My UCC church’s listening experiment with our evangelical neighbors
I hoped our shared faith would provide enough common ground. I was a bit naive.
(Illustration by Jing Jing Tsong)
As our last meeting of an inter-congregational experiment in dialogue was drawing to a close, I felt pleased. The atmosphere was warm and congenial. We’d talked about important subjects and about our most deeply held values in a way that seemed promising for further conversation. The experiment had been conceived as an exercise in listening between members of my very liberal congregation, First Congregational United Church of Christ in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and those of an evangelical congregation in the same town, and we had done just what we hoped.
Then came the written evaluations and several private follow-up conversations. The experiment was not as rosy as I had perceived it.
The idea for this experiment began when our pastor, Sue Joiner, asked after the turbulent 2020 election: “So where do we go from here?” Her question gave voice to my own long-standing concern about the tribalism in our country, which seemed to be tearing us apart. Maybe our congregation could start building some bridges toward people with different political views, but with whom we shared a common faith in Christ’s message of love and community.
