Conference Meeting Reflections

 I recently attended the annual meeting of the Missouri Mid South Conference, held at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. The conference featured the usual doom and gloom: churches closing, churches leaving the denomination, churches cutting their denominational support to Our Churches Wider Mission, and the continuing conference budget deficit. The preaching at the conference featured the usual progressive talking points. The conference workshops didn't attract my interest. Sounds pretty awful? Not really. The conference staff did an excellent job of managing the event. The Drury campus is beautiful and relaxing, with plenty of trees and attractive walking paths and places to sit and reflect. It is always a pleasure to worship, eat, and chat with my colleagues from all over Missouri. Speaking of worship, the high point of my conference experience is always the chance to sing in a four-part choir full of spirited singers. I especially enjoy the chance to sing as a bass with a good section leader!

For me, the “salt and light” at the conference came from our visiting pastors from the United Church of Jamaica. The United Church combines the historic Presbyterian, Congregational, and Disciples/Christian churches of Jamaica. Three Jamaican pastors attended the meeting, celebrating 20 years of a Missouri/Jamaica partnership. The Rev. Dr. Henroy Samuels led an excellent Bible study. I was touched that he was using a Bible that I gave him one of the times he visited St. Louis. The pastors gave us an excellent update on conditions in Jamaica and on the ministries and missions of the United Church. I hope that my friendship with my Jamaican colleagues will lead to good things for our own Jamaican Christian Medical Mission.

The conference experience is typical of my relationship with our denomination. I respect the professionalism and hard work of our conference staff. I love my colleagues, and I especially love singing and worshiping with them. I am a strong supporter of the conference's mission work to Jamaica. I am proud of the fact that our congregation is one of the best supporters of the conference and the denomination through our consistent and substantial giving to Our Churches Wider Mission. At the same time, as a moderate Calvinist, I personally reject the progressive theological and political agenda of our conference and denomination leaders, an agenda that is endorsed enthusiastically by many of my colleagues.

I am a UCC pastor and we are a UCC congregation. Like people, congregations and denominations do not live forever. Only the universal Christian church, the Body of Christ, will last until the end of the age. My opinion is that the UCC is nearing the end of its life span. The denomination's progressive agenda will not lead to revival. However, I may be totally wrong, and the UCC will outlast all of us here at Evangelical United Church of Christ of Cape Girardeau. The Church belongs to Jesus Christ. And Jesus is not just still speaking through is Word, the Bible, but he Lord of all things under heaven and on earth.

Colosians 1:15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.