A congregation of the United Church of Canada
Deep, Bold, and Daring
“How we’re living matters.”
I want to follow up on last Sunday’s sermon with some more thoughts. Well, they’re actually not my thoughts – they’re the thoughts of our past Moderator, the Very Reverend Richard Bott. I preached on the United Church’s new ‘Vision and Call’ statements. Here’s what Richard had to say about them:
“What I would also consider an accomplishment of the 43rd General Council is the articulation of call and vision. Our vision statement says that we are called by God as disciples of Jesus to be “a bold, connected, evolving church of diverse, courageous, hope-filled communities united in deep spirituality, inspiring worship and daring justice.” When that statement was made, we were being really clear that there’s a wideness to who we are, but we’re grounded as disciples of Jesus.”
The full Vision is:
Called by God, as disciples of Jesus, The United Church of Canada seeks to be a bold, connected, evolving church of diverse, courageous, hope-filled communities united in deep spirituality, inspiring worship, and daring justice.
The Call is:
Deep Spirituality – Bold Discipleship – Daring Justice.
This Vision and Call come at a critical time in our denomination’s life. We are just under 2 years from celebrating the United Church centennial – and as we approach that auspicious milestone we may be experiencing more existential angst about our collective relevance and viability than ever before. Faith United is not immune from this. Sadly.
However, I invite you to read Richard’s thoughts on this. Perhaps it might shift some perspective?
“For the longest time, probably my entire ministry or longer, the message I have heard in the church is that The United Church of Canada is dying. That’s been the narrative. My sense of call was not necessarily to be moderator. My sense of call was to stand in front of the General Council of The United Church of Canada and say, “This narrative is a false narrative, and we need to stop repeating it.” If we are truly living our call as community, then what our future is doesn’t actually matter. What we’re doing matters, how we’re living matters, that whole sense of being integral.”
Richard goes on to offer this really important insight into the prevailing narrative of decline, suggesting that it’s not new, and that dwelling on it is getting in the way of our calling:
“In the church, we have this story that says our numbers started to diminish in the 1960s. The reality is that as a proportion of the population of Canada, our numbers started to diminish in 1930 — five years after we came together in church union. We have done all of our greatest things, and all of our most problematic things, in this life of decline. So why are we worried about that? The reality is that this is our story. Let’s live it. Let’s live the ministry that we’re called to.”
This is wisdom that Faith United needs to hear in this season. If we focus on deep spirituality, bold discipleship, and daring justice – if we dedicate ourselves to love, love, love – then the church will find a way forward. It’s what we’re called to do. And it matters.
(quoted paragraphs are from Broadview’s July/August 2022 issue with the title “Changing the Story”)