God Is Still Speaking,

God Is Still Speaking,

“Following Christ’s example, we reach out to bring hope and justice to all of God’s family. We affirm the gifts and cherish the image of God in each person.  We welcome into the full life and ministry of the church all persons of every race, culture, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, economic status, and family structure. In partnership with God and each other, in traditional yet progressive ways, we are ordinary people working hard to accomplish extraordinary things.” (from Ebenezer’s Identity Statement)

What’s Up with the Comma?

Never place a period where God has placed a comma, because God is still speaking,

 (Gracie Allen)

At Ebenezer, we believe that God is still speaking.  God didn’t stop talking to us at the end of the Bible.  The United Church of Christ balances religious tradition with new ideas.  Our faith is more than 2000 years old.  Our thinking is not.

The Comma invites us to believe that God speaks through other people, nature, music, art, a theorem, the Bible, and in so many other ways. The Comma reminds us of the unusual religious freedom and responsibility to engage the Bible with our own unique experiences, questions, and ideas. The Comma reminds us to balance our rich religious past with openness to the new ideas, new people, and new possibilities of the future.

God has more to say, and we remain open and listening. We offer an extravagant welcome to all.  At a time when religion is too often portrayed as narrow-minded and exclusive, we raise our voices for an alternate vision where:

• God is all-loving and inclusive.
• The church of Jesus Christ welcomes and accepts everyone as they are.
• Your mind is nourished as much as your soul.
• Jesus the healer meets Jesus the revolutionary.
• Together we grow a just and peaceful world.

(from ucc.org)

At Ebenezer, we don’t take the Bible literally, but we do take the Bible seriously.