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The importance of extending welcome
By David Popham

Father Bruno, a Catholic priest in Belgium, rescued an estimated 320 Jewish children from the Nazi Holocaust. When Father Bruno was honored for his "saving" work he asked those gathered: "Saved? But who saved? What did I do? I searched; but searching without finding is perfectly fruitless: finding is essential. But finding was not my doing … finding meant that doors were opened, the door of a home, the door of a heart." (Quoted in Martin Gilbert's The Righteous: The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust)
The following are true stories from people who posted their comments on the UCC website: http://rejectionhurts.com.

"I actually left the UCC denomination years ago for a more fundamentalist denomination. For a while I felt 'special'. We learned that God sort of loved us more because we had special insights into the Scripture, believed the right doctrines, knew the correct prayers, behaved properly. But when my marriage began to unravel, I was abruptly made aware that I am precisely 'UNspecial' anymore. No one told me to leave the other denomination; they simply ignored me, or quoted Scripture to me endlessly. The ushers would ask me to move to another pew so that my former friends in the women's group did not have to sit with me. When I saw the first set of advertisements from UCC, I decided to go back to a local UCC. They invited visitors to explain why they were there, I said, 'I'm here to see if the ads are true.' Now I'm learning that ALL of us are special to God, that God was in Christ reconciling ALL THE WORLD to Himself."

" In college, I was accosted by a teen girl whose church had sent her youth group to collar concert-goers and follow them to their cars arguing salvation, as if that would convince someone to instantly fall to the sidewalk and 'become a new creature through Christ.' I was appalled and insulted by their naively unquestioning insinuations …I was so angry at her hubris I wanted to punch her. … I am glad for the message and hospitality (and the seeking and partnering attitude) of the UCC, and the fair treatment I've received."

" I am gothic and a christian. I happily attended a [non-UCC] church until I went on their youth camp. I was put into the communal sleeping area with the 13-17 year olds (I am 21), and the entire weekend I had people coming up to me asking if I wanted them to pray with me, just because I had a mohawk and wore thick black eyeliner."

When we celebrate what is right with the United Church of Christ, we celebrate the finding of a place where broken lives are healed by the touch of Christ.

"… finding meant that doors were opened, the door of a home, the door of a heart,"

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