Becoming Church
As you might know, our theme in Easter Season services is “Becoming Church.” In those services, we’re looking especially at stories from the Book of Acts, one of the places in scripture when we can see the early church close up and try to learn from those believers’ gifts and challenges.
This weekend, some of us got to participate in the Pacific Northwest Conference Annual Meeting. Jill York, Scott Ward, Janet Ott, Janet Malley, Sharon Benton, and I all went as delegates from the congregation, and Deanna Murray, Cheryl Smith, Susan Huffman, and Ted Huffman all attended as clergy. (I think that’s everyone but my apologies if I missed you.) There were a couple of moments that I want to share with you- moments that invite me more deeply to Becoming Church, or even teach me again just how one might Become Church in the first place!
One of the highlights for me of the gathering was the celebration of four new churches joining the Conference (and the denomination!). All four were Samoan congregations - two based in Seattle and two based in Alaska. We got to hear from their pastors and faith mothers, from lay leaders, and very memorably from one of their choirs! How might congregations like ours learn from predominantly-immigrant churches, churches that continue deep allegiance to their home islands and cultures? What can we learn about hybridity, about resilience, about survival in the midst of climate crisis, about how to be in relationship to imperial powers? I think we are just beginning to see the beauty and power of expanded relationships with Samoan churches as a conference, and I’m excited to see where the Spirit moves from here!
It was also a great gift to hear preaching from our new General Minister & President, Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson. Rev. Thompson is the first woman of color and the first woman to serve in this role- which by itself is an historical event worth celebrating! But Rev. Thompson is also herself grounded in cultural and religious hybridity, dedicated to expanding and nurturing what it means for our churches to do mission together, and to help grow the United Church of Christ into the next phase of our life together.
Finally, it was a deep gift to get to travel back to Bellingham with our two guests from Colombia. We had a strong handful of folks gather to hear them talk about their peace-making work on Sunday, and I was especially blessed to have a couple hours over lunch and travel to get to know better Xiomara Cintron-Garcia and Pablo Moreno. Each of them is doing vital work in Colombia, and I hope that those of us who have an opportunity to learn more about the work are inspired in our own peace-making calls
This morning at the Bridge 141 conversation we talked a bit about neighborhoods, and in many ways, the Conference is our church’s neighborhood. There are challenges, both familiar and emerging, certainly. And there are allies- the ones we recognize and know by heart, and the ones we haven’t met yet- or the ones we haven’t thought of as allies yet!
As we all work and pray to build community together, may God keep blessing us with rich experiences of cross-cultural challenge and learning. May the Spirit teach us how to become church!
Davi
