Embedded Files
I. Acknowledging Jesus Christ as the sole Head of the Church.
II. Communicating passion for the oneness of the Body of Christ (John 17:21).
III. Holding active membership in a Local Church of the United Church of Christ.
IV. Participating in the various settings of the United Church of Christ, including Local
Churches, Associations, Conferences, General Synod, and global ministries.
V. Knowing and appreciating UCC history, polity, and theology.
VI. Exhibiting a commitment to the core values of the United Church of Christ: continuing
testament, extravagant welcome, and changing lives.
I. Acknowledging Jesus Christ as the sole Head of the Church.
When I lead worship, I demonstrate the acknowledgment of Jesus Christ as the sole Head of the Church through sermons, corporate prayers, and litanies during worship services, following the model of Church of the Savior's worship services. I feel that we, as a church community led by Rev. John Gill, demonstrate this belief most clearly when sharing communion. However, I don't lead worship every Sunday since my main focus is with youth and children.
In my work with youth, I choose curricula and scripture that explain why we believe that Jesus Christ is the sole Head of the Church. I, along with other adult youth leaders testify to this belief from our own perspectives as well. One particular example is the confirmation class curriculum that I helped John Gill to create, entitled "Following the Way of Jesus." We started with a version of this in 2016 and have updated the program as we have utilized it. "The Way(s) of Jesus," as it has come to be known, addresses several "ways" that Jesus taught and lived, tracing those disciplines through the resurrection of Christ and to our congregation and the UCC today. (The Ways: Prayer, Spiritual Wisdom, Service to Others, Extravagant Welcome, Social Justice) I believe that this helps the young people of our church to connect the Jesus of Bible stories from their Sunday school classes to the Christ whom we serve in our church today.
For the final lesson, we usually have a weekend long closing retreat, held at Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center or another similar place near Knoxville. Through those lessons and worship services, we learn about the resurrection of Christ and Christ as the head of our church and the wider Church., plus the scriptural concept of calling. "From The Way of Jesus to Jesus the Way" is the theme for the retreat. I am including a link to the Confirmation Calendar, which shows the topic for each lesson and to the Closing Retreat materials, which shows the lesson outline for the aforementioned "From The Way of Jesus to Jesus the Way."
II. Communicating passion for the oneness of the Body of Christ (John 17:21).
John 17:21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us,[a] so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (NRSV)
I believe that this scripture communicates to us Jesus' dream for the church: to live and act as one body, with Christ as the Head. I believe that this oneness, this unity, is a worthy goal for our denomination-and for the global Church. However, I feel that oneness of the Body of Christ is still a dream-an aspiration. Like the "long arc of justice," I believe we should be working toward oneness, yet achieving it seems almost impossible without an inbreaking of God into our world. Within our larger denomination, we have made progress toward inviting individual people into oneness, especially those who have been left out by other faith traditions. However, I cannot envision a time when the myriad expressions of the Christian faith come together as one Body of Christ. Of course, my vision is so limited while God's vision is boundless; I am trying to learn to trust that Holy Vision rather than my own doubts. I sometimes feel like Thomas, believing only what my senses reveal to me-needing proof that I probably could not comprehend even if God were to reveal it to me.
I am including an essay on what I see as the "already / not yet" status of our goal of being a "united and uniting" church because it illustrates both my doubts and my hopes:
What does it mean for the UCC to be a united and uniting church?
I think that the central concept to be considered is the evolving nature of the UCC as a united and uniting church; we are ‘already/not yet’ united and ‘already/not yet’ uniting. Since the four streams merged, our national leadership has been faced with questions about differences that have required thoughtful answers before we could unite and become unifiers. In The Evolution of a UCC Style, Randi Jones Walker writes, “Scarcely was the ink dry on the [first] Statement of Faith, when another question arose in the context of a larger cultural debate…Did this Statement of Faith…include women?” She also notes that this question was closely followed by questions about “…class, race…sexual orientation, biblical interpretation, language, generation, and politics.” (Walker 2) I would add ability/disability and make the claim that, even within the UCC, we are still facing these questions at the local church level. For example, the national UCC advocates for the full inclusion of LGBTQ people in the life of the church, including leadership and ordained ministry positions. However, many local congregations, while remaining a part of the UCC, do not live out these claims in their treatment of LGBTQ persons or in their calling of ordained ministers. Another example is the national UCC stance on the right treatment of immigrants and refugees (which is scripturally sound), yet many local churches’ actions show indifference and a lack of mercy toward our immigrant siblings. We are ‘already/not yet’ united on these core pieces of our identity, the way we live out our faith. I know that we claim “unity in diversity;” I also know that this is “…an ongoing process shaped by the work of the Holy Spirit and expressed in mission.” (Walker 9) However, I believe that we need to find ways to bridge the gap between the national UCC narrative and the lived truth of local congregations at least as much as we need to be a unifying body with other denominations.
Our evolving Statement(s) of Faith illustrate deep theological thought and consensus on the national level. In Christ, Creeds and Life: Conversations about the Center of Our Faith, compiled and edited in 2007, members of the Theological Commission of the Penn Central Conference used the doxological version of the UCC Statement of Faith (from 1981) as a framework for a book that was meant to help local congregations reflect on “…what our church traditions have taught about Christ in the past, what we proclaim about Christ today, and how Christ can really help answer many of the questions we face every day.” (Thayer and Jacobsen 14) Perhaps we need to create a newer resource to use at the local church level, one that helps members and congregations reflect on and understand the theological bases and ramifications of national actions. Our national leaders take very public stands against injustices perpetrated by our government, recently practicing civil disobedience to draw attention to family separation at our southern border. Do local UCC churches support those actions? Are local church pastors making sound theological and scriptural cases for social justice activism? I believe that, in the churches most closely aligned with UCC beliefs and identity, the pastors and leaders ARE preaching, teaching, and leading their members in ways that connect them more fully with other UCC churches, the national UCC, and churches from traditions with which we have relationships. In the Southeast Conference, the united and uniting claim is visible in the connections between local churches and the national church, the strong sense of a UCC identity, and the partnerships with local ELCA and PC-USA churches on social justice issues. I see evidence that those local churches that attend conference and association meetings and that strongly identify with the UCC are usually the churches that have strong social justice tendencies and are apt to work with churches from our partner denominations. In conclusion, I believe that we are still evolving into our full promise of being a united and uniting church.
III. Holding active membership in a Local Church of the United Church of Christ.
IV. Participating in the various settings of the United Church of Christ, including Local
Churches, Associations, Conferences, General Synod, and global ministries.
V. Knowing and appreciating UCC history, polity, and theology.
VI. Exhibiting a commitment to the core values of the United Church of Christ: continuing testament, extravagant welcome, and changing lives.
Besides working at Church of the Savior UCC in Knoxville, I am an active member in other areas of the church's missions and ministries. Currently, I serve on the Worship Team, helping to plan and craft worship services, and am a member of our church's Justice Knox representatives, attending and inviting folks to house meetings, rallies, and actions. I serve as a COS representative to Welcoming Immigrants Faith Network (an ecumenical group) and a member of the Accompaniment Team (walking alongside immigrant families and providing support). Occasionally, I volunteer for service activities or working on the church grounds.
In other settings, I served on the Ala-Tenn Association (now called the Living Waters Association) Revisioning Committee for three years and currently serve as the association treasurer. I am active in annual meetings for both the association and the conference, having been a presenter for both in previous years. I am in my third year as a member of the Winter Youth Retreat Planning Committee, which plans and directs the regional/ecumenical event in Blowing Rock NC. I encourage others to attend annual meetings (so much so that I am known for my "enthusiasm" about the worship services). Starting before my time at COS, our youth group has faithfully participated in the Winter Youth Retreat; I have continued that tradition, first as a chaperone and now as leader. I helped our youth group raise money for travel to Orlando for the National Youth Event there; John Gill and I served as chaperones and leaders.
As a Member in Discernment, I have attended several conference retreats as well as a national MID conference in Cleveland (where I first learned about and worshiped in the Amistad Chapel-an experience that has informed much of my work toward becoming an anti-racist).
I think it is safe to say that I am passionate about the UCC! I often have the opportunity to talk about our denomination with strangers and have been known to "testify" in line at the bank, waiting to see a doctor, in the room with the doctor...anywhere someone happens to ask me where I work. Because I am a woman living in the so-called Bible Belt, just saying that I work at a church or as a minister can either shut down or open up a conversation. For those who know that I am gay, the fact that I am a minister is surprising or even shocking! Given the time (like most recently-while getting an exam at my dermatologist), I will talk about my church and my denomination- our open and affirming stance, our extravagant welcome, the families I serve, the fact that, while COS is the only UCC congregation in Knoxville, we are a national mainline denomination. At the very least, I let people know that such a church and denomination exist -and are thriving!
When someone seems open to learning more, I give them a brief history, polity, and theology overview:
"Have you heard of congregationalist churches, like First Congregational Church of Knoxville? Yes? That is one of the denominations that came together to form the UCC; Church of the Savior started out as First Congregational! We go way back; Congregationalists were some of the most passionate abolitionists."
-or - "I am in (or just finished) seminary. No, you can't call me "Rev" because I'm not ordained yet. The UCC believes in an educated clergy, well prepared to lead and guide Christians on their spiritual journeys, with a calling from God that's been affirmed by a congregation. I am almost there though! My calling has been affirmed for a while now; I'm just finishing my preparation."
-or- "Have you ever seen those ads about a church that practices extravagant welcome? One shows a bouncer, blocking people at the door of other churches. Or have you heard the motto God is still speaking? That's us!"
-or- "I believe that this church literally saved my life at a time when I wasn't sure I wanted to live. Finding this community changed my life. Serving there allows me to witness the transformation of other lives. I know I'm in the right place."
-or- "We don't read the Bible literally but we do hold it as sacred; we take a lot of time to study and learn what passages meant when they were written so we can understand what they can say to us now. Part of why I could never fit in at churches who only use a literal translation of the Bible was that it did not ring true to me that the books were meant to be read as science, history, and rules. Learning that a deep reverence for scripture allows us to interpret in other ways made the Bible real to me, opened up worlds of meaning in its pages!"
I know that these examples are over-simplified and incomplete. However, I find that they can serve as doorways into further conversation-as invitations to learn more about the UCC by visiting our congregation for a worship service. Given the opportunity, I will be happy to explain more fully in a new member orientation class...or teach their young person about the UCC during confirmation classes like this one:
Confirmation 2018 Lesson 6 UCC and COS Faith Stories (1).docx
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