25 years ago, on January 15, 1984, to be exact, I was “rev’d”—that is, I became an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ. 

 

All of 26 years old at the time, I had been prepared for this work by 3 years of formal study at Yale Divinity School, time spent in Philosophy classes at Williams College, which were, for the most part, over my head, and God-only-knows how many sermons, classes, discussion groups and service projects within faith communities along the way. 

 

First Congregational United Church of Christ called me to “preach the Gospel” back in June, 1988.  Then a small-but-tenacious congregation, I was reminded by the then-Moderator of the congregation that they “didn’t really need a preacher”.  They were good at handling affairs on their own.

 

I realized that that was probably true.  We have written accounts in the Bible that we call “Gospels”, but for most of us, the Gospel that matters most is the Gospel that speaks from the course of the day, from the stories of our lives.  “Gospel” means “good news”, after all, and all of us, I think, are trying to develop the “eyes to see” and the “ears to hear”, to use the language of the Bible, the way that Good News is speaking within our days.  I am privileged to live my own story of the Gospel in such a vibrant, life-giving community of folks.

 

I live in midtown Memphis with my husband, Mark Allen, guitarist/carpenter/political scientist, 2 beautiful  and totally undisciplined Tibetan Terriers (Bella and Lyric), 8 canaries, and a great collection of books and CD’s.  

 

Mark and I were married just 3 years ago, and Mark was baptized recently into this company of named Gospel-seekers at First Congregational.   I would argue that he has been traveling among his own  less-explicitly identified group of Gospel-seekers–activists, musicians, scholars and street philosophers—for most of his life.  It’s been a joy to enter this circle of companions.

 

My hope is to share stories of the Gospel as it is lived in our Real-Life Church, First Congregational UCC of Memphis.  I may borrow a story or two from other “Real-Life Congregations” I’ve been privileged to know along the way, previous to my life here in Memphis.   Some of the particular details of stories have been altered a bit in the interests of protecting privacy; names have been changed.  I am surrounded by so many remarkable people, so many remarkable stories of faith and Gospel life for which I am profoundly grateful.

 

 

 

 

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