We are a justice-seeking people, a celebrative worshiping and prayerful people, and a visionary, future-making people: we believe God is Still Speaking! We are a peace church, we proudly call ourselves a multi-racial, multi-cultural, anti-racism church, and we are open and affirming, embodying God's beautifully diverse rainbow world.
Our new Web site launched on May 28, 2009. Please pardon the dust as we get settled in our new online home!
(Our old site remains available for now.)
AT THE HEART OF THE GOSPEL week 5
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Eternal One sitting on a throne, high and lofty…..Seraphs were in attendance…..And one called to another and said:
"Holy, holy, holy is the Sovereign One; the whole earth is full of God’s glory."
The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a person of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the Invincible God, the Sovereign over all !" Then I heard the voice of the Most High saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I; send me!" [Isaiah 6: 1a, 2a, 3-5, 8]
These are the words of the prophet Isaiah, spoken after his epiphany—his encounter with the Holy. All in all it is not a pleasant scripture passage. Inspiring, yes. Courageous, definitely. But not pleasant.
Isaiah, after his epiphany, recounts to his people how he came to be a prophet. The prophets were often criticized when they said disturbing things, which they usually did. One of the taunts that people would throw at them was something like, “Yeah, so what makes you think YOU’RE a prophet? Anybody can SAY they’re speaking for God. Prove it, you troublemaker!”
So Isaiah tells the story of how he saw God, enthroned and splendid. And there were these angels everywhere singing about how holy, how marvelous, how totally GOOD God is. “And the doors shook, and the place filled with smoke. And I said, ‘Whoa!’” Actually, Isaiah said, “Woe is me,” but I think he was also saying “Whoa!” as in “Wow” AND “Hold everything! I’m not wise enough or good enough or faithful enough to be here.”
But when Isaiah listened a little more and heard God asking the angelic crowd “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah found himself blurting out “Here am I; send me!” So, Isaiah explains to the people, “It’s not so much that I think I’m entitled to speak for God, to be a prophet, I’m kind of stuck with the job.”
“Here am I. Send me.”
Courageous words. Inspiring. But not pleasant in their application.
Particularly when the Author of Life gives Isaiah his assignment, in a taunting tone, “Go and say to this people, ‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.’ Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed.”
“Uh,” Isaiah stammers, in verse 11, “how long am I gonna keep doing this?”
“Until the land is utterly desolate,” God snaps. “Until the emptiness in the midst of the land is immeasurable.”
Not at all pleasant.
There are places and times when we are all called to speak from the heart of the Gospel. To voice the heart of the Holy One, the Great Love at the center of creation. And in some times and some places this is not pleasant. Neither enjoyable or amiable. Indeed the discernment of the heart of the Gospel, the specifics of our individual epiphanies may be in conflict within our communities of faith.
As we tunnel our ways to the heart of the Gospel, can we keep in balance the ideas, inspirations, interactions and altercations that form the enterprise?
As we voice our sometimes shaky response, “Here am I. Send me,” will we sing with the psalmist?
“I give You thanks, O God Most High, with my whole heart;
In the face of other “gods” I sing to You;
I bow my head before You and give thanks that You are Who You are,
I give thanks for Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness;
Which promise to surpass even what You have already done.
On the day I cried out, You answered me, You increased my strength of soul.
Your steadfast love, O God Most High, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of Your hands.”
Psalm 138: 1-3, 8b
Redemption Songs,
available under Worship
Your steadfast love, O God Most High, endures forever,
Feb Camp 2010 - Where Do You Fit?
Youth in grades 9-12 and adult youth leaders are invited to attend.
Feb Camp Retreat – February 13-15, 2010 at Monte Toyon in Aptos, CA. Feb Camp begins at 1 PM on Saturday and ends at 11 AM on Monday.
To learn more and to register, visit the Feb Camp Retreat event page.
Become a Justice LED Regional Trainer!
Leaders Engaging and Developing
My work tells me that there are folks in the pews with concerns for justice.
What is required is an intentional program of calling out, training and empowering.
The Justice LED program is that program and it will be a blessing to Christ’s church. –
Peter Wells, National Certified Trainerread more...
Sacred Conversations on Race
At the 2008 Annual Gathering, delegates adopted the following Administrative Action:
In response to the call to engage in sacred conversations on race “for the health of our nation” and for “the truth-telling and reconciliation [that are] crucial to our spiritual, physical, and emotional wholeness,” the Northern California Nevada Conference of the United Church of Christ commits itself to initiate and participate in sacred conversations on race over the course of the next two years.read more...
HAITI — DISASTER RESPONSE … “BY YOUR LIGHT WE SEE LIGHT”
The passage from Psalms assigned for Sunday, January 17, might strike us as ironic in the days following the earthquake in Haiti. Ironic, as in, “characterized by often poignant difference or incongruity between what is expected and what actually is.”
Your steadfast love, O Holy One, reaches to the heavens,
Your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your graciousness is like the mighty mountains,
Your justice like the great deep;
You save humans and animals alike, O Redeemer.
How cherished is Your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take shelter in the shadow of Your wings.
They feast on the abundant fare of Your house,
And You give them drink from the river of Your delights.
The fountain of life springs forth from You;
By Your light we see light.
Maintain Your faithful care for those devoted to You,
And lavish Your blessings upon those who trust in You. PSALM 36: 5-10, from Redemption Songs
Devastation so absolute, need so widespread, basic, overwhelming, and visible, pulls us all into the consideration of ultimate matters, theological reflection. And we hear a full range of voices, from Pat Robertson’s declaration that the Haitians brought this on themselves when they made “a pact with the devil” and gained their political independence from France; to the opening question on “World, Have Your Say,” the BBC call-in show: Has this event shaken your faith? to the discouraged fall-back response, “It must be God’s will;” to President Obama’s assurance to the people of Haiti that they would not be forgotten or forsaken.read more...
An Appeal for Prayers of Solidarity and Support for the Philippines
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
We share with you the recent news of the gruesome massacre of unarmed civilians in the Philippine
This wanton taking of human life is a grim reminder of the pervading culture of impunity and the lack of respect for human rights that currently exists in the
Heartbeat of God: Making Whole Body and Soul
Women’s Spiritual Weekend Retreatread more...
Put Your Whole Self In
“A good person produces good from the good treasure of his or her heart … because the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart." Luke 6:45
The words we speak and the actions we take show what we truly believe. One key lesson we learned during the God is still speaking campaign is that is our speaking coupled with inspired action can change the world. It begins with God’s Presence in each of us, flowing among us – a gathered and beloved community of communities we affectionately call The United Church of Christ.
We invite you and your congregation to speak and act this year, putting your whole selves in. Maybe the hokey pokey is what it’s all about? Toward that end we recommend the following two to three-year Stewardship initiative for local congregations and call each person and congregation to “Put Your Whole Self In.” We believe that if our congregations and members do this, we will all grow together – spiritually and financially – locally, regionally, nationally, and globally.read more...
