church next door, went to an
Easter service at the church across the street, and even
visited a church in Avon Park. All
had their good and bad
points.
Finally we came to the spaghetti dinner at
Emmanuel. Everyone was friendly to us,
but more importantly, they seemed to be genuine friends
with each other. We came to several services and
was visited by Rev. Barbara. That visit confirmed
to us that this was a church of committed Christians who
shared our values of following Christ's
teachings. The Lutheran minister had told us that
women are not allowed to be clergy because the Bible
doesn't allow it. It was very important to us that
women were treated equally in the church.
Rev. Barbara showed us that the United Church of Christ
is following the true teachings of the Bible.
Emmanuel UCC truly cares about the poor, the
homeless, and the sick. The church both locally
and nationally lives its faith. We are happy that
we are members of this congregation. (We also
adore Rev. Jim). ~ Millie and Chuck
Grime
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It took Larry and I about ten years of
wintering in Sebring to finally find Emmanuel United Church. In those
interim years we had attended several churches in the
area, some for several years. We worked on
various committees at a church in Avon
Park. Priscilla played
in their bell choir and Larry served on the Finance
Committee.
However, we never felt truly at "home". We felt as
though we were tolerated, but not as though we
belonged.
Then in 1994, upon
our return from New
England in the fall, we decided to try the
fledgling Emmanuel United Church of Christ here in
Sebring.
They had recently completed a new sanctuary and
we thought perhaps this would be the welcoming
atmosphere we were looking for.
As we approached
the church from the parking lot, a tall gentleman with a
slight limp, Duane Blough, came out of the church with
extended hand and warmly welcomed us. He walked with
us to the door bantering and joking along the way and we
were again warmly welcomed by Pastor Bill Carrell who
was standing at the door greeting
parishioners.
The welcome didn't
stop at the door. We were met with
smiles, nods and handshakes from others as well. We were
impressed by the gracious welcomes, but felt that was
just for first time visitors. However, on our return
visits the next few Sundays, the warm welcomes continued
and we gradually felt we had found our church home here
at Emmanuel. ~ Larry and Priscilla
Andrews
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My husband
and I are members of an American Baptist Church (ABC) in
New York and I am an ordained American Baptist clergy.
We recently moved to Avon Park and wanted to worship at
a church in this community, however, there are no ABC
churches nearby. After attending several local churches,
we were on the verge of traveling to
the ABC church in the St. Petersburg area (long drive!).
We needed to find a church with an inclusive and
thoughtful theology. One day I noticed an event notice
in the local paper that mentioned Emmanuel United
Church of Christ. We were excited as I checked out the
Emmanuel web site knowing there are many theological
similarities between ABC and UCC congregations. A review
of the web site gave me hope that this might be the
church for us here. We attended the next Sunday and upon
arrival we immediately felt the welcoming effects of the
Emmanuel foyer -- where you are greeted with the
calming sounds of a beautiful water fountain and "worry
stones" arranged in a basket in the corner with a sign
inviting people to take one if in need. The welcome
continued with the smiles and warm handshakes of
Emmanuel's greeters. Rev. Jim Langdoc's welcoming spirit
and thoughtful, challenging sermons combined with the
warm conversation of members who greeted us after the
worship service sealed it for us. We realized
after several weeks of attendance that God is still
speaking and called us to Emmanuel at this time. We are
ever so grateful. ~
Paul and Amy Manierre
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Back
in 1995, my partner, Gene Finnegan, and I retired, after
serving a professional lifetime as clergy - he with the
United Methodist denomination and I with the United
Church of Christ.
Our longrange plan had been to spend most of our
future years absent from the icy cold of our native
northwest Ohio. Though we knew
no one in Florida, the
Sunshine State seemed the
ideal landing spot. And after much
traveling about this state, Central
Florida became our selection.
Being
consistent fans of Oprah, with her constant urging of
folks to "go to church if you want to meet people", our
first Sunday took us off to the neighborhood church for
worship as a test of Oprah's theory. Very shortly
into the worship service we became aware that the
theology and liturgy of our choice was neither of our
taste nor our persuasion. And since any
communication with fellow worshippers seemed deficient,
we never could find the location of the coffee hour the
minister had made such a flourish inviting us
to.
Next
Sunday it was Emmanuel's turn. Friendly greetings came
our way even in the parking lot. Though the sanctuary
was cozy in size, the folks inside seem to be bursting
with energy and acceptance. But what about the music,
liturgy, and theology that we were accustomed to and
favored?
The minister, and the worship service hit a home
run here. Over Sunday dinner, with little hesitation, we
admitted to each other that our search had ended. God
had called us to the right
pew.
This
was thirteen years ago. We continue to
appreciate the diversity and acceptance of religious
thought and practice shared by folks at Emmanuel. Like most
adopted natives in Central
Florida, the church has become our
family.
Though as individuals, we may not always agree in
practice or thought, we're together in the service of
Christ and his mission. May God continue to bless our
efforts. So
be it. ~ John Rainey
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Stan and I moved to Sebring
in the Spring of 1988. We moved from
Maryland for health
reasons, but stayed for another reason that being
Emmanuel United Church of Christ. A little
background first: Stan belonged all his life to Trinity
Evangelical
Reformed U.C.C. church and when we married, I
also joined the church. Then we
moved to Sebring. I was at loose ends and became
involved in art but was still restless. We shopped
around, as many of you have done, for a church that
welcomed us.
Then one day in the paper we noticed that the UCC
was going to start a church in Sebring. Needless to say
we couldn't call fast enough. When we spoke to
Bob Loffer and he explained what the plans were, we knew
that it was going to be the church for us: The first
service clinched it for us: Spirituality and the warm
and friendly welcome that was extended to us. Since that time
we became involved in many aspects of the church;
including lively discussions and Bible studies that were
held in restaurants and the high school. Stan dedicated
most of his time belonging to the willing workers,
assisting the secretary, making many projects for the
Harvest Home and everything in general that would help
the church.
But, most of all we made many loving friends and
acquaintances.
I was asked "Why Did we join Emmanuel"?
Now, my questions is, "Why wouldn't we join?"
~ Marg
Hann
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Before
Connie Carter called us in 2007 about a certain house
for sale in Highland's Ridge, we had camped at
Buttonwood Bay in our fifth wheel for four years. While
there, we searched for a church home in the area.
However, we were not satisfied with any that we visited.
Friends at our church, Trinity UCC, suggested that we
visit Emmanuel where Barbara Laucks was pastor. Mary
Focht was also a connection we had between the Ohio and
Sebring churches. As our friendships at Emmanuel quickly
grew, we realized that our search was over. Recently, we
chose to become full-time members of a congregation that
knows and loves the Lord, values the importance of music
in worship, and shows caring and compassion for our
church family and the wider community. We are grateful
for Jim Langdoc's ministry with us, and are looking
forward to welcoming our next full-time
pastor.
Blessings,
Glen and
Sue Shellhammer
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In 1989 when we
retired from Ohio we went to Harrisburg, VA. We
lived there for four years when in April, 1994 we
awakened to eleven inches of snow. Needless to
say, that was not the retirement we were looking
for. We called my sister here in Sebring and told
her to find a place. She did that, and we came in
September of that year. We have always looked
immediately for a church, and we did attend one where no
one spoke to us. We knew Emmanuel was near, so we
went there and found the warmth, love, and care we were
used to. We became members in 1995 at Easter
time. As you have noted, I used "we" because Tom
and I in our 52-1/2 years of marriage never neglected to
continue our church life together, and we thank the many
of our Emmanuel family for sharing this special part of
our life with all of you. ~ Kathryn
Ferguson
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When my partner John and I came to
Florida for that first winter 13 years ago we did not
know anyone in this area. We had looked around the state
earlier and decided that we wanted to be in the middle
of the state and the middle is Avon Park. As we looked
through the phone book we found there were two churches
that were United Church of Christ and several that were
United Methodist. Our plan was to visit all of them and
then make a decision as to which church we would attend.
Thus, the first Sunday we went to that other United
Church of Christ and not one person greeted us or even
spoke. The second Sunday found us at Emmanuel United
Church of Christ, after having phoned the church for
directions and being asked why we wanted to know where
the church was located. However, when we arrived on
Sunday morning the greeting was so much warmer than the
telephone contact had been. People greeted us in the
parking lot as we emerged from our car, welcoming us to
Emmanuel, and as we sat near the front the warmth and
friendliness of George Furnival made us feel even more
welcome. This was November, so back north we went for
the holidays with plans to return after Christmas. As we
drove back we decided that the folks at Emmanuel were so
kind and so welcoming that we did not even visit the
United Methodist churches in the area. Because of John's
background we knew that the United Church of Christ, as
a denomination, was open and affirming of all persons
regardless of sexual orientation, which the United
Methodist was not. As we continued to be a part of
Emmanuel it was the acceptance and love shown to us by
the members that caused us to stay and make Emmanuel our
church home. I have found the spirit of God moving
within this community of faith in a positive and
affirming manner, with a demonstration of love and
acceptance of the diversity that God has created within
all of us. The denomination brought us here but it is
the people within this church that have kept us here. ~
Gene
Finnegan
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I joined
Emmanuel U.C.C. because I was bored. Thru my
childhood and teens going to church was inconvenient and
unimportant.
After high school this farm girl went to the
Big City to find
work. There
wasn't much to do weekends, and I started exploring
different churches. I explored
several different aspects. One prestigious,
highly respected edifice stays in my memory as the
coldest place I had ever been in, this with no regard at
all to Fahrenheit.
After I tired of the Big
City I returned to
small city and country living. In my late 20's
I arranged for my own baptism, knowing no one had ever
bothered.
Eventually I worked into a difficult and
demanding position which I thoroughly enjoyed. Weekends were a
time to play with no time for church. Time passed, and
I retired.
After a couple of fumbles I found myself in
Sebring. I
met a very friendly woman who often mentioned the church
where she was a member. I went there
with her and it turned out to be Emmanuel, and there
were more friendly people there. Finally, at around 70
years, I joined a church for the first time. Here I
found what had been missing in all the other places.
Here I came to appreciate the open welcoming attitude.
Here I learned to enjoy the freedom of expression to
worship without an excess of ritual. Here I feel
that God, the great spirit that is in and around each of
us, is truly and openly celebrated. And all the friendly
people are still there. And I am no longer bored. ~
Mary
Bostwick
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