Conference Ministers heed the Spirit, delivering unified voice as they lift Jesus’ Good Friday last words

On Good Friday, April 3, the United Church of Christ’s Council of Conference Ministers will livestream an online worship service reflecting on “The Seven Last Words of Christ.”

Worship begins at noon (EST) and can be accessed on the Facebook pages of Southern New England Conference or on social media platforms of the conferences participating in the service (full list at the end of article), such as the Southwest Conference UCC. Click here to watch on its YouTube page. The service can also be viewed on Vimeo, here.

While services focusing on Jesus’ last words from the cross — from “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” to “It is finished” — have been a long-standing Holy Week tradition, especially within the Black church, this coming together of Conference Ministers is new.

According to the Rev. Marsha E. Williams of the New York Conference UCC, the idea for the “Last Words” service “gained traction” during a retreat of the Conference Ministers of color that was held in January at the historic Franklinton Center at Bricks in Whitaker, North Carolina, a social justice retreat and conference center and site for African American historical preservation with strong UCC connections.

“Our time together was spent bonding and sharing in the uniqueness of doing this judicatory work as ministers of color in predominately white spaces,” said Williams.

Retreat become revelation

But what began as a retreat soon became “revelation,” said the Rev. Toni Hawkins of the Southwest Conference UCC.

“We recognized something deeper, that this moment demands more than fellowship; it demands a unified voice,” said Hawkins. “Out of that encounter, this Good Friday witness was born.”

The Rev. Darrell L. Goodwin of the Southern New England Conference UCC is especially moved that the Good Friday “witness,” as Hawkins called it, did not “emerge from institutional planning.”

“It arose organically out of relationship, out of time spent together, listening deeply, and discerning what this moment requires of us as leaders in the United Church of Christ,” he said.

What Goodwin finds most compelling, though, is how the Conference Ministers are coming together across geography, context, and lived experience.

“There is a shared recognition that the Church is being called to show up differently in the world that is both weary and wounded. This service is one that is small, but meaningful. It is embodying that call, linking arms and hearts to proclaim a collective witness,” he said, adding, “We are stronger together, and that even from the cross, God is still speaking a word of love that binds us.”

Service offers clergy of color perspective

Williams hopes that those joining the online service will gain a different perspective by hearing clergy voices of color tell the story of Good Friday through Jesus’ last words.

“I know for African Americans there has always been a unique identification with the oppression and suffering of Jesus Christ.  I pray that hearing the words of the marginalized, from the marginalized, might draw new meaning to the holiness of this day,” said Williams.

Hawkins shared that hope, citing that “this expression” of Jesus’ last words will be carried “by voices shaped by lived experience, by resilience, by the weight and wonder of faith in real time.”

“The reality is that the cries from the cross still echo in our world today,” said Hawkins. “We are not just remembering the cross, we are proclaiming its truth in this moment. That even now, those same words declare that love refuses to be silent, that God is present in pain, and that redemption is still unfolding.”

Leaning into our shared humanity

It is Goodwin’s desire that Jesus’ last words proclaimed by the Conference ministers are not heard by those joining online Good Friday service as “simply history.” But rather as an invitation to “lean more deeply into our shared humanity.”

“It’s an invitation to remain present to one another amid struggle and to trust that even now, God is at work bringing life out of what feels like loss,” said Goodwin.

For the Rev. Davena Jones of the Northern California Nevada Conference UCC this will be the first time she has participated in a Good Friday service featuring Jesus’ last words.

While she is excited to join with other Conference Minsters of color, she is acutely aware of the responsibility upon them to minister “during such a time as this.”

“Many people feel forsaken by the leadership of the United States of America, forsaken by the communities where they live and by their churches, and forsaken by families who turned them away for who they are. Many people are seeking hope while trying to figure out how they are going to make it day by day,” said Jones.

And this is why, said Hawkins, that the Conference Ministers have come together for Good Friday.

“Not for ceremony. Not for tradition alone. But for a word that must be spoken together,” Hawkins added. “Because the same God who spoke from the cross is still speaking now.”

Clergy participating in the Good Friday service include: Rev. Dr. Toni Hawkins, Southwest Conference; Rev. Nayiri Karjian, Florida Conference; Rev. Dr. Terrill Murff, Illinois Conference; Rev. Dr. Davena Jones, Northern California Nevada Conference; Rev. Freeman Palmer, Central Atlantic Conference; Rev. Dr. Marsha Williams, New York Conference; and Rev. Darrell Goodwin, Southern New England Conference.

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