August 2017
34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” —Matthew 22:24-40 (NRSV)
There were so many exciting things that happened at General Synod this year. I gave you fair warning, my first Sunday back, that I would keep talking about it. One of the many exciting things was an announcement about a new mission initiative that our wider church is undertaking. In the past, the United Church of Christ has tried to get the whole denomination, at every level, to focus on certain areas of mission. Most recently, there was a mission initiative that sought to care for God’s creation through environmental justice. I was so excited to learn that we are trying something like this again!
Over the next few years, all levels of our wider church family—from us at Zion, to our neighbor churches like Immanuel UCC downtown and First Congregational UCC on the northside, to our Indiana-Kentucky Conference, and all the ministries at our denomination level—are invited to join in the 3 Great Loves Mission Initiative, focusing on our love of neighbor, love of children, and love of creation. This is about putting our faith into practice. It’s about responding to Jesus’ command for us to love God and love our neighbors, not only by believing in that love and feeling that love, but also in living out that love daily in our lives and in our ministry together.
This mission initiative was developed from years of hard work at reinvigorating the ministry of the United Church of Christ. Over the past few years, our denomination has gone through some intensive restructuring, streamlining the way that we do our ministry. As we navigated these changes, it was important that, as a church family, we refine what we believe God is calling us toward, in terms of our purpose, mission, and vision. The Three Great Loves mission initiative matches these guiding forces behind our ministry. Here they are:
- PURPOSE: We will love the lord our God with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength; and our neighbor as ourselves.
- MISSION: United by the Holy Spirit and inspired by God’s grace we love all, welcome all, and seek justice for all.
- VISION: A just world for all.
Rev. John Dorhauer, the President and General Minister of the UCC, recently wrote, “The Three Great Loves mission initiative serves as a way for us all to embody and incarnate a missional commitment to love neighbor and build a just world for all….What would it look like for an entire denomination to focus its attention this way? We are going to find out.”
Our council, here at Zion, has decided that it’s time for us to take a look at our own way of doing ministry. We want to see if our ministry matches those important documents that govern us. As our new Constitution and Bylaws Team gets started, we will want to hear from you about how you understand our purpose, mission, and vision. What might be the most faithful ways for us to put our ministry into practice? Perhaps these 3 Great Loves will help guide our focus. I plan on these loves guiding my own ministry with you, so keep a lookout for upcoming things about loving our neighbors.
—Pastor Sarah