annual Christmas pilgrimage

Our family is on our annual after Christmas pilgrimage to Martha's (my wife) family home on Linger Lake on the Cumberland Plateau outside of Crossville, TN. Martha and I met here 20 years ago when I was the pastor of Church of the Good Shepherd United Church of Christ and also Coordinator (staff person) of the Alabama-Tennessee Association of the UCC. My last year here I left the Ala-Tenn position and served the merging of Church of the Good Shepherd with Fellowship Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

This year I have read so far "Clapton - Autobiography" by Eric Clapton which was a Christmas present (not so great autobio, but very good as he finds a spiritual center in his life in 12 Step recovery from drugs and alcohol), an article "Theological Roots of the Three-Fold Model: The Three-Fold Office of Christ: A Framework for Many Occasions" by David Specht, and finishing up "Urban Iona: Celtic Hospitality in the City" by Kurt Neilson. We are about to go see the movie "Charlie Wilson's War."

This year it has taken me four days to find the space or groove of relaxed serenity. Over all these years I have been able to read, unwind and eat great cooking by mother in law. And each time I wonder why life like this is so rare or so distant from the "regular" way I live my life in Akron (or in the Clear Lake City section of Houston when we lived there...when we lived in St. Germain, WI it felt this way in and of itself.)

Today I cleaned up the SOAP Bible journaling page on the web site. Previously I cleaned up the Spiritual Life page on the web site and the mission outreach page.

Tomorrow we plan to worship God at Pleasant Hill Community United Church of Christ which is predominantly made up of folks from the UCC related retirement and multi-level care community Uplands. Pleasant Hill is ten miles away from Crossville and a number of friends from my old days here as well as old friends who I knew from various settings around the UCC now live there.

what I like about the United Church of Christ/UCC #4

There was in liberation theology what was called the action-reflection model. Action for the poor, often in a political/social context, would take place and that would be followed by an intentional time of reflection on what had happened with prayer and scripture as part of the ingredients of that time and space. I experienced it here in the US but saw it powerfully used in Christian base communities (neighborhoods Bible reflection and action groups) in parishes in Nicaragua in 1987 when I was there. Focus was on action rather than simply ivory-towered academic theological equations on truth and justice.

Today, we need to recover the reflection part of that model. And one such place that helps that in the United Church of Christ is the web site of the congregation I serve. Particularly our "spiritual life" page. There are links for settings such a Renovare and Shalem as well as SOAPing which has become a central piece for our congregation in its spiritual life. This has enabled us to grow in reaching out to others with a confidence of spirit that we have not known before.

what I like about the United Church of Christ/UCC #3

One of the treasures of the United Church of Christ in present time is Gabe Fackre. I have mainly gotten to know Gabe online via various listserv conversations. I had heard of him for years before. First as prof at the UCC related Lancaster Theological Seminary and then at UCC related Andover Newton Theological Seminary from which he is now retired.

Here is a link for Gabe and his wife Dottie's web site. Gabe continues to lift up in such a gracious spirit in the continuing stream of what has been at the heart of the United Church of Christ tradition in the present and long before there was a body known as the UCC. There are some today who are trying to divorce the present day UCC from its gifts and history before the merger that led to the UCC in 1957 (and it would seem even put a major spin on the first 2 to 3 decades of the UCC history itself). Gabe continues to assert without rancor what has been the ecumenical and justice heart of Christ in that which became the United Church of Christ.

I consider Gabe to be a true progressive. Because progressives can only be such if they know and honor the past in its fullness. And they have to know the past to be able to argue with it. Gabe is one who does this.

My lament is that Gabe has been shuffled aside these days almost to a side show in the wider tent of the UCC. That is to our own demise! But, with a voice and heart of God such that he has, what he points to will continue to be lifted up...the reality of Jesus Christ as God's gift to the world that becomes the resurrection to life from the death of this world.

things I like about the United Church of Christ/UCC #2

If you read over my blog in the past, I have offered a lot of criticism of parts of the United Church of Christ that I think have run away from the tradition and the vision of what is at the core of this denomination. I got tired of hearing myself complain so I decided to start this "series" on the parts of the United Church of Christ that I appreciate.

Today in part 2, I have really come to appreciate the vision and mission of Scottsdale Congregational Church UCC outside of Phoenix, AZ. Eric Elnes is the pastoral leader. They have done a lot in worship expression in visual, artistic and music. The church has also focused on ways to help folks connect with God in their spiritual journey through things that are already part of their life...instead of having to add something totally new and different. And with Eric's leadership they have made a witness in walking across this country to share their experience of Jesus Christ as one who brings justice into the world rather than condemning and shaming folks. CrossWalk America

They reflect for me what has been the enduring witness of that which we call today and for the last 50 years the United Church of Christ, but also the roots that go back to the Protestant Reformation and beyond. They witness not for a particular identity or denomination but for Christ in reaching out to those who seek to know the love of God.