As a young girl, I rejected church because once I stopped believing in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, the rest of the “churchy” beliefs seemed just plain silly, contrived and unnecessary. A man parting the Red Sea, one big boat saving every species from extinction, a virgin having a baby? I mean, come on!

Furthermore, the stuff I heard preached in church was not the behavior I saw modeled for me by many who sat in the pews – so being there felt like a major waste of time. I thought, why should we sit and listen to this stuff when no one actually lives it? I went on my merry way still determined to be a "good" person, but not quite sure about the particulars of how this related to God.

 

As an adult, however, I felt a deep need to join a faith community because it seemed like the easiest and fastest way to join together with others to make a difference in helping a hurting world. My husband and I tried several churches in different communities before settling on our current church, United Christian Parish. What follows are the reasons we chose this amazing congregation that in every way defies the “churchy” and judgmental Christian upbringing both of us had experienced as youth.

 

United Christian Parish (UCP) is a Lakeport church made up of Disciples, Methodists, and Presbyterians who worship together under this common umbrella: “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.”

The essential faith that binds us together is a common belief that Jesus Christ walked the Earth some 2,000 years ago. Every member of this welcoming congregation is given the liberty to interpret the particulars surrounding Jesus in his or her own way, however.

For example, there are many who believe that Jesus is the one and only Son of God. Other ideas are equally welcomed and respected, however, such as these: Jesus is but one of many children of God; Jesus is the only God; Jesus was one of several highly-enlightened teachers who had accessed the Divine within him and who tried to teach others that everyone is capable of this too; Jesus is coming again someday; Jesus already lives among us in the hearts of every human; Jesus’ Divine energy is alive within every atom of everything in the Universe; Heaven is something to look forward to; Heaven is already here – we just need to have the eyes to see it; Jesus died for our sins; Jesus was executed because he was a religious troublemaker; Jesus rose from the grave; Jesus’ resurrection is a metaphor for enlightenment through suffering; Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene; Jesus never married; the Bible is the Word of God to be interpreted literally; the Bible is the word of many ancient believers who recorded their fears and hopes in a formal way; the Bible is a semi-historical chronicle of persecuted people filled with wonderful exciting stories; the Bible is a wealth of important messages for living that we can follow by using contemporary interpretations; and on and on.

The range of beliefs is far-reaching, but the common factor is simply belief in Jesus Christ.

Regardless of the non-essentials (many of which are listed above), we all believe that Jesus was here to teach the message of love, compassion and gratitude. He died trying to spread this Word to all to help heal a hurting world. While many other “Christian” churches get so hung up on 2,000 year-old non-essentials that they end up alienating those who would otherwise join them in their quest to bring love and compassion to our world, UCP relegates those non-essentials to the back row and instead welcomes ALL who wish to follow Jesus’ example.

Jesus taught the world that judging others was a means of separating ourselves from one another. Rather, he told his disciples to actively seek out those who might be different from us, welcome them, show compassion, kindness and an open heart. Members of UCP, though their individual Jesus-specific details might differ, are united in this idea of charity. Who cares how anyone wants to interpret something, as long as you are showing charity to all of God’s creation? Does Truth need any defense anyway? As one great teacher, Byron Katie, puts it, "Who needs God when we have your opinion?"

Our pastor is a woman, Shannon Kimball-Auth, who is both praised and sometimes maligned for her “liberal” thinking. I’ve never understood how a minister who actually practices what she preaches could be criticized but it happens nonetheless. There are “Christians” out there who forget that the root meaning of “liberal” is liberty (freedom) – something that Jesus wanted for all of humankind.

Pastor Shannon has been a tremendous spiritual guide for me in my quest to understand how my personal beliefs actually match beautifully with the truths of the Bible and other works that were intentionally left out of the Canon.

While some pastors try hard to keep their flock “in line” with particular creeds and/or beliefs, Pastor Shannon actively encourages hers to delve into their hearts to find out how the Word fits for them. She is funny, open-minded, compassionate, fiercely determined to work in a positive way for social justice and planetary salvation, and beloved by her congregation – even those who may differ with her politics or her personal non-essentials.

In many ways, I think she defines a true teacher in the spirit that Jesus was; people choose to follow and learn from the one who does not judge and condemn them, but who welcomes and lifts them to new and greater possibilities.

In this age of quantum physics starting to prove the theory of a “unified field” that ties everything in the universe together via tiny “strings,” we are living in an exciting time indeed for watching the merger of science and spirit: The truths that Jesus taught 2,000 years ago are now showing up in the laboratory.

UCP is a place that enables me to join together with many others to utilize these truths to create hope for a hurting world. We are far more interested in helping the homeless and the hungry, the persecuted and the oppressed, the abandoned and the abused, and in working to be good stewards of God’s beautiful planet than arguing about non-essentials with those who might otherwise agree with our common mission: Charity.

I am grateful to be part of a truly “Christian” community at United Christian Parish, one that loves and embraces the Divine light within every person, as Jesus taught us to do.

Gale Tompkins-Bischel lives in Kelseyville.

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