Christ Community United Methodist Church
Update
October 2, 2025
Hi everyone:
I was exceptionally proud of our Christ Community teams this past Saturday for the Autumn: “Get in the Game” day. You painted, mulched, packed, cooked, drove, weeded, cleaned, and so much more. “Get in the Game” Spring date will be sometime in early May. Do you have project ideas? Do you have suggestions on how to do it better? Please let Christine Haskins or me know.
There is no expiration date on Christian service (at least not until we actually expire). Everyone can do something: Prayers, phone calls, encouragement, things to do sitting down and standing up, things that require muscle and things that require brain power and a lot of things that will need a bit of both. I learned that we may retire from our jobs (and I may retire from full time ministry, but we never retire from serving Jesus.
Here is what is happening at Christ Community:
1. Worship this week is at 10:00 and it is a Communion Sunday. The Gospel is Luke 17:5-10. How much faith do you really need? Come join us in person or through our online YouTube channel accessible through our website: ChristCommunityUMC.com.
2. Tomorrow, October 3, is Gail Thompson’s 90th Birthday. (I have taken her off the update list for this week only). On Sunday, we will have a surprise cake for her, and we are asking folks to bring a card to help Gail celebrate, following Worship on Sunday. Gail has been a member of Christ Community since the early 90’s and has served as our custodian and our church secretary over the years. Happy 90 Gail.
3. Thank you for your donations and contributions to my Uganda Mission (October 14 through November 6). I am always collecting reading glasses and have been blessed with dozens of pairs from you (and that many again from our partner churches). I have been blessed with your monetary gifts as well. All funds will travel with me and will be given a suitable home in a Uganda church, water project, medical clinic, or school. I look forward to telling you how many you have blessed and in what ways when I return. Pray for me as I travel. Here is my travel and teaching/preaching itinerary:
October 14 – Flight from Syracuse to JFK 4:14 departure arrive JFK 5:40
Delta DL5275
October 14 – Flight from JFK to Amsterdam depart 9:10 p.m. arrive 10:35 am
on October 15 in Amsterdam
Delta DL9403
October 15 – Flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi – Depart 12:30 p.m. Amsterdam arrive 10:00 p.m. Nairobi
Delta DL 9585
October 16 – Travel to Mombasa via high-speed rail
October 17 – Teaching Day in Mombasa
October 18 – Open date in Mombasa
October 19 – Preaching in Anglican Cathedral in Mombasa and Seafarers chapel: St. Nicholas Chapel
October 20 – return to Nairobi via High-speed Rail
October 20 – flight to Entebbe on UGANDA AIR depart 10:10 p.m. arrive 11:25 p.m. in Entebbe – overnight in Entebbe
October 21 -- drive to Davis home and begin preparations
October 22 – Seeta City Church Bible Summit
October 23 – Seeta City Church Bible Summit
October 24 – Nansana and Luwero joint class bible summit
October 25 – Nansana a.m. class – afternoon Graduation
October 26 – Preaching at Refined Family Church at 10:30 a.m.
October 27 – Drive to Rakai via Masaka
October 28 – Rakai graduation
October 29 – Safari truck drive to Congo Border (animal viewing)
October 30 – Nexus Summit
October 31 – a.m. summit, begin journey back to Kampala
November 1 – return to Davis Home
November 2 – Refined Family church 8:00; Seeta City Church 10:30
November 3 – Drive to Kikyusa for Summit
November 4 – Kikyusa morning class Afternoon Graduation
November 5 – Mission review, wrap up
November 5 – Flight to Amsterdam Depart 11:55 p.m. arrive in Amsterdam 6:50 a.m. on November 6 Delta Flight DL 9318
November 6 – Flight from Amsterdam to JFK Depart Amsterdam 8:55 a.m. arrive at JFK at 11:25 a.m. Flight DL47
November 6 – Flight from JFK to Syracuse depart 1:55 p.m. arrive SYR 3:26 Delta DL 5328
4. Guest Preachers and other information for when Pastor BJ is in Kenya and Uganda
October 19 – Jim Karins (longtime friend of Christ Community)
October 26 – Hannah Mudge (served as a pastor in the Albany area and is now resident in the Syracuse area – she is also Pastor Bill Mudge’s daughter!)
November 2 – Janice Dudden – longtime friend and missionary at Christ Community.
Pastor David Buzard, Pastor of the St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Syracuse, will be providing emergency pastoral care for while I am away, beginning October 13 through November 6.
If you have a pastoral emergency, please contact Bonnie DeBoer. Bonnie will contact David and get both of you connected.
5. Calendar
October 2 – Bible 101 Part 4 at 5:00
October 2 – Church Council at 6:00
October 6 – Mission Planning team in Pennellville at 6:00
October 9 – Bible 101 part 5 at 5:00
October 14 through November 6 – BJ on Mission Kenya/Uganda
November 9 – Annual All Saints Memorial Communion Celebration
November 8 – Annual Church Conference at St. Paul’s (Valley Drive, Syracuse) from 1 to 3 in the afternoon. This serves as our annual meeting and an opportunity to connect with other churches in the Syracuse area.
November 22 – CCUMC Craft Fair (watch for more information)
6. November 9, 2025, will be our annual ALL SAINTS MEMORIAL COMMUNION SERVICE – this is a time for our church family to stop and give thanks and remember those members of our family who have died in the past year. If you would like a family member or friend who has died since November 1, 2024, please let Randa Greer or myself know.
7. Holiday Craft Fair at Christ Community is Saturday, November 22, 2025. Over two dozen local and regional crafters will be set up in the fellowship hall with their various crafts and creations for sale. Please take one or two or five of the posters Betty Kline has put together and hang them in your place of work, where you shop, and other community bulletin boards.
8. In our prayers, please pray for the families of those who have died in the recent spate of violence across our land; pray for violent situations in the Ukraine, in Gaza, and elsewhere. Pray for the families of those who lost children in the school collapse in Indonesia. Pray for our friends and family who are sick or struggling. Pray for our leaders (all of them) and our enemies (as Jesus commanded us to). Most of all Pray!
Parting Thought
I’m just 12 days from departing on my 21st Uganda mission journey. I am stunned it has been 20+ times. My first Uganda journey was in 2007 when I travelled with my covenant group (Alan, Bill, Aaron, and me) to participate in some teaching days (Aaron ended up at a seminary most of the two weeks) and to help graduate the first Nexus Seminary classes. I remember that first trip quite well, I had no idea what I was doing, how to work with a translator, or enough of the local culture and language to do the job effectively. I remember trying to illustrate a principle of leadership by talking about dog sleds (yes, I said dog sleds, dog sleds 30 miles from the equator, not exactly culturally or geographically appropriate. I have gotten better over the years.
I keep going back for two simple reasons. First, God has yet to release me from the work. When I retired a little over two years ago, God had clearly released me from what I was doing. When I returned to pastoral ministry this past July, God had clearly called me back into this work. Nexus Seminary, Uganda is one of the reasons I get out of bed every morning (the other two are my wife and all of you). I pray before every journey. I pray before buying airline tickets. God, do you still want me to be doing this? And God says: “yup.” (Well, a more dignified response than “yup”, but you get the picture.
I am a better pastor, better communicator, better teacher, a better leader and, without a doubt, I am a better man for engaging in this work.
Thank you for your blessings and encouragement.
BJ Norrix, lead servant, missionary, resident theologian