Stillspeaking Friends –

This is the message I really hoped not to write. But I write now because, despite the best efforts of many, the Advent ad buy is off.

Let us remember that we are the church, Christ is its sole head and Advent, the main event, is not off. In the words of that great theologian, Gracie Allen, “Never place a period where God has placed a comma.” Our campaign slogan is more than a slogan; it is God’s promise: God is still speaking,

God is still speaking, through the generous gifts of the people across our beloved United Church of Christ who, struggling to respond to the needs of hurricane victims, also struggled to come up with more than $720,000 to respond to the needs of the spiritually homeless of our time. They gave sacrificially to make the Advent ads happen.

God is still speaking, through the heroic efforts of leaders like Jose Malayang and the Local Church Ministries Board who came up with a hopeful and incredible “out of the box” approach that nearly made the Advent ads happen.

God is still speaking, through the bold move of Justice & Witness Ministries and its Board as it sought to take precious and limited funds to stand in the gap for the shortfall to make the Advent ads happen.

God is still speaking through each and every gift, and especially to me through the gift of a displaced hurricane victim from New Orleans, temporarily living in Houston, TX. She said, “I want to do something to make the Advent ads happen.”

God is still speaking, through the honest struggle of God’s people who take many hours from their personal lives to meet, sometimes endlessly, evenings and weekends, trying to figure out how to do the administrative business of the church, trying to hold our wondrously heady and exasperating mix together. Some opposed moving forward; others pressed to make the Advent ads happen.

All these folks love the United Church of Christ.

And in the end, despite the calendar, believe it or not, it’s Advent – right now. Out of our struggle, imperfection, and dreams, beneath the swaddling cloth of TV ads, media buys, and campaign slogans lies the real thing, Jesus the Christ, God with us, born in and among us to do amazing things above all we can ask or imagine. And there is nothing better than that.

Hang on to your hats. Lent is coming sooner than we think and we will all be ready . . . thanks to all of you. Look forward to a few exciting ideas our churches can use during Advent as well. . . . because there are still people who are not in anyone’s church who are going to need church this Advent -- people who have given up on the church and God. Many of our churches are prepared to go out of their way to let these people know they have an inviting, warm and cozy place for them . . . so they can get them and all of us all stirred up to go out and turn the world upside down.

Right now, memories of weekly family prayer in my childhood home flash across my mind. We went to the living room and got down on our knees to pray. It seemed to last for half an hour. My dad would close every prayer with these same words of Jesus, with tears streaming down his face, “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” Then he would exclaim, “What a great promise!”

Thanks be to God it is so, and God is still speaking, Amen!

Ron Buford
The Stillspeaking Initiative
Coordinator and Team Leader