Sermon delivered by David Burrow August 31, 2025 for the final worship service at First Congregational Church, Algona, Iowa
Click here for an audio version of this sermon. (11 MB - .mp3)
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every affair under the heavens.
A time to give birth, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.
A time to wound, and a time to heal;
a time to tear down, and a time to build.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them;
a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away.
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to be silent, and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace.
God has made everything appropriate to its time,
but has put the timeless into their hearts, so they can’t find out
from beginning to end, the work which God has done.
There is nothing better than to rejoice and to do well during life.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God at every remembrance of you, praying
always with joy in my every prayer for all of you, because of your partnership
for the gospel from the first day until now.
I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue
to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right that I should think
this way about all of you, because I hold you in my heart, you who are all
partners with me in grace. And this is my prayer: that your love may increase
ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is
of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled
with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory
and praise of God.
The purpose of the First Congregational United Church of Christ of Algona, Iowa is to be an alive and growing family of faith in God, the God whom we know through Jesus Christ and who has given us in Jesus the image of what human life is meant to be.
We strive to mature in faith by encouraging the free exploration of our Christian beliefs so that our faith will be more relevant to our individual lives and to the society in which we live.
With friendship and understanding, we find strength in the diversity of the interests and backgrounds of our members. We welcome all persons who would seek with us answers to life’s ultimate questions.
We take love to be the heart of the Gospel of Jesus and the unifying force in our church. Therefore, we celebrate God’s love and blessings in worship. We nurture one another through acceptance, caring, and sharing. We reach out beyond ourselves to the needs of others, to promote justice and to witness to God’s love.
In all that we do, we seek to continue our heritage of being a pioneering people in a changing world.
In 1856 Chauncy Taylor from the Home Mission Society of New England walked from Ft. Dodge up to Algona and preached a sermon in front of 25 people in a cabin in the newly established town. Two years later, in August of 1858, Algona’s First Congregational Church was founded, with five initial members. It was the first permanent church in Algona. The church met in various places before settling into its current home in the year 1886. It has been a fixture in our community from the time of horses and buggies well into the computer age.
In the 1800s the Home Mission Society established more than two thousand Congregational, Presbyterian, and Reformed churches across the country, from Ohio to California. Unfortunately nearly half of those churches do not survive today. Many closed at the time of the Civil War, others didn’t make it past the Great Depression, and even more folded as society became more secular in the late 20th Century.
We should be proud that Father Taylor’s church in Algona outlasted so many of the Home Missionary Society churches. Twenty-five members of the clergy have led thousands of members in our church over the past 167 years, and we’ve been an important part of the Algona community through all that time.
After today our church will no longer be meeting for worship each Sunday. That doesn’t mean we’re shutting down, though, and it certainly doesn’t mean we won’t be around. As the sign out front says, this is “the last service, but not the last word.” While our ministry will be different, it’s still going to keep going.
One way we’ll continue is through our radio ministry each Sunday. We have an archive of fourteen years of sermons that we’ll be drawing from to bring weekly messages to the community. We’ve already funded that ministry for the rest of this year, and the goal is to continue it indefinitely.
We’re also continuing our community peace services, gathering around the peace pole in front of our building. This year’s service will be September 21, and we hope to welcome many guests from other churches to that event. The peace services have been an annual event for a decade now, and we hope to continue them well into the future.
While members of our church won’t be meeting on Sunday mornings, we do plan to have monthly gatherings for fellowship and prayer. We’ll be meeting the first Wednesday evening of the month, and we’d love to welcome others who’d like to join us.
We’ll also be continuing many of our community service activities, too. For instance, we’re already scheduled to help out with Meals on Wheels, and we’ll again be joining with the Methodists to help out with Trunk or Treat at Halloween. We also hope to continue collections for the food pantry, we’ll continue to sponsor the native American family we’ve helped at Christmas for many years now, and we’ll have the opportunity to continue giving to the many mission projects of the United Church of Christ.
For the past year we’ve offered space in our building for the Community and Culture Connections organization, and we plan to continue helping with their important work. We’re also happy to help other organizations that need meeting space. We’re working on ways to preserve our sanctuary space so it can be an asset to our community, and of course we’ll continue to use the sign out in front of our building to remind the community that “God is still speaking”.
Changing from regular weekly worship will of course mean that many of us will be worshipping in other congregations, whether in Algona or in other nearby towns. As we join people from different backgrounds, it’s important that we raise our voice in those churches in support of the inclusion and change that the United Church of Christ has always stood for.
Back when our church was founded, the Congregationalists were one of the strongest voices against slavery, and they were the first denomination to ordain people of all races. The U.C.C. and its predecessors were also among the first to ordain women and let them rise to the highest levels of leadership in the church. Our church was also one of the first to acknowledge that people are people, regardless of their identity. As we make our way into other churches, we need to gently remind our new friends that God welcomes everyone, no matter who they are or what they believe.
In our reading today, Paul offers his prayer for the Philippians, and it applies just as much to us today. We’re reminded that we are all partners in the gospel and partners in grace, and we are called to continue that partnership “until the day of Christ”. We’re called to increase in knowledge, discern what is of value, and be pure and blameless, filled with the fruit of righteousness. That’s our call, whether we’re together or separate. We need to remember that we’re all partners in the gospel and partners in grace.
Our other reading reminds us that there is a time for everything. It’s interesting that the different seasons described in Ecclesiastes all come in pairs, and in most of them something sad is followed by something hopeful:
As we enter a new season in our church’s history, it’s important that we don’t get stuck in weeping and mourning and tearing down. Instead it’s important to remember that we are charged with continuing the legacy that Father Taylor started so many years ago. Our ministry will look different going forward, but it’s up to us to continue the work of keeping that ministry alive.
Earlier today we read our church’s Statement of Purpose. For the thirty-plus years I’ve been part of this congregation that’s been my favorite of the different affirmations we proclaim. There are so many creeds that seem old-fashioned and distant, but this one is about us.
While our worship lives will be different going forward, we need to keep that statement of purpose in mind. We need to remember Jesus as the image of what human life is meant to be, remember love is the heart of the gospel, and continue to witness to God’s love through acceptance, diversity, and justice.
Today we find ourselves in a changing world and a changing time for our church. But as things change, we need to hold firm to our faith in God and—as our Statement of Purpose reminds us—continue our heritage of being a pioneering people in a changing world.
(C) 2025 davidmburrow@yahoo.com