Henrietta United Church of Christ

Rev. David Inglis, Marcie Gass and Donna Palmer June 29, 2008

Colossians 2:16-19 Reflections on NY Conference Annual Meeting

“A New Kind of Community”

At the New York Conference Annual Meeting, Liz Pixley and I attended a workshop on UCC Polity - the unique way that our denomination governs itself. We were reminded that who we are today has a lot to do with where we came from. So here’s a little of our family history as a denomination.

Back in the 1530's King Henry VIII of England had a problem. His Queen Catherine bore him several children, but only one of them survived infancy, and she was a girl. He wanted a boy who could one day succeed him as king. Hmmm. There was this very alluring woman, Ann of Boleyn. Maybe if he divorced Catherine and married Ann, his problem would be solved. But the Pope didn’t approve and refused to grant him an annulment. So King Henry trumped the Pope by creating a separate church–the Church of England. He kept the hierarchical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, but he put the church under his own control, run by an archbishop that he selected. No other churches or religious practices were allowed, on penalty of death or imprisonment.

But, a new spirit was moving throughout Europe–the Protestant Reformation–and it was stirring the hearts and souls of people in England. They knew that observing all the church’s rituals isn’t what turns the human heart toward God. They knew that just believing what you are told to believe isn’t real faith. They knew that avoiding sin out of fear of eternal damnation isn’t true righteousness. They longed for a relationship with God that was personal and immediate, without the politics, coercion, and trappings of the established church.

Those who called themselves Puritans worked to purify the church from within, and tried to create a spiritual renewal among the faithful. But others believed that the old structures were too solidly established to really change. They became known as the Separatists, because they established separate congregations that secretly met in people’s homes and barns and fields.

Eventually, a Separatist group fled to Holland to escape persecution, and then they came to this country on the Mayflower in 1620. Today we call them the Pilgrims. They sought to establish a new kind of community that was centered on God, that had no higher authority than Christ, that regarded each person as equal, and that made their decisions by listening to their conscience, discussing and voting together. They elected their own pastor, John Robinson, who said, “God has yet more light and truth to break forth out of His holy Word.” Or as we say today, “God Is Still Speaking.”

Once the Pilgrims established a colony in Massachusetts, other Separatists and then Puritans began streaming into New England. Together they formed the Congregational Church: each congregation had the authority to call its own pastor and determine its own style of worship, expressions of faith, and Christian practices, as they listened to how God was speaking to them. Congregationalists didn’t have to follow a king or bishop or the majority opinion of the society around them. They could become a prophetic voice speaking a new word to the world.

Marcie Gass is going to share some of the ways that Congregationalists, which joined with the Christian, Evangelical, and Reformed denominations to form the United Church of Christ, have followed there convictions to help move the whole church and our society towards justice and wholeness.

As Dave just said, people were longing for a relationship with God that was personal and immediate. But IMMEDIATE is not easy when we are trying to change lives and societal ways. From the Pilgrims in 1620 to the God Is Still Speaking UCC people in 2008, there are those who have faithfully done the often difficult work of bringing about change.

Jump ahead to 1700 when the Congregational church, along with others, took a stand against slavery. The outcome of their efforts laid the ground for the abolitionist movement. Without their efforts would America, in 1785, have had its first ordained protestant African American pastor?

In 1839 the Supreme Court ruled that captives / slaves are not PROPERTY. This was partly the result of the Congregational church, along with others, working to free the slaves who were brought over on the Amistad ship.

Sixty-eight years after the first African American was ordained another change breathed through our church — Antoinette Brown Blackwell became what some believe is the first WOMAN in history to be elected to pastor a congregation. And aren’t we blessed to have a HUCC connection to that event!

More recently, 1957, we saw another shift, as the Evangelical and Reformed Church united with the Congregational Church to become the United Church of Christ. Imagine what it took to embrace the spiritual traditions of believers of African, Asian, Pacific, Latin American, Native American, and European descendants. Imagine!

God IS Still Speaking! In 1972 The United Church of Christ ordained an openly gay person — the Rev. William R. Johnson. And our denomination is still calling us to seek equal rights for ALL people —whoever they are and wherever they are on life’s journey.

All of these courageous actions were very controversial at the time. If they had been put to a vote of the whole denomination, most people would have said “absolutely not,” or “we’re not ready for that yet,” and they most likely would have all been voted down. And yet, without their bold witness, there wouldn’t have been a Rev. Martin Luther King, Rev. Glenda Prins, or Rev. Bonnie Bates; and Gene Ver wouldn’t have dared to go to seminary.

And yet, though we value autonomy and freedom in the UCC, that’s only one aspect of what makes our faith vital and alive. Christ calls into a personal relationship with God, but not into an individualistic relationship where we do faith all by ourselves. Jesus prayed, not “that his followers may all be independent,” but “that they may all be one.” We are called into a Christ-centered community, where we inspire, equip and empower each other to grow in faith, forgiveness, service, and love. And by uniting our perspectives, our talents, our energy, and our resources, we can do far more ministry than any of us could do by ourselves.

I believe this is the new kind of community that Jesus envisioned for the church–freedom of spirit through God’s grace, but unity of our spirits through God’s love that makes us one. And the UCC tries to embody this kind of community in our congregations, and as our congregations unite to form the whole denomination. God has made us each different. We don’t have to see things the same way. But we are still a church, we are still a denomination, we are still one body of Christ, because we all humble ourselves before Christ, who loves us all, calls us all, empowers us all, and guides us all–each in our own way, yet also mysteriously through each other and with each other and for each other. So we are committed to hang in there with each other, to respectfully listen to each other, and to be accountable to each other. That’s why in the UCC we say, “In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, diversity; in all things, charity.” That’s the kind of community we are as the UCC.

So what happens when the disagreement becomes sharp and contentious? Baptists have a history of strong freedom and autonomy. They have split into 124 different denominations, with many more smaller movements, groups and fellowships, each with its own take on faith, practice and doctrine. How does the UCC handle disagreement? Well, we work to stay in relationship despite our differences. We agree to respectfully disagree and work to find common ground.

It seems like we get to practice that every time the denomination gathers at the national level or the Conference level. Donna Palmer is going to report on the resolutions that were voted on at this year’s NY Conference Annual Meeting.

My portion of this sermon is to share with you the resolutions that were presented at the UCC’s New York Conference held at the Silver Bay Conference Center on June 6-8. We have had very few resolutions in the last few years. This year, four were presented for discussion. I’ll briefly tell you about them, but if you are inclined to read more, there are copies at the back of the sanctuary.

1. The first one discussed was one against the expansion of a Toxic Waste Site in the towns of Lewiston and Porter.

(Information read from resolution).

2. The second was a resolution to expand the medical leave act “Time to Care Act” giving care givers more paid time off with their families following the birth of a child (or adoption) or for caring for elder parents.

(Information read from resolution).

3. The third was in support of the New Sanctuary Movement. (Information read from resolution.)

4. The final one was in support of the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright and the Congregation of Trinity UCC in Chicago. (Information read from resolution.)

This fourth one stirred up the most controversy. This resolution was originally written after the Bill Moyer’s interview, but before some of the comments from Rev Dr. Wright. Some felt that they could not support Rev. Wright after some of his comments and there was much discussion.

Many wanted to be supportive, but disagreed with what he had to say to the media.

But because of the fact that we are all one in the UCC, and we are a church in covenant with each other all felt that it was an important resolution and we came up with different wording of the resolution that most of us agreed upon. Instead of “support” we expressed “kinship, sympathy and concern for our brother the Rev. Dr. Wright and Trinity UCC of Chicago.” No one should have to go through the harassment and criticism that they have encountered in this political campaign.

So the final “be it therefore resolved” reads as follows:

1. Express kinship, sympathy and concern for our brother, the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright and Trinity UCC in Chicago - without regard to agreement or disagreement with Rev. Wright’s statements, from the pulpit or elsewhere.

2. Call to account those in the media who have engaged in shoddy reporting, use of quotes out of context, harassment and manipulation with regard to Trinity UCC and Rev. Dr. Wright.

3. Call upon our conference and congregations, and there leadership, to engage in study and sacred conversations with members, other faith bodies and the community on issues of race, theology and religious expression; to continue to create opportunities for dialogue among our diverse churches to learn more about how race/ethnicity may shape religious expression and our understanding of social issues; to work together to find ways to take action against racism.

This resolution led the group of us that attended the conference to talk about covenant, what it means and what our responsibilities are. In Webster’s Dictionary it is defined as a formal binding agreement. How do we define it at HUCC?

I just visited my brother, Jeff who lives in New Hampshire last week-end. He has been divorced for a number of years now and has found someone new and will be remarrying in September. His new future bride to be was a former Catholic and she thought she could not get married in a church again, or it wouldn’t be official, due to her Catholic upbringing. I suggested that they attend a UCC church in the area. They took my advice and have been attending and meeting with the pastor and will be married in that church. I was very excited about them finding a church home, especially a UCC church home. But I found out that this old Congregational Church had just voted out of the UCC, due to the open and affirming issue and same sex marriages. I believe the pastor was a former Baptist and somehow he thought that he would be told to perform same sex marriages, so my brother told me. Did this pastor understand covenant? Needless to say I was disappointed, but at the same time glad that my brother is regularly attending church. I proceeded to tell my brother that the UCC doesn’t tell local churches what to do. We do not have a pope sending down decrees for everyone to follow. We’re churches in covenant with each other. Many of our churches may never perform same sex marriages. It’s still illegal in most states. The UCC through the General Synod and the UCC New York Conference is just asking local congregations to be in dialogue on difficult issues. To be informed and be involved in issues important to them. They make recommendations for us to learn more about these concerns. It’s up to each church to respond as they feel called and responsible to.

When we run into conflicts and controversies in our faith and practice, Paul’s words from his letter to the Colossians can guide us.