July 23, 2025
The theme for this year’s 35th General Synod of the United Church of Christ was three words from Luke 5:4: “Into the Deep.” There are some relatively deep waters in the Missouri River as it curves around Kansas City, but mostly Synod delegates chose to go deep into the issues before them: issues of immigration justice, war and peace, relations with other Christian churches, and the importance of small communities.
In her sermon on Sunday, General Minister and President the Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson said, “Out here on the plains, the deep is understood in the depth of the prairie grass.” Its deep roots, though unseen, keep soil healthy and help the grass itself survive harsh conditions. “This too,” she said, “is what it means to go into the deep: to ground ourselves in ways that allow us to be resilient and impact the ecosystem around us in positive ways.” (from United Church News story by Hans Holznagel)
Personally, I was deep in the work of the UCC Media Justice Ministry to tell our story at an exhibit hall booth and in a workshop. This is a relatively new part of my work, so I’ve hardly had a chance to tell you about it. Because I was deep into that during the Synod, I had a lot less connection to the debates among the delegates than I’d had in prior years. But because I was deep into that work during the Synod, I was able to learn quite a bit and share quite a bit of what I’d learned.
Whether you’re following the roots of prairie grass or swimming down into the sea, going deep requires focus, concentration, and effort. In the deep we find the unexpected and we find the things that root us. In the deep we find our foundations and we find invitation to explore.
In the deep we find God.
In peace,
Pastor Eric
For a deeper dive into Synod, visit generalsynod.org/news-listings.
