Across the globe Christians have been gathering this week for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  As we prepare to gather tomorrow and open up a new week together I invite you to join us in these intentional prayers. 

Finn and Beth and Daryl and others have invoked prayer for peace between Russia and Ukraine; countless other conflicts around the world today and throughout two millenia have involved violence Christians were willing to commit. Against one another. Against those of our religions. One modern ethicist, Stanley Hauerwas, famously asks “What if Christians at least agreed not to kill each other?”

Beyond the traumas of outward physical and social violence are the battles for social power and policy, the aggression and false witness and hyperbole we regularly hear on the airwaves.  Very often, when we hear a diatribe that  begins with “The Christian answer is” or “because I am a Christian, I oppose  THEM” it is true  that others who believe they follow Christ may understand a situation or need very differently.

What does it mean for Eden to embody a Gospel of Unity Possible in our divided community and world?  To bring love and humility to the passionate disagreements and viral fears of our day?  What does it mean to trust and cultivate unity as we discern how we chart our own course as vibrant faith community facing creative challenges?

I believe we’ve seen God do miracles among us and through us because we have, in President Ed’s words, been “rowing in the same direction.”  It’s my prayer that as we grow together in 2023 we will continue to deepen in understanding of mission – all the ways God’s want us to bless through sharing our collective love resources and also through our individual lights tended well.   Among these varied impacts is the Good News alive in our sanctuary… a unity in Jesus Christ and a commitment to nurturing the unity of our wider community.

I picked a couple contemporary videos which inspire me in these directions:

“We are Many Parts” by Catholic Composer Marty Haugen. 

“They’ll Know We are Christians By Our Love”

In Christ’s Peace,
Pastor Jacki