Inextricable Connections

Denominations may be a thing of the past. We may be moving past them into a true embodiment of the whole people of God that is not sectarian. But, for now, I love my denomination. I'm so proud of the wonderful, prophetic actions we move toward. Two days ago, our President and General Minister Rev. John Thomas made a speech at United Theological Seminary in the Twin Cities. He concludes with these words:

At the same time, Jews and Christians remain, even in moments of deepest tension, inextricably linked to one another by the God whose covenants with each community have not been and cannot be broken. It is the witness of the General Synod’s Statement twenty years ago that it is God’s faithfulness, and not our own comfort with each other or our agreement on the Middle East, that binds us together. Borrowing from Paul, albeit in a different context, the church and the synagogue do not have the luxury of saying to one another, “I have no need of you.” Neither ghetto nor pogrom, in either their historic or contemporary manifestations, reflect the will of God either for Christian or Jew. The current state of our relationship, stretched almost to breaking by the dilemmas of the Middle East and the depressing regularity of new shipments of history, does not offer an encouraging atmosphere within which to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the 1987 General Synod’s groundbreaking theological affirmations. Yet it is those very affirmations that offer the promise that this precious relationship cannot ultimately be broken and impels us, amid all of today’s challenge and confrontation to find ways
to embody the unbreakable covenants that bear witness to the faithfulness of God.

As the new year dawns with Rosh Hashanah this weekend, perhaps a new year in our relationships with our brothers and sisters will arise. We can only hope.