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Posted: January 28th, 2008 at 2:35am By: Rev. Kristi Denham
Most people think of church as the place people go to get a spiritual recharge — hear a good sermon (hopefully), say some prayers together, sing together, share in Communion and participate in the ritual life of a particular community. Some folks also see it as a place to become more involved in issues of justice and mercy.
As an extended family where values are central, church can also be the place where people learn to have sacred conversations, to listen well, to share our stories, to practice the skills of healthy dialogue.
As the world changes at an ever-accelerating pace, the challenges of participating in multi-generational communities of faith grow exponentially. Older folks often long for one institution that maintains real continuity with the past. They want their Sunday mornings to be as they have always remembered them. Every change is taken as a personal affront, a dismissal of the wisdom and caring that went into the decisions made to do things a particular way in the past.
To maintain continuity with the past, the ancient traditions of the church universal, the particular ways things have been done in a particular congregation, is a valued goal. It is not, however, the primary goal of Christian community.
We are called to be an example to the wider world of the law of love. As God has loved us, we are challenged to love one another with all our humanity, just as we are, warts and all.
Sacred conversations, born of a true commitment to dialogue, are central to this practice of loving one another. Dialogue asks us to practice listening with our whole selves to the concerns of others. And when we respond, we choose not to defend or attack. Rather, we share our own deepest understandings gently, placing them in the common pool of perspective so that we are all safe enough and respected enough to draw from that pool the healing waters of life and unconditional love that have first brought us together.
Healthy dialogue allows us to develop true democratic structures in which every voice is valued and decisions are made more by consensus than by simple majority.
The Congregational polity of the United Church of Christ established this democratic process as central to the life of Christian community. We are not ruled from above, except by God, as God reveals God's Self in our shared understandings.
It is a challenging way to live out our faith. It demands attention to the law of love as no other aspect of our faith might do.
It is easy to love humanity in the abstract. It is people who are the challenge. It is easy to love people in our own age, economic or social group. It is those who are younger, older, different in some way, who are the challenge.
Sacred conversations, healthy dialogue, allow us to grow in our capacity to live the law of love. They are the places where the rubber meets the road in our spiritual practice. To avoid them as potentially too conflicted or to label those with whom we disagree as hypocrites is to miss a great opportunity to grow in our faith.
I write these words in anticipation of our Congregational Church of Belmont Annual Meeting. Come, let us reason together.
— — —
Rev. Kristi Denham is pastor of the Congregational Church of Belmont, Calif. (United Church of Christ). Her email address is {email RevKristi@aol.com}RevKristi@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Kristi Denham.
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Most people think of church as the place people go to get a spiritual recharge — hear a good sermon (hopefully), say some prayers together, sing together, share in Communion and participate in the ritual life of a particular community. Some folks also see it as a place to become more involved in issues of justice and mercy.
As an extended family where values are central, church can also be the place where people learn to have sacred conversations, to listen well, to share our stories, to practice the skills of healthy dialogue.
As the world changes at an ever-accelerating pace, the challenges of participating in multi-generational communities of faith grow exponentially. Older folks often long for one institution that maintains real continuity with the past. They want their Sunday mornings to be as they have always remembered them. Every change is taken as a personal affront, a dismissal of the wisdom and caring that went into the decisions made to do things a particular way in the past.
To maintain continuity with the past, the ancient traditions of the church universal, the particular ways things have been done in a particular congregation, is a valued goal. It is not, however, the primary goal of Christian community.
We are called to be an example to the wider world of the law of love. As God has loved us, we are challenged to love one another with all our humanity, just as we are, warts and all.
Sacred conversations, born of a true commitment to dialogue, are central to this practice of loving one another. Dialogue asks us to practice listening with our whole selves to the concerns of others. And when we respond, we choose not to defend or attack. Rather, we share our own deepest understandings gently, placing them in the common pool of perspective so that we are all safe enough and respected enough to draw from that pool the healing waters of life and unconditional love that have first brought us together.
Healthy dialogue allows us to develop true democratic structures in which every voice is valued and decisions are made more by consensus than by simple majority.
The Congregational polity of the United Church of Christ established this democratic process as central to the life of Christian community. We are not ruled from above, except by God, as God reveals God's Self in our shared understandings.
It is a challenging way to live out our faith. It demands attention to the law of love as no other aspect of our faith might do.
It is easy to love humanity in the abstract. It is people who are the challenge. It is easy to love people in our own age, economic or social group. It is those who are younger, older, different in some way, who are the challenge.
Sacred conversations, healthy dialogue, allow us to grow in our capacity to live the law of love. They are the places where the rubber meets the road in our spiritual practice. To avoid them as potentially too conflicted or to label those with whom we disagree as hypocrites is to miss a great opportunity to grow in our faith.
I write these words in anticipation of our Congregational Church of Belmont Annual Meeting. Come, let us reason together.
— — —
Rev. Kristi Denham is pastor of the Congregational Church of Belmont, Calif. (United Church of Christ). Her email address is {email RevKristi@aol.com}RevKristi@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Kristi Denham.
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