By Ian Tosh
Moderator, First Church Somerville, UCC
General Synod Delegate 

I figure I will need to keep saying this about each speaker we see here.  WOW! 

Today is “Suncoast Saturday”.  No business today, but there is a series of workshops and seminars, to inspire, provoke, educate, and train church members.  The day started off with the keynote address from Leonard Pitts Jr.  If I am being honest I had never heard of him before.  Apparently he is a journalist (a pretty famous one) and he is a member of the UCC and a Floridian.  What could he have to say to guide our time together?  Back to my previous comment… WOW.

As one tweet said during his speech (by the way twitter #gs28, is a great companion to the live feed) “He may be a journalist, but he can preach!”.  He called us to task for being silent as Christians in the face of real humanitarian crisis, he challenged us to make bold goals and not be afraid to fail “as MLK did” (you will have to see the speech for context).  He was moving, informative, funny and wonderful.

This was followed for me by a wonderful basics lesson in Islamic/Christian relations, based on Islamic texts, presented by Dr. Muhammad Sammak.  If people of all religions can approach each other with the respect that he expressed today, then peace on earth is right around the corner.

So far today, I have also stopped by the Still Speaking store and picked up my “Comma Snuggy” (not a joke).  If you want one, let me know I will bring one back for you!

Off now for more fun, fellowship, something special tonight at 6:15, but you did not hear it form me.