Pastoral Ponderings - December 4, 2025

This week in our Advent Faith Exploration discussion group we looked at the two more recent statements of faith of the United Church of Canada: A New Creed (1968) and A Song of Faith (2006).  Both have descriptive statements about what it means to be the church.

In A New Creed are these words:

We are called to be the Church:

to celebrate God’s presence,

to live with respect in Creation,

to love and serve others,

to seek justice and resist evil,

to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,

our judge and our hope.

On Wednesday the group decided we preferred to change the last line to read, “our model and our hope”.

In A Song of Faith is this statement:

We sing of God’s good news lived out,

a church with purpose:

faith nurtured and hearts comforted,

gifts shared for the good of all,

resistance to the forces that exploit and marginalize,

fierce love in the face of violence,

human dignity defended,

members of a community held and inspired by God…

As we prepare to light the Advent Candle of Peace, I am struck by the line from 1968 that calls the church to “seek justice and resist evil”.  Similarly, in the 2006 statement we read that good news lived out includes “resistance to the forces that exploit and marginalize” and “fierce love in the face of violence”.  The Jewish concept of Shalom means more than “peace”.  It includes the absence of conflict as well as the presence of justice.  Seeking justice and resisting evil, providing resistance to forces that exploit and marginalize and confronting violence with fierce love are included in the path to shalom, the path to peace.

This Sunday as we light the Advent Candle of Peace we will reflect on what it may look like for us in this day and age to follow the path of peace by seeking justice, resisting evil and confronting violence with fierce love.  What it may look like when our pursuit of peace moves beyond lighting a candle the second Sunday of Advent.  I hope to see you Sunday as we reflect together.

Dale