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The church's guests have borne out a bit of a churchly folk wisdom that says people look for a new church over the summer. That means that this newsletter is the first that several people will see, and so on behalf of the Universalist National Memorial Church, I thank you for exploring with us, worshipping with us, and sharing time in fellowship with us. If this is the kind of church that you want then we hope you will find yourself at home.
Since there are new eyes reading these words, it makes sense to go back to another piece of churchly folk wisdom, expressed in the words of the apostle Paul: “speak the truth in love.” Now at some places, to “speak the truth in love”, is a warning that there's bad news coming, or that the speaker thinks that he or she has carte blanche to say any kind of miserable thing. That's not the case here, but rather its an expression of the kind of openness we hope to have in our faith lives.
To speak the truth means taking the truth seriously. My generation has a reputation for disinterested being in life and responsibility. I don't think that's quite fair. There does seem to be a high level of skepticism and suspicion towards established authority. I suppose that's what you get in a post Watergate world. With this world view, the greatest crime is hypocrisy. Sincere behavior and speech, even if popular or strange, is highly valued, while claims to absolute truth — truth with a capital T — comes with great suspicion. I mention this, not to boost one generation over another, or to deny that there is truth, but to note that each generation takes a truth seriously in its own way even if doesn't seem that way. Respect for differences, then, becomes a key to truth.
To speak the truth means hoping that you'll find it. A couple of recent guests commented that their experiences at another church made finding the truth an unlikely or undesirable goal. To question can be a virtue, but not if you never hope to receive an answer. I suppose an analogy can be made between a traveler and a tourist. A traveler moves in his or her surroundings, and is willing to have each new environment lay claim on that person's being. Tourists — and tourism can be fine in its own right — are usually content to see each new place from the outside. To live fully means taking a traveler's mindset in living. To ask questions — that is to speak and seek the truth — without hope of an answer is to glance into life from the outside. To expect some answer, even an unexpected answer, is necessary for full living.
To speak the truth means having a place to say it. And thus we return to the church. Here we have a twin set of freedoms: that of the pulpit and pew. Congregational life needs an open and free dialogue, and because of this, traditionally, it is deemed equally inappropriate to undermine the flow of ideas from either the minister or laity. This sets the liberal churches apart, and for that I'm ever grateful. But the description of “pulpit and pew” seems one-dimensional . Perhaps “a freedom of the coffee hour” should be added, where all the people of the church are able to support one another by molding, refining, and sculpting both the pursuit of facts needed for “the content of faith” and the heart-truths of wholesome and satisfying living. To “speak the truth in love” is both about being clear and accurate about our path to God, and being whole and full in our sense of self. No place in the world is better suited for this dual quest than a religious congregation that empowers its people in freedom. That's the kind of church I hope we have (and refine into fuller being) and that's the gospel truth.
Posted by the Rev. Scott Wells at August 27, 2003 01:29 PM