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| Davida Foy Crabtree |
“Lively faith … faithful lives” stands as the theme both for this year’s annual report and for our fall meeting. It is apt because it is how we understand the focus of the work of our Conference: encouraging a lively Christian faith among our members leading, then, to faithful lives as churches and to faithful lives as individuals.
The controversies of last fall’s annual meeting spilled over into the churches, especially churches that had not paid much attention to their covenantal relationships through the associations and the conference in recent years. Through the winter, your staff received many reports of churches where members and leaders were taken by surprise at receiving the news of the delegates’ vote (390 to 138 with 20 abstentions) to declare the denial of the civil right of marriage to same gender couples to be an unwarranted act of exclusion.
In a great many churches, after a time of turmoil and some good teaching by pastors and leaders, stronger covenants are now in place. Deeper understanding of our polity and the role and responsibility of local churches is taking root. Their faith has become livelier and their lives more faithful as a result.
Yet there are still churches where the turmoil resulting from the surprise has not subsided. In some instances, this turmoil is being stirred intentionally through misinformation spread over the internet. We have made multiple efforts to address these distortions, exaggerations and lies, but have found it difficult since so much is being done surreptitiously. Praise God for the churches that have earnestly sought clarification and been open to the truth of our identity and teaching!
In that context, there were some great gifts of the Holy Spirit over a six-month period. One was the launching of the Still Speaking Initiative and its ads that created a national “buzz” about the United Church of Christ and our conviction that “no matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.” Many of our churches have received new members as a result, and long-time members have expressed their pride in being UCC.
The second gift of the Spirit was in our having decided to have a one-day Spring Meeting after shortening the Fall Meeting to two days. When 650 people crowded First Church in Wallingford on May 14 to hear our national General Minister and President, Rev. John Thomas, and to participate in 30 workshops, a “Conference picnic” and inspiring worship as well as an update on Silver Lake Conference Center, it was a glorious day! Much like a family reunion, the spirit of the community was palpably high. A day made lively by faith and lives made more faithful by our being together.
In December, the Executive Committee of our Board of Directors decided to find a pro bono attorney to seek means of ensuring that every death row inmate had access to a commutation hearing. While the discovery that this was not the case was prompted by a scheduled execution, the focus has not been on one inmate, but rather on the moral issue of our state not attending to basic due process and equal protection measures. Our lawsuits to press for this basic measure continue forward. This was also a matter of controversy, especially for churches in eastern Connecticut where the executed inmate had wreaked his havoc twenty years ago. The position of the annual meeting delegates on this matter was not a new one, however, and our longstanding opposition to the death penalty enabled us to address a pressing moral issue in the public arena. From both within the Conference and outside, we received many expressions of thankfulness, as well as expressions of anger from detractors. A lively faith is one that is engaged with the ethical dilemmas facing us as a society, and that engagement may result in differing understandings of faithfulness. Still, we are united in our faith and baptism in Christ and trust that He is at work in each of us.
During this year, we shifted from three regions to five. We said farewell to Rev. Kathy Peters as Associate Conference Minister for Local Church Ministries and celebrated her call as minister of The United Church of Chester. We blessed Rev. Gordon Bates on his way to retirement after seven years of service as an ACM with us, most recently working in Justice and Witness Ministries. Eliminating those two positions plus an administrative assistant job (deepest thanks to Sarah Annis for her years of service with us!) enabled us to make the transition to five regions without a major budget increase. The Revs. Mike Ciba, Lois Happe and Raymond Hargrove began April 1 as Regional Ministers, joining Revs. Kent Siladi and Suzi Townsley. After a few months with us, Raymond decided that his call really belonged in Florida and so in late summer he returned there and we now seek another to take his place.
We also bid a fond farewell to Rev. Carole Carlson, for four and a half years our ACM for Clergy Concerns, as she moves to retirement in northern Vermont. Our search for her successor led us to Rev. Ronald Brown, who began his work in early August.
In the midst of all these transitions, we have kept a lively faith - light on our feet, so to speak, and responsive, we believe, to the call of God to serve our churches in the best way possible. It has not been an easy year, and it continues to be very challenging financially, yet we are heartened by the growth in faith and understanding evidenced in so many places in these twelve months.
It is finally about the faithfulness of the local church in God’s mission in the midst of this world that is so hurting. That is what we are about in covenant as a Conference. Responding to the needs you articulate, to the witness you call us to, to the ministry of Jesus Christ as a compelling calling for our time. Keeping Silver Lake strong as an extension of your church’s ministry. Encouraging pastors, developing faithful leaders, managing your endowments, working toward strong theological seminaries for all our ministerial candidates, helping search committees, intervening in conflict, keeping the Amistad sailing as a sign of hope in the midst of a polarized society. All these ministries are about a lively faith and faithful lives. Thanks be to God!
