I'm Your Child
I am still singing, "Guide My Feet", as we raise money for the 100K Run. Today, I’m thinking about the last line of this song, "Lord, I don’t want to run this race in vain." Here again, I recall hearing this song sung slowly, and, after singing this line, a loud, "Have Mercy!" would spontaneously emerge. It was as if the person imagined the fretful possibility of losing it all at the end of the struggle and then thought, "No way, Lord! I don’t want to run this race in vain."
As an African American person, I feel that way when I hear of increasing public discussion about "the will" of the majority and also hear progressive people’s preoccupation with consensus. And then I think, "We could never have freed the slave in these times — there was neither the will of the majority to do so in the 18th and 19th centuries nor did progressives of that time lack the nerve to do what was necessary despite the absence of consensus; they loved the call of the prophetic Jesus more than the lure of respectability, believing that healthy consensus would come in the future - and on the big issues, at great cost.
There are still slaves to free … in our time. Guide My Feet!
Before I join a cause, I look to the nerve and commitment of its leaders. I don’t want to run my race in vain. The Northern California Nevada Conference of the United Church of Christ has been and continues to be a bold leader with a proven track record, often taking us places we don’t think we want to go … at least not yet, but which turn out to be the right places. The decision of one NCNC Association and this Conference to ordain William R. Johnson, the first openly gay man ordained to ministry in a mainline denomination, has literally helped change the world over a long period of time. That was 1972! It was costly. We lost churches, members, and money.
It has not been in vain.
All across the nation, I experience the ripple effect of that one act for justice and new understanding. I have met literally thousands of people who never thought they might have a relationship with God, but who now, because of your leadership, believe it’s possible. They can now see and accept themselves. Some see others they had previously rejected — people who now enrich their lives as children of God without whom they could now not imagine living.
I hear them singing together, "I’m your child, while I run this race … Lord I don’t want to run this race in vain"
Have Mercy! Please give to the 100K Run to help support the leadership, spiritual formation and ministry of the Northern California Nevada Conference. Your response to one [or more!] of these questions might provide the motivation for you to join in the 100K run today:
Where do pastors come from anyway?
Did you realize that every year it costs $1,000 per candidate in time and administration for the Conference to fulfill its role in preparing each of our 50 to 60 candidates for authorized ministry so that there can be pastors to serve our local congregations and agencies?
Will you give to the 100K Run
so that we do not run this race in vain?
Do you love our UCC Camps—Caz and Taz?
Did you realize that in order for our children to win in this race, given approximately 300 campers and 100 volunteers, all volunteers and staff need background checks and management because there is nothing more important than the safety of our children? We collect $125,000 in fees, but UCC Share giving subsidizes the program with $65,000 annually, or $217 per camper.
Will you give to the 100K Run
so that we do not run this race in vain?
Did you leave your heart here with us…
though you live and serve someplace else?
Is this where you began ministry or membership in the United Church of Christ? Do you have fond memories of church or leadership in this Conference? Do you value the NCNC style of innovation and leadership that continues to influence the UCC nationwide?
Will you give to the 100K Run
so that we do not run this race in vain?
Will you place one or more $100 "runners"
in the race
in honor of your favorite experience of life
in the United Church of Christ?
Will you write and tell us about the experience,
about how you learned or taught or lived out the reality that
"I’m Your child?"
Together we look forward, toward the certain hope, that one day all God’s children will be able to say with confidence, "I’m your child…" and together we will know that our race is not in vain.
Will you give generously to the
2nd Annual NCNC 100K Run?
The goal is to raise $100,000 by Annual Gathering,
May 15, 2010.
Click here to see many ways to increase your gift
by joining with others.
I’m running. Will you run with me? Lord, I don’t want to run this race in vain.
Thoughtfully and Prayerfully Considering,
Ron Buford, Director of Development
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