Q: As we celebrate 100 years of the United Church, what do you think the church needs to do to continue to exist?
A: I have been asked this question a lot recently. My answer: the church needs resurrection and has to let go of Lazarus. Lazarus died, and Jesus called him out of the tomb, back to life. But Lazarus was essentially unchanged. He just went back to being Lazarus, a brother, a friend — back to his old life.
Christ’s resurrection, on the other hand, is far more than reanimation. It is revolutionary, transformative, shocking. It violates the laws of life and death and is metaphysical in nature. Those who encounter the Risen Christ are never the same. They have experienced something completely new and live different lives because of it.
Nothing about resurrection is safe: it threatens the established order, as we see through the early history of the church.
I love the familiarity of the denomination I ministered in for over three decades. But sadly, that’s Lazarus, known and comfortable.
So what does embracing resurrection mean for us? It means admitting that the way we have done church since 1925 is over. It means asking, in a world of growing chaos, what God is inviting us into. It means serving in a world that desperately needs connection and, yes, is looking for God in new ways and through different experiences.
Scary? Absolutely. But it was the same for the early church, and that’s where we are right now, partnering with God to create something new.
***
Rev. Christopher White is a United Church minister in Hamilton. Do you have a query for Question Box? Email christopher.white143@gmail.com.
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