Clergy from left, Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired; Pastor Nicolé Ferry, Associate Rector Lynn Finnegan and Pastor Deb Church. Courtesy photo

By Rev. Deb Beloved Church
White Rock Presbyterian Church

In a recent column [Aug. 13, 2023], my colleague, friend, and sister in faith, Mother Lynn Finnegan, encouraged us to “examine our faith ‘comfort zones’” and, for those not currently part of a church, to consider giving it a try! And she offered a prayer that whatever church you enter might be “a source of healing and hope.”

I echo all of that! Church can absolutely be a source of healing and hope–healing that springs from an experience of fundamental belovedness, no matter who we are; and hope that stems from an awareness that God is with us, no matter what. Healing and hope–and humility and honesty and courage and community and joy and peace! –can all be experienced in church.

Unfortunately, that’s not all. Tragically, church can also be a place that inflicts tremendous harm, causing wounds that are compounded exactly because the harm happens in church, thus giving the impression that the pain is somehow sanctioned by God Themselves… 

Please hear me when I say, it never is!

The God made manifest in Jesus Christ is never a God of oppression or control, but is a God of reconciliation, liberation, and love, longing to draw all of God’s creation back to wholeness. And this God is at work in the world toward that end, and invites each of us–indeed, calls all of us–to join Them in their work.

And sometimes we do! Both inside and outside of church. Showing up in our daily lives in ways that promote healing and wholeness–embodying courageous humility, speaking with compassionate honesty, extending unearned forgiveness, living from a place of no-strings-attached love.

And sometimes we don’t–both inside and outside of church. Showing up in ways that inflict harm–living from a place of arrogance and rigidity, seeking power and control, leaning into apathy and hopelessness, constrained by fear…

As humans, beautiful and complex, we’re each capable of all of those things–the things that heal and the things that harm–whether we acknowledge it or not, church or no church. As humans, complex and wounded, we each do all of those things–whether we admit it or not, church or no church.

There’s no magic in church that keeps us who participate always seeking healing and never inflicting harm. 

But it can be a place to see what it looks like. In Jesus, we can see what it looks like to extend God’s healing to all. We can see what it looks like to live fully in God’s liberation. We can see what it looks like to walk and talk and be tender and be angry and forgive and be forgiven as God’s beloved. 

In Jesus we can see what it looks like to fully embody God’s Love. And in church, with one another, we can try it out–trying to love, and failing, and trying, and succeeding, and trying, and failing, and trying again. All the while being reminded that we, and all of God’s creation, are God’s beloved… 

And then, with God’s help and the support of one another, maybe, just maybe, we can offer more of what heals and less of what harms, to the world. 

There’s no magic in church, but it’s a place to start. Come check it out!

Editor’s note: ‘All Shall Be Well’ is a semi-monthly column written by local women clergy (pastors and deacons) including, ELCA Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, M.Div., retired (czoebidd@gmail.com); Nicolé Ferry, Pastor, Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church (pastornicole@bethluth.com); Lynn Finnegan, Assistant Rector, The Episcopal Church of the Holy Faith, Santa Fe (rev.lynn@holyfaithchurchsf.org) and Deb Church, Pastor, White Rock Presbyterian Church (pastor@wrpchurch.com).