by Tina Squire, Sierra Vista Arizona, member of the Nominating Committee of the Southwest Conference
When I was four and a half months old my parents baptized me at a UCC church in Bethesda, MD and into what became home for me through my young adulthood. My father was a Foreign Service officer so we lived overseas during his diplomatic assignments and back in the DC area when he worked at the State Department. Whenever we were back, I reacquainted myself with the congregation and found a small town in the big city, adoptive grandparents, and a place I could be myself and be welcome.
In the 1970s we held a contemporary service in the fellowship hall while a more formal worship filled the sanctuary. In the hall, people of all ages, even children, were invited to decide what we did. Whenever we performed in front of the whole church in the sanctuary as young ones, we sang something we ourselves had written with our music director, Roger Ames, who went on to create operas with other youth. From a young age I experienced church as a place I not only belonged, but a place I helped create.
Later, however, I felt less welcomed to make church. In my first ministry in another part of Maryland, I felt unnecessary at conference activities. I attended the annual meeting once and it was an exciting three-ring circus with multiple events occurring in numerous rooms. The organization seemed to run without any need for my input or presence.
Then I came to Arizona and brought my two month old son to my first Southwest Conference meeting. There was never a shortage of women to hold him and we could all fit in one large room. I felt seen and needed, and because of our geographic distances, I could tell that folks in this conference made an effort to gather when we could to share wisdom and company.
In every congregation we the people ARE the church but this is especially true in denominations with congregational polity. We don’t have bishops who tell us how to worship, how we must respond to a crisis or decide where our ministers will serve. Our conference gives us guidance and help in times of tension but decisions are made by local churches.
This means we have a more flexible structure that we are invited to forge. The conference may organize annual meetings, but we have to choose to attend to make our connections stronger. We have committees, but they only function when people agree to serve on them. In future editions of In the Loop, members of the Nominating Committee of the Southwest Conference will describe what open positions in the conference would stretch you to do. Is there something you would like to alter in this conference? Work on a board or committee and be that change you’d like to see. Does something really interest you, or do you have life-earned skills? Please be open to ways you can help create our wider church.