August, 2006   David Beebe

Evangelines Article

AS I LEARN TO KNOW YOU

Five months I have been with you.  In some ways, it seems I have just arrived.  In other ways, it seems as though I have always known you – though I am still getting to know some of your names.  It is like that with marriage, I remember.  After many years I felt as though Judy and I had been childhood sweethearts.  And at other times it seemed as though I was just getting to know her.  That, I guess, is because any deep personal relationship takes time but also builds a sense of true companionship.  And any two people willing to look will always find new surprises in each other.

It is true that I am getting to know you.  And I am beginning to understand some things about you.  One is that you have come from a tightly bound small city, where everyone seems to know (or be related to) everyone else.  That forms a bond of comfort, but also sometimes means that the news travels everywhere except to the person in the news.  It is important, if we are to be good neighbors and fellow Christians, that we talk TO the people we are talking ABOUT. 

That is what Jesus asked us to do in Matthew 18:16:

If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when

 the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that

one: 

Jesus also suggested, if that didn’t work, to take “two or three” others with you to talk with your brother or sister.  It is interesting that this passage ends with those words, so important in the United Church of Christ, “where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”  It is, as we are gathered in Jesus’ name, that we will understand each other.

I have also learned that this church was the first Protestant congregation in this city, which gives it both a bond with our Catholic neighbors at St. Paul and also a leadership role among the other new and growing  Protestant congregations.  Our life in Christ means that we need to emphasize our common witness with our companion congregations.

I will keep learning as we continue to seek together.  And I trust our Transition Committee will help us share the insights we are discovering, so that when we call a new Senior Pastor (never fear, we will get there!) we will move in the direction to which God calls us.

You are a good and gracious people, and I am honored to be among you.

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