Come and meet the Moderator --
The Right Reverend David Giuliano
Cameron Hall in Whycocomagh
Monday, September 15 at 7:00 p.m.
Speaking to United Church commissioners prior to being elected Moderator by the 39th General Council, David Giuliano began with the words,"What I want to say is this: Don't be afraid."
"I am convinced that fear is ultimately what stands between us and hearing and doing God's dream for us at this time."
Giuliano said churches make many decisions and avoid many actions out of fear. "We are afraid about Money, about numbers, about appearing foolish or being inefficient, about the chaos that necessarily precedes creativity, and about the losses that change demands."
"Fear diminishes our witness to Christ in a world shaped by fear," said Giuliano. "We need to find the courage and heart to witness to a perfect love that casts out all fear, to proclaim and live a way of abundance, not scarcity, where angels always come shaped like strangers, and where life, not death, has the final word." He added that whenever the words "be not afraid" are whispered in our midst, they mean "God is getting ready to do something new and is inviting us to be part of that."
Giuliano was born May 16, 1960, and was ordained in 1987 by London Conference. Until he was elected Moderator in August 2006, Giuliano served St. John's Pastoral Charge in Marathon, where he had been settled in 1987. He offers the church his gifts, weaknesses, and limitations. "I ask only that you trust that when I make mistakes, that I do it with the best of my heart," he said after being elected Moderator.
The United Church is at a point in its history, says Giuliano, "that we may be undergoing some fairly significant transformation in response to the recognition that who we have been is not who God is calling us to be now, or at least not all of that."
He adds, "We should really clebrate and enjoy who we are as followers of Christ, and live that out in very big ways. We should not be afraid to really be who we are completely, to live our values and to expect people of other faith groups to do the same."
