Synod has officially adjourned! We finished all our business: the voting, the recognitions, and everything in between promptly. Our last day was July 4, and it seemed strange that we would end on Independence Day, such a major American holiday. If you have looked at many of the resolutions, you may note that there is some criticism of the leaders and dominant ideas of the United States. For example, both a resolution and a letter introduced from the floor criticized recent Supreme Court Decisions.
Outside of a few T-shirts, there was not a lot of patriotism going on in the hall. And in many ways that is good. The church should not celebrate the flag above the cross. But I also suspect that many UCCers struggle sometimes to a love a country that they feel rejects or even threatens their dignity as children of God and which resists their cries for justice.
But as I thought about it, having Synod end on Independence was very appropriate, and that is because of how Independence Day differs from some of our other American holidays. Memorial Day and Veterans Day focus on the sacrifice and heroism of the military. Other holidays commemorate great victories. But Independence Day represents democracy, that messy and exasperating process that often ends in compromises that make no one happy. But democracy has a primal power to it, and I felt it with every motion, discussion, and vote in Synod. On paper, Robert’s Rules of Order is deadly dull, but in the hall, the sense of coming together to vote based on both principles and love was exhilarating. Much of what we know of American democracy comes from town halls, which originated in, among other places, Congregationalist meetings. Our UCC General Synod draws from that tradition, just as the Continental Congress and our own Congress do. In voting on matters of justice, we were living that great democratic tradition.
But as I was also reminded today, Independence Day is about revolution and speaking truth to power. It is about stating principles but backing those principles with courage and action. It is what the signers of the Declaration of Independence did, risking the wrath of Britain, the most powerful empire in the world. Church should also be about revolution and speaking truth to power, as we follow our Lord Jesus who stood up to Rome, the most powerful empire in his world, dying on the cross for the sake of love and salvation.
There were some wonderful fireworks tonight. A time to celebrate our church, called by witness from fear into action, and to celebrate our country, which despite its many flaws, can be a place of hope, liberty, and justice.
Yours in Christ,
Rev. Gregory N. Baker
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