Amos 5:24

"But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."

Reflection by Lillian Daniel

It seems like a long time ago that our church went through the Open and Affirming process and made a statement welcoming all people to the church. But when I look at my calendar, I see that it was only two and a half years ago. In a congregation that is celebrating its 150th anniversary, that is very recent history.

Members of other churches, who went through the process many years before we did, had warned me that this might happen. They talked about how quickly a process that took up so much passion and energy could slip into past history, like something that had been checked off a list and completed, even taken for granted.

Those of us who went through the open and affirming process can forget how surprising or even shocking those words of welcome might be to a first-time visitor to the church. Old news for one person is groundbreaking news for another.

We might forget how many people don't know that there are churches like ours. We might forget to celebrate, to tell our friends, to invite the stranger.

We might also forget to check ourselves, as a changing community, to see if we are still living up to those lofty words. We might forget to keep having the hard conversations.

Because the work of welcoming is never done. A vote or a statement doesn't take care of anything, unless we live it out each day.

Prayer

Jesus, refresh in us the passions of the past, the vision for your future, and the waters of your ever-flowing stream. Amen.

About the Author Lillian Daniel is the senior minister of the First Congregational Church, UCC, Glen Ellyn, Illinois. She is the author, with Martin Copenhaver, of This Odd and Wondrous Calling: the Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers.

The Daily Devotional is now on Facebook. Become a fan!

Sign up to receive Daily Devotionals

More items written by the Stillspeaking Writers' Group