"Glory Days"

Rock 'n Roller Bruce Springsteen wrote and sang this song about meeting up with old high school friends over a drink or two. There was the baseball star who "could throw that speed ball by you," and the beautiful woman who could and still did "turn all the boys heads." At the time of the song, the baseball star only bent his arm at the neighborhood bar and the beautiful woman was a single mom working hard to get by. But, Ah! Those glory days when things were good, when we were "on our game"!

Sometimes when I'm working with churches that are in transition, or that are in the process of entering into a visioning process, I ask them to think about and describe the perceived glory days of their congregation. A few years ago in Newark Valley, I sat around the table at the First Congregational Church with a gathering of the Church Council, the Pastoral Relations Committee and the Search Committee talking about these things.

The church had come to a mutually unhappy parting of the ways with their previous, part-time called pastor. They were in the midst of a restorative interim pastorate and the Search Committee was hard at work receiving profiles. But the work was hard and the profiles were few. And so, the Interim Pastor, Wayne Gustafson, invited me to meet with them to talk over some options and to bolster some sagging morale.

Among other things, we talked about their glory days. They spoke of two pastorates that spanned the years from the late sixties to the early eighties. Of course, they mentioned the usual things that church people do in reminiscing: large Sunday School, many full pews during Sunday worship, choirs for both children and adults, and a youth group.

Surprisingly, however, what excited them the most was when they recalled the ways in which the two pastors during this time developed ministries to the community, spoke out for and organized efforts for justice and social change, while also caring for them personally as people! With two exceptions (Wayne and me!) all of the people around the table were older that 65! And so, I was surprised.

Indeed! My surprise continued as they decided that they wouldn't settle for past glory days. They wanted to see whether God still might have some new life and mission for them. Apparently, God did.

A young man in his early 20's literally knocked on the door of the church. He had been working in a nearby independant Congregational Church and had heard of the opening in Newark Valley. They put David Heckman in touch with me. Quickly, I learned that what David lacked in experience in the UCC and educational preparation, he more than made up for in energy, vision, an entrepenurial leadership style and love of the UCC's stands on justice and inclusion.

With the Susquehanna Association Committee on Authorized Ministry and the church we worked out a "Teaching Church Covenant" whereby David could serve the church in close cooperation with the association. Mentors were assigned to help David in learning to be a pastor and in his formal preparation for ministry. Meanwhile, the church took on the calling of a congregation willing to prepare a new generation of pastoral leaders for God's Church.

Over the last three years of this Teaching Church Covenant, much has happened in Newark Valley. The church bought into the God is Still Speaking Campaign and began advertising heavily. As a result worship attendance has increased from an average of 20 to an average of 55. They've brought on new staff to work with the Sunday school. At this past annual meeting the congregation voted to become Open and Affirming.

These years have not been without challenges. Not everyone was happy with the direction that the congregation was taking. But, most were happy. And there are some financial challenges. But the congregation and the conference are seeking to address these. In any case there just may be some more "Glory Days" on the horizon for the United Church of Christ congregation in Newark Valley!

I was thinking about these things on Friday during the meeting of the New York Conference Executive Council at the Conference Office in Syracuse. We had just been going through a bit of discussion that had become somewhat "testy". These moments are rare these days. And, in this case they were short lived.

But, in the midst of the rancor I remembered a decade ago when anger, fear and quick argumentation were the norm at Executive Council meetings. Across New York there was unhappiness with the Conference staff, mistrust of the Executive Council, worry over decreasing gifts to Our Church's Wider Mission. There was much debate over the future of the Conference: should we divide into three Conferences, how should we staff our work, who were we to be and what vision were we to live out.

I remembered serving as a member and then chairperson of the Executive Council. Our major goal was to restore the trust of our member congregations and associations. I remembered the "heady days" of that time.

My friend and predecessor as Executive Council Chairperson, Clare Price, and I have shared the thought that our present Conference configuration of mission, program and staffing seems rather quiet. It's not that we wish for those former days. Rather we hope that the seeming present contentment and growing satisfaction and support across the Conference with the ways in which we are trying to strengthen the mission and ministry of our local churches are never taken for granted. Still, I must admit that there is a part of me that knows how alive I felt during those years.

My colleague on the Conference Staff, Marian Shearer, and I have been teaching a course in UCC Polity. As we talk about the United Church of Christ in these classes I am always reminded of the vision that so grabbed me as a teenager of the the Church that was "united and uniting". It was a time of great ideals, or so it seemed to me. "Not what our country can do for us, but what we can do for our country." The fight for Civil Rights, the call to give peace a chance, and the dream of a generation changing the world. Yes, I was very proud of my church that sought to be united and uniting.

I've had occasions to wonder whether we've lost something by replacing this founding vision. Over the years we've become a Just Peace, Open and Affirming, Multi Racial Multi Cultural, Accessible to All Church. We've declared that God is Still Speaking and that "No Matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you're welcomed here." We've said that we're a churc of radical welcome.

There are some who say that by all of these latter day identities we've become divisive. It's true when we united 51 years ago, we stressed that which united us. It's also true that as we've stressed these other themes, we've made stands and made overtures and voted on resolutions that have divided.

Yet, I think all these identities are of a part. In my mind the work of unity requires dealing with the ministry of reconciliation about which Paul spoke in 2 Corinthians (5:16-21). Reconciliation is not easy. To reconcile the world to God's self, God's son needed to die on the cross. For us to carry on this ministry we need to be aware that it's not easy to bring peace to those that have been separated by enmity, or justice to those that have been marginalized or oppressed. Faithfulness, responding to God's call is a daily calling of both challenge and hope.

I'm glad I didn't peak in high school. I've always been a "late bloomer". I don't know if I've peaked yet. I do know that I've been blessed with many periods in my life that could be defined as "Glory Days." I've never wanted to re-live any part of my life. But, I've always felt that my real "Glory Days" are yet to come. And, I hope you do, too.

Blessings,

Rick Cowles