St Mark's United - United Church of Christ

You can listen to the interview with Reverend Susan Detterman here.

St Mark United United Church of Christ
2914 Lithia Pinecrest Rd
Valrico, FL 33596

Contact:Reverend Susan Detterman

Book Recommendation: The Shaping of the United Church of Christ: An Essay in the History of American Christianity

and

The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith

Religion: Christian

Denomination: United Church of Christ

Web Page: http://www.stmarkunited.org/templates/System/default.asp?id=42993

Part of what has made this quest to visit 52 different religions in a year is figuring out what makes them work. How does a church maintain belief and dogma, and balance that against fulfilling what they consider their obligations by their faith (usually helping the poor, the sick, and the needy).

What made visiting Reverend Detterman and the congregation at United Church of Christ (UCC) was just what connected them. Take doctrine. Some churches have very strict doctrine - to be a member, you have to prove that you understand the basic teachings of the church, and to remain a good member you have to affirm that you are holding to the doctrine and practices of the church (sometimes yearly).

At UCC, the community is held together not necessarily by shared specific doctrine, but in an odd way, a shared sense that community is the highest ideal. Maybe not every one agrees to the exact nature of God, or even if the the services should be more liturgical. So each community, in small ways, may shape its services to what fit the communities sense of what a service should be.

That's not to say that UCC doesn't have principles of belief - it certainly does. A believe in God, a believe in a personal savior in the form of Jesus Christ. However, the faith seems less concerned with the "you must believe this exact statement on the nature of God to be considered in good membership."

The day that I went was a special treat, since the services was focused on the Pentecost. I knew the story of the New Testament - the day that the spirit of God fell upon the disciples of Jesus after his ascension into Heaven, and were blessed with the ability to speak in languages they had previously never learned. But rather than just a rote recital of the lesson, the congregation had a small group that read the scripture - and then performed the "miracle" by having the small group speaking in tongues.

In this case, different languages. I think I picked out German and Spanish, and other languages, demonstrating that the story of tongues Pentecost wasn't just a blather of noise, but an ability to communicate. In a way, the story become more important to me, the understanding that a religion had been converted to a belief system for a small minority in the world, suddenly expanded to a message of peace and love for all mankind.

Perhaps nothing represents UCC's believe in that idea with their current symbol: a comma. The idea is that you shouldn't put a period where God has put a comma. By UCC's beliefs, God is still there today - still loving mankind, still reaching out to humanity.

I just have to mention - I really enjoyed my talk with Reverend Detterman. She was very knowledgeable about her faith, but worked very hard to work with her congregation. And it was clear to me just being around them for a few hours how much they love her.