Search PNC News for stories of people and churches in our UCC Conference:

 

UCC comes together at General Synod

By The Rev. Phil Hodson, Designated Conference Minister

Reflections by the Rev. Phil Hodson, designated conference minister.

When we gather as the General Synod, we bear witness to one another and the wider world the very best of the United Church of Christ.

Across the breadth of geography, representing faith communities of every size and form, the richness of ethnic and racial diversity, gender identity and theological perspectives.

We come together to worship, to witness to our shared and lived out faith in Jesus Christ, and even to prophesy as we listen for and respond to the movement of the Holy Spirit among us.

Through the work of the General Synod, the denomination speaks to the many settings of our beloved Church and the ways we might impact the world together through the resolutions that we debate and pass.

It is where we learn about and can individually and collectively engage with the vast array of ministry partners who exist to bless our own ministries, the communities we serve, and the world at large.

It is a time when new friendships are forged and, for many, a “family reunion” where we continue to strengthen, across the years, the ties that bind us together.

The greatest gift of our coming together in Kansas City this year, for me, was witnessing the Divine encourage, engage and enliven our Pacific Northwest Conference delegates and guests. I saw first-time delegates become deeply passionate about the witness of our denomination to the genocide continuing to happen in Gaza.

I watched “old hands” at Synod embrace long-unseen friends and share ideas for ministry.

We had representatives of our newest Marshallese and Samoan congregations and their pastoral leadership join us as well, and my heart sang when I overhead one mention how welcome and included they felt among the gathered body right from the start!

General Synod celebrates the abundance that is found because of the depth and breadth of our diversity as a “big tent” Church.

Where we are greater than the sum of our parts.

I am thankful for this time with our delegates and guests.

I am hopeful for the ways our witness will speak to and through our local churches in the Pacific Northwest Conference.

I am excited about the possibility of even more of our laity and clergy being able to attend as delegates and guests in three years, when we come together again in Cleveland, Ohio.

General Synod is one of many places where God stirs us up and then sends us forth to do the work of the Divine in the world. May it be so for all of us!

 

Pacific Northwest Conference United Church of Christ News © Summer 2025

 

Share this article on your favorite social media