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Dear Folks:
We are a people of covenant. In a minister’s installation we draw forth the intersecting circles of covenant. In the UCC, we are gathered by covenant into 36 Conferences; a Conference Minister’s Installation is a celebration of the convergence between congregations and the wider church, marking the covenants within our own Conference and with other Conferences.
In our ministerial profiles, UCC clergy are asked to reflect on covenant in UCC history, polity and theology; my reflection follows.
“The UCC is built on the two spiritual qualities of Autonomy and Covenant, and they cannot be separated in our polity. We value the Spirit working within local congregations and settings to autonomously make decisions about property, pastoral call, and ministry; we also understand that autonomy unchecked can lead to self-serving, fiercely independent focus on “love thyself” rather than “love thy neighbor.” The independent drive of autonomy is balanced by the interdependence of being in covenant with each other.
Covenant is a deeper, holier bond than a legal contract; the idea traces back to the holy promises between God and the ancient forebears of our faith-- Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Moses and the people Israel, and Jesus and his followers. From the early American Colonial period, the Salem Covenant, as handed down through the Congregational tradition, informs congregational autonomy, while the classis system of the Reformed tradition informs the structure of the wider church. These give shape to our sense of covenant as holy promises to support and nurture one another and hold each other accountable for our actions, allowing for Spirit-led discernment at each setting while also remaining in community when we disagree. As we come together at the Association, Conference, and National settings we share financial, spiritual, and human resources to provide ministry to each other and the world. The wider church also maintains uniform standards in ministerial authorization, ethics and boundaries, in coordination with local congregations, which maintain membership and hold the authorized ministers' calls.
Associations, Conferences, and the National Ministries are the crucibles of covenant in the UCC. In the ministries of these various denominational settings, in covenant with local churches, our united prayers, financial offerings, resources, and actions for justice can be multiplied to bring God’s realm of peace to bear in our world.”
My installation will be during Pentecost Weekend, so that as we celebrate the Holy Spirit’s calling together of the ancient church, we recognize the calling together of the congregations of the Montana-Northern Wyoming Conference and myself into a covenant of mutual support and accountability. It is only by the grace and blessings of God that we have come together, at such a time as this.
Peace,
Pastor Tony
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