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Dear Folks:
This last weekend I attended the installation of Rev. Dr. Davena Creer Jones as the settled Conference Minister in Northern California-Nevada. What a glorious celebration! Held at City of Refuge UCC, and hosted by Bishop Rev. Dr. Yvette Flunder, it was the church at its most beautiful–singing, clapping, praying, dancing, hearing the Word of God, and having it interpreted by fabulous speakers. Shouts of “Hallelujah” and “Amen” and “Praise God” rose to the ceiling as Rev. Dr. Jones was honored throughout the 3 ½ hour service.
The front pew, except for Davena’s husband, was a sisterhood including Davena, two former Northern California-Nevada Conference Ministers and our General Minister and President, Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson. Many other women were involved in the service from Pilgrim Community UCC, the Golden Gate Association and Northern California-Nevada Conference Leadership, as well as three other Conference Ministers. One of the wonderful things to observe was Bishop Flunder, the obvious Godmother to Black ministers, and Rev. Davena, the honoree of the day, encouraging and thanking the speakers, singers, dancers, and others by standing up and paying deep attention to their praise. This was a mutual honoring, receiving and giving support to each other, all while praising God.
Rev. Dr. Jones is a child of the Conference, having grown up in San Francisco at Pilgrim Community Church UCC under Rev. Dr. Harold Pierre, the preacher for the day. Dr. Pierre told some stories about Davena, and he pointed out how her call into ministry showed up. Like many of us in the clergy, she was late answering the call, and it was her pastor who affirmed her call into the ministry when she was unsure of it. What I hadn’t known about Davena was that she did not have an undergraduate degree, which had added to her hesitancy to go to seminary. While many in her life could see her gifts for ministry, she was worried about whether ministry was really a call.
I wondered what else might block someone from following God’s call to ministry. We have biblical stories of rejecting the call because of being too young or too old, not being able to speak well, being childless, having an unsavory past, or being the last-born child. I hear from women that they did not see themselves in the male-dominated pulpit, and the first woman they saw in the pulpit was often in the UCC. LGBTQ folk struggle to break free from the societal shaming that steers them away from ministry. Black people and other people of color struggle to find a foothold in the predominantly white church. And yet, God is persistent in calling people to serve. God needs ministers to serve locally, to serve across expectations and cultural chasms, to serve no matter their age or speaking ability, gender, sexuality, or rank-order of birth.
I left the installation service with my heart full, my soul soaring, and my mind at peace. I knew I had been to church, and I knew that I had been in the presence of the Holy Spirit. I also came away with two questions: 1. In what ways do we non-verbally honor, encourage, support, and be in gratitude to one another in the Montana-Northern Wyoming Conference? 2. Who in our Conference needs some affirmation in their call to ministry?
Whose light do we dim by not encouraging and calling them forth–ours or theirs?
Peace,
Pastor Tony
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