October Pastoral Letter
To all God’s Beloved in the Zion United Church of Christ, Steubenville, Ohio, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from our Triune God, the Holy One of Israel.
“Tempus fugit.” This Latin phrase, which translates into English as “time flies,” comes from the Roman poet Virgil’s Georgics and is often used as a proverb to remind people that time moves quickly, life is short, and opportunities should not be wasted.
I find hard to believe that it has been almost a year since I first walked into the Zion United Church of Christ pulpit back on October 19, 2025. When I retired from serving as Pastor of the Bethlehem United Presbyterian Church near Wheeling at the end of June 2023, I really did not see myself preaching almost every Sunday, let alone preaching almost every Sunday at the same church for an entire year. Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday that I first preached at Zion.
While this past year seems to have flown by quickly, I have learned a few things along the way. I have learned that Zion truly is an open and affirming fellowship of Christians, and that, as it states on the bottom of the front page of the bulletin every Sunday, “No Matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.”
I have certainly felt welcomed. This past year Zion not only welcomed me but three very different Ohio poets to read the day’s Psalm in worship and then present a poetry workshop following worship. We plan on welcoming a fourth Ohio Poet the first Sunday of January 2027. We have not only started affirming our faith most Sundays with either the Nicene Creed, the Apostles’ Creed, or the United Church of Christ Statement of faith as adapted by Robert V. Moss, but we have also affirmed that one can profess one’s faith and still have doubts and questions. I think this is especially apparent in the Bible Study held almost every Sunday after worship. Zion has also been open to new experiences such as a Christmas Eve Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, prayerfully walking a labyrinth, and more recently, coming forward to gather around the Lord’s Table for communion where, with Church Council approval, communicants are now offered a choice of either wine or grape juice.
Who knows what new and exciting things might unfold as time flies by. Let us not waste any opportunities that come our way by allowing them to pass us by. Let us celebrate this short earthly life God has given us knowing that there is indeed something beyond it. Let us acknowledge that time can seem to move quickly and that we should, as 17th century English poet Robert Herrick advised, “Gather ye rosebuds while we may.”
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you
John Edward Harris
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