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| "Pacific Currents" by Rev. Dr. Mary Susan Gast,
Conference Minister, December, 1999 Arise, Shine . . .
"Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Most High has risen upon you." [Isaiah 60: 1] In 1981 I became the part-time pastor of an allegedly dying church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. There were maybe 20 people at worship on a Sunday morning. There were four adults under the age of 40-two of them being my husband and me-and two children. It soon became clear, though, that this church had no intention of dying. They were looking for life. So we began the journey to new life. A journey that is never easy. A journey that daily threatens to crush you between the mountain of your commitment and the boulders of "how we've always done it" as you negotiate your way along the narrow passage into that bright future. But the people of Smith Memorial UCC were above all a hospitable people, ready to welcome new people, new ways, and new life. Slowly, but somehow suddenly, new life rushed in. People from the streets, people from across town, never-been-to-church folks, refugees from other churches showed up. Soon there were children-and a Sunday School Director. Musicians from the Grand Rapids Symphony appeared-and blew the music program into a gale of praise. Our first publicity pieces had proclaimed, "At Smith Church You'll Never Be Just Another Face in the Crowd!," which was true, because there was no crowd. That changed, too. And the greatest challenge became designing worship for a congregation that spoke many languages, where not everyone could read, where recent immigrants from Eritrea were befriended by Native Americans, and where the only hymn we all seemed to agree on was, "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms." I was reminded of that rich montage this week when Melinda McLain, our "Pacific" editor, remarked, "Reading the church newsletters right now is like attending a Samoan feast-it's hard to believe there's so much going on." And Melinda, being Melinda, didn't hesitate to elaborate. It's something about dreaming big and stretching. Feels like a revival. Feels like an end to some old doldrums. Feels like a new identity emerging. "It's the City of Refuge choir flying all over the place, singing everywhere, making a real mark in the secular community. It's the new Palo Alto stained glass windows and endowment challenge gift. It's a lot of churches completing capital campaigns and major construction to make space more accessible and flexible. It's a Jim Manley concert in Stockton. It's Petaluma being rebuffed by the Boy Scouts of America and not being willing to accept that. It's artists blown away that Phil Porter's work could be so affirmed in a church like First Congregational Berkley. It's a health fair in Sacramento. It's First Congregational Fresno celebrating their new sanctuary by throwing a party for the whole community. It's Hispanic Ministry in Pescadero. It's a Presbyterian pastor friend of mine who said, 'who turned on the juice in you UCC people?'" Who, indeed? In this season of divine advent, of preposterous hope, and miracles in neglected places, remember to "lift up your eyes and look around" for those silently accumulating traces of transformation. "Then you shall see and be radiant." [Isa 60: 4-5] ~ Mary Susan |
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