by Rev. Sarah Campbell
During the summer we like to do a summer series with many different voices in the pulpit.
We are a church with diverse theologies—high Christology and low, leaning trinitarian and leaning unitarian, more orthodox and more liberal, some existing more on the metaphorical plane and some, at times, historical and literal. Some of us believe that more of the stories “actually happened” and some lean towards the other understanding of truth. In the UCC, this all works for we are non creedal.* This theological diversity is reflected in our preaching: We have many preachers in our pulpit. Especially in the summer!
But there are some theologies that we would consider bad or damaging or harmful. Or at least the common understanding of the theology is damaging. There is more common ground here, I suspect, among the preachers at Mayflower. This summer, our series will be:
Each Sunday we’ll “call out” the bad theology and offer up some good theology in its place—or good interpretation of the problematic biblical narrative. Examples include:
The bible and women
Everything is in God’s plan
Prosperity gospel
Chosen people/Manifest Destiny
Anti-Judaism in the new testament
Inerrancy of scripture
I wish we could have a “sermon talk back” every Sunday this summer so you can have a chance to ask questions, make comments, or “talk back” to the preacher. Know that you can always talk to us/preachers after the service or in an email, or phone call. The sermon is the beginning of a conversation, not the last word.
In Christ,
Sarah
Read Rev. Campbell’s article published in a UCC journal years ago: Non Creedal in the Cradle of Creedalism.
