Coming Back to Church as a Grown Up
Excerpt from 2 Timothy 3:10-15
“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”
Reflection by Lillian Daniel
These days, very few people who join our church were raised in the UCC. Most of them were raised in other forms of Christianity, and they may have some negative feelings about the church of their childhood. And so they drifted from church and sought to go it alone, without a faith community.
But eventually, they hit something that is bigger than private, self-created spirituality. Perhaps it is the death of a parent, the birth of a child, a friend’s illness, a lonely patch in life, but suddenly they find themselves remembering some of those childhood Bible lessons. They find themselves recalling the blessings of the Christian faith, and they search for a church, but they do so very tentatively, not knowing what they will find, and afraid of being hurt.
When they do find us, they have the same reaction that so many people do when they discover the UCC. “This is the church I always wanted to find but didn’t know existed.” But our church isn’t perfect any more than the churches they left are all bad. And a miraculous thing happens to grown ups on a faith journey. We come to appreciate moments from our past, like the Sunday school teacher who taught us the “sacred writings” in our childhood.
That is why when people join the church, we always say, “We give thanks for every community that has ever been your spiritual home.”
As the scripture tells us today, we realize that there is a connection between who we were raised to be and who we are now. It might not be a straight line, but you can connect the dots.
Prayer
Today I give thanks for the small and tender blessings of every place that has ever been my spiritual home. Amen.
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