wfn.org | UCC Synod: 'Jesus and justice at same table'

[powellb@ucc.org]

United Church of Christ
Newsroom
Saturday, July 11, 2003
newsroom@ucc.org
http://www.ucc.org

By Micki Carter

MINNEAPOLIS?"A reconciling, Pentecostal theologian with a personal
relationship with Jesus" opened the first worship of the 24th General Synod
of the United Church of Christ Friday night with an invitation to the
table.

The Rev. Yvette Flunder, pastor of the 600-member City of Refuge UCC in San
Francisco, challenged the biennial gathering in Minneapolis to reset the
table of Christ. Building on Jesus' parable of the feast in Luke, she said,
"When are we going to offer a feast that the people from the whorehouse and
the crack house can sit down with the people from the church house?

"Who's going to bring reconciliation to the table? We can't do it until we
bring Jesus and justice to the same table."

Flunder set the tone for her words by introducing and then joining the
Transcendence Choir which she described as "the first transgender gospel
choir in the world" in the anthem "Bless Me."

She prodded the UCC to open its embrace even wider. "I believe the UCC is
the most prophetic church in the world. I believe that with all my heart.
Where else would the Coalition (for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
Concerns) and the Biblical Witnesses have booths in the same room? We all
have a seat at the table."

But the UCC must be ready to do more, change more, evolve more. "We can't
do the work of God until we have the glory of God and the justice of God in
the same place. I tell you we can't."

In what seemed to be a rebuff to the Synod's overriding concern about
finances, Flunder said, "Sometimes we want God to give us some SSI, when we
haven't yet given to God. If we are not going to invest in people, we
endanger the future of our church.

"There are some ministries of our church that don't have the same access to
funds but whose contributions are invaluable to the church.... In my
family, everybody was equal around the table at the same time. It didn't
make a difference if we were speaking or not, we fixed it so we could sit
down and eat. A table ought to be a family affair.

"Change! God is still speaking. God is calling for change. Listen and be
ready."

As the first communion meal was prepared for the 2,000 delegates and
visitors, the table reflected much of what Flunder was seeking. A
liturgical dance by Katharine Harts, Heather Iriye and Beth Staiger, all
from Arizona churches in the Southwest Conference, artfully involved a
disabled dancer in the presentation, and the LGBT Coalition Choir offered
the evening's anthem.

During exuberant congregational singing of the South African freedom song,
"Siyahamb' ekukhanyen' kwenkhos," brilliantly colored, 12-foot puppets
joined the evening's presenters in circling the huge meeting hall in the
Minneapolis Convention Center. A giant "comma" dominated the podium as a
visible reminder of the UCC's identity slogan, "Never place a period where
God has placed a comma."

Dinner for 2,500

Earlier in the evening, the first ever all-General Synod community meal
provided nearly 2,500 guests with food for body and soul. There was time
for sharing around the tables, for good stories and laughs, for songs and
even a parade to the "real banquet," the evening worship.

Associate General Minister Edith Guffey welcomed dinner guests, and
storyteller Valerie Tutson brought cheers with a tale of God speaking
through the street people of New Haven, Conn. "God's fool," portrayed by
Bill Pindar, found assistants who helped him announce, "We are by God all
gifted, alleluia!" Angie Lenard, accompanied by Ron Buford, filled the hall
with song, ending with a hand-clapping rendition of "This Little Light of
Mine."

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