 |
Massachusetts Conference Edition
|
Minister & President's Column:Can New England Congregationalists bear testimony?by the Rev. Dr. Jim Antal February/March 2008
Please allow me to begin with a confession: I am a New Englander. My worry is that if you read on, you’ll shake your head and murmur, "No way!" But it’s true – for 23 out of the 35 years since graduating from college, I’ve lived in Massachusetts or Connecticut. Yet for some strange reason I’ve never been reticent to share my faith with others, or for that matter, to share with others the joy I experience when I make a financial gift to the church or to another worthy organization. Just so you know, many have told me – from Newton to the Berkshires and from Andover to Nantucket – that New Englanders just don’t feel comfortable talking with a friend or neighbor about their faith. And they really don’t feel comfortable sharing with anyone anything about their finances. I’ve been told: a) each person’s faith is a personal thing; b) each person’s finances is really a private matter; and c) it’s only evangelicals who talk like that – it’s not our style. But I’ve also been thanked for being open about my faith. And I’ve been thanked by both clergy and laity for being candid about my financial commitments because it helped them dismantle the altar of the almighty dollar and replace it with the cross. Not only that but in my travels all over the Conference I’ve heard both clergy and laity bear testimony. I’ve heard testimony from our more conservative pulpits as well as from our most progressive pulpits. It doesn’t sound much like the televangelists we hear on TV. Nor does it fit into a set pattern. But across our Commonwealth, I can testify that there are scores of churches where people are sharing their faith experiences, their faith journeys, and the impact their faith has on their financial giving. Some of them may have been inspired by the people who have written articles featured in this issue of UCC News. Some have been moved by the ways Conference staff members Paul Nickerson or Andy Gustafson speak about their faith without hesitation. Some of them may have been among the hundreds who have attended Conference events featuring Lillian Daniel or Thomas Long or Jim Griffith. Could it be that something may be changing in our midst? Could it be that our still speaking God is doing a new thing, and that New England Congregationalists are entering into the kind of Holy Conversation described by Richard Peace in these pages and in his workshops? I pray that the time is now upon us when the blessing of our faith becomes so powerful that we will look for ways to tell others, to share our joy, to reach out to neighbors who can’t imagine that a church like ours exists. NOTE: With this issue, we shift from a news format to a thematic format, taking our cue from the core functions outlined in “A Still More Excellent Way” – our guide as affirmed by the ConferenceAnnual Meeting in September (see www.macucc.org/news/stillexcellent.htm) This issue focuses on “Sharing your faith story” – one aspect of adult faith formation. Future issues will offer resources, ideas, experiences and strategies that elevate other key ideas from “A Still More Excellent Way.”
| |
Return
to main page