A Couple Days with the UCC

This past weekend was the annual gathering of the Southern California Nevada Conference of the United Church of Christ, held in a lovely Disciples of Christ church in La Jolla, CA. My connection with the event is twofold; not only did Lee Van Ham speak, but my wife Kelli was one of the planners and was speaking at her own workshop the next room over.

We had ten curious people from UCC congregations, from trustees, treasurers, and director of Christian Education. Lee’s workshop was on “Worship That Witnesses to a One-Earth Economic Paradigm.” Needless to say, this kind of address is not your typical church stewardship hints and tips kind of talk, so there are always some in an audience who might be surprised by the scope of the topic. But that is indeed what the One Earth vision is about: seeing things with bigger eyes. It is a way of seeing that takes some getting used to, but really, especially when addressing a Christian audience like this, the message is one that stems from the foundation of the faith. Giving churchgoing folk a chance to see their weekly or monthly or yearly rituals with new eyes is fun to witness. Helping them to understand the vital narratives of leaving slavery behind and starting to trust God’s economics of grace for all is an exciting thing indeed.

The JEM message is that the Jubilee is not dead or unpracticed; it is always there, always practiced, but not by people who wish to accumulate, dominate, hoard, control, or paraphrasing a quote Lee had, “Every bush is burning if we have the eyes to see it.” A day like this workshop is a chance to start on that eye opening process.

On day two, I was at the gathering on my own, armed with audio and video toys. Meandering the site, I found a table display by Shirley and John Washington of Claremont, CA, where they were selling some amazingly gorgeous goods from SERRV. Fair Trade goods, all handmade by artisan workers scattered about the globe, even some soup mixes made by homeless women in the US. I spent a while talking to Shirley and John, and captured some video. 

Another bit that could not be missed: a short clip of a carved stone in the form of a turtle, but not only that, a turtle within! Made in India by someone who can only be described as a skilled craftsman. What speaks better of One Earth economics than a turtle made to illustrate the great cosmological patterns of interbeing? You can’t buy that at WalMart!