One: God is still speaking to the United Church of Christ.

All: Through the voice of prophets like Micah calling us to do justice, to love with mercy, and to walk in humility with God.

One: God is still speaking to our local churches.

All: Through the voice of prophets like Amos crying out to let justice roll on like a river and faithfulness like an ever-flowing stream!

One: God is still speaking to us.

All: Through the living Word of Jesus proclaiming, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God."

One: God is still speaking.

All: In the letters of Paul who wrote, "If I speak in the tongues of humans and angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or clanging cymbal."

One: God is still speaking in history.

All: When our spiritual ancestors heard the call to seek religious liberty in a new land and set sail upon the Mayflower to establish The Plymouth Colony in 1620.

One: God is still speaking when our Congregational ancestors, a people guided by truth and the courage to raise new questions, realized that true liberty cannot survive without support for education.

All: In faithfulness to God’s voice they founded Harvard College, Yale, Dartmouth, Amherst, Andover, Oberlin, Carleton, and a host of universities across our land.

One: In faithfulness to God’s voice they founded schools to educate African Americans providing the funding and vision for colleges and universities such as Fisk, Howard, Southern Christian, Huston – Tillotson, Talladega, and Tougaloo.

All: Our spiritual ancestors in the Evangelical Synod built hospitals and homes for orphans throughout the Midwest. They heard the call of God to bring healing and hope to all people.

One: Our spiritual ancestors in The German Reformed tradition started a tiny seminary in the backwoods of Mercersburg, Pennsylvania where theologians John Nevin and Philip Schaff called us to remember our Christian unity and share our spiritual gifts as part of the One Body of Christ.

All: Our spiritual ancestors in the Christian church tradition heard the call to look at the New Testament as a model for our churches.

One: Do not put a period where God is still speaking.

All: In 1700, God spoke and we made our churches visible with the first organized anti-slavery movement in America.

One: In the 1770s, our spiritual ancestors in New England stood in pulpits and raised the cry for freedom and independence from England. Our churches led in a revolution that gave birth to our nation.

All: When the British sent their army into Philadelphia – our spiritual ancestors escaped taking with them the Liberty Bell that they hid at Zion Reformed Church in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

One: Let your light shine so all can see.

All: In 1785, God was still speaking as we were the first mainline denomination to ordain an African-American pastor.

One: Jesus did not turn people away, neither do we.

All: In 1810, we organized the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to speak the compassionate message of God’s acceptance to distant nations.

One: Jesus did not turn people away, neither do we.

All: In 1839, it became our mission to work for justice all the way to the Supreme Court to free the slaves of the ship, AMISTAD.

One: Jesus did not turn people away, neither do we.

All: In 1853, we were first to ordain a woman for ministry.

One: Jesus did not turn people away, neither do we.

All: In 1972, we were the first mainline denomination to ordain an openly gay person for ministry.

One: Jesus did not turn people away, neither do we.

All: We continue the mission of our spiritual ancestors through the local, national, and global ministries of the United Church of Christ.

One: Since 2001, more than 80 churches have joined the United Church of Christ because of our courage to speak for justice for all people.

All: God is still speaking through the words of Micah, Amos, the great prophets, and the living Word of Jesus Christ shared in the churches across our Association.

One: God is still speaking at our General Synod in Atlanta, our Conference gatherings, our Association meetings, and our labors of faith, hope, and love.

All: God is still speaking, – Are We?

One: Open wide the doors of the church, listen for the Spirit of God, take the loving Spirit of God with you into the world.

All: God, we know You are still speaking, – help us to listen. AMEN.

Prepared by Paul M. Ashby. Used at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Ohio Association, April 30, 2005. Permission to use granted.