How is the Medford Congregational UCC
"A Little Bit Different?"
We may not seem very different at first. After all, we've got a long, old-fashioned, unwieldy name, and if you walk in on a Sunday morning, you'll see folks sitting in traditional pews, singing hymns, listening to a guy in a robe speaking from a pulpit, the whole mainline-church thing. We have potlucks and rummage sales and coffee hours. We have warm, friendly, genuinely caring people.
But then, so do most churches. The difference is...
- ...in the mature sense of intellectual freedom that animates the congregation, the honoring of both inner and outer spiritual work in discovering who we are, and the inclusive language used to express these things.
- ...that there is never anyone telling you how to live
your life or what to believe. In fact, we rarely use the word "belief."
Instead, we say, "Get curious about who you are and who God is. Go beyond
mental assent to the actual experience of the divine, the experience of the I
AM!"
- ...that we have no categories for distinguishing
people by sexual orientation or marital status, prior religious tradition, or
political leanings. Like Jesus, we would no more single out those things than
we would skin color, credit score, or blood type.
- ...that we're a relatively small congregation; people
know each other's names and honor each other's giftedness. If you're
willing-although we never push-we put your gifts in play quickly. Connecting
with us is a journey into the mystery of God, with the life and teachings of
Jesus as a map.
- ...that we've not only read Eckhart Tolle, Jim Wallis, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Brian McLaren, and Marcus Borg; we've put some of their ideas into practice. We take the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures very seriously, but we dip into the spiritual poetry of other faiths on occasion-the poems of Hafiz and Jalal al-Din Rumi have stirred our spirits, too!
Our mission statement says it all:
To cultivate God-centered community
through spiritual inquiry and intellectual freedom
