by Rev. Dr. Mary Susan Gast, Conference Minister, January-February, 2005
Monthly Reflections from The Pacific ~ News and Events of the NCNC United Church of Christ

STAY ON MESSAGE

Words of encouragement and support for those ministering "in the fields."

Back in Indiana and Northern Kentucky , where most of the UCC churches claim the German Evangelical and Reformed portion of our religious heritage, there is a practice which has long been observed. Infants and young children are baptized, and they confirm their baptism when they reach adolescence. Traditionally the pastor leads the young people through a year of study, prayer, discernment, and preparation and, , as the day of the Confirmation service approaches, the pastor meets with each of them individually to determine that, indeed, the young person is ready to take on the vows of baptism which had been spoken on his or her behalf. And, if the young person is ready to go forward, the Pastor imparts to her or him a particular verse of scripture which is meant to guide and direct the young person in the future even as it identifies and celebrates who the young person now is. During my sojourn in that region I met 90-year-olds who vividly recalled “their verse” and recounted its impact on their lives, and I met 12-year-olds who were in active contemplation of the truth and mystery of “their verse.”

All of this has caused me to imagine the Eternal One surveying the panoply of world religions then playfully and profoundly assigning to each faith community a particular aspect of divine truth to struggle with, to live into, and to live up to. For decades I have been convinced that the UCC was given Genesis 1:26. Our past, our present, and our future has been, is, and will be a working out and working with what it means that all human beings are created in the image and likeness of God.

This past December, along came the “God is Still Speaking” ad campaign. Most likely you’ve seen the two spots. The first features “two muscle-bound "bouncers" standing guard outside a symbolic, picturesque church and selecting which persons are permitted to attend Sunday services. This represents the alienation felt by some persons toward church and religion. Written text interrupts the scene, announcing, ‘Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we.’ A narrator then proclaims the United Church of Christ's commitment to Jesus' extravagant welcome: ‘No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here.’” The second is a simple embodiment of the multi-faceted, multi-faced beloved community, with two children going through the familiar verse and hand gestures to, “Here’s the church; here’s the steeple; open the doors and see all the people;” but they do so with a freshness and genuineness that makes me feel like I’m hearing it for the very first time. All human beings are created in the image and likeness of God.

I’ve watched a lot of UCC people watch these ads: lifelong devoted members, teenagers without a lot of religious awareness, political conservatives, political radicals, young adults who’ve not really seen the relevance of church life, and the raw number of those with tears in their eyes has been staggering. Or maybe illuminating.

Forget the uproar with the two national TV networks; set aside for the moment the questions that have been raised about the prudent use of bouncer imagery; shift the focus, however briefly, from the impact of the message of God’s extravagant welcome upon those whose church connections have been painfully severed; and take in what is happening in our own hearts. We have been given a verse, a message, a spiritual truth to struggle with, to live into, and to live up to. It’s Genesis 1:26; it’s hospitality; it’s the radical inclusivity embodied by Jesus Christ. That message is coupled with the affirmation of our Congregational ancestor Pastor John Robinson that “There is yet more light to break forth from God’s holy word,” which seems for all the world to be the forerunner of “God is still speaking.”

Savor that verse. It’s ours. Not exclusively ours, of course, but ours in the sense that it makes sense of our historical witness as a denomination; it makes sense of our free-wheeling, covenantal, individual-conscience-based, congregational and non-hierarachical “organization,” and of the shared basis of our seeking, questing, Biblically-based, soaring-into-unexplored-mysteries kind of faith. God IS still speaking. And let it be said of us that we are still listening, with all humility, to the truth and mystery of the Holy One’s message.

                                                                  ~ Mary Susan

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