General Synod is big/ immense/ vast/ grand. It is church super-sized: a big cavernous meeting space with a big stage, and big screens which make the speakers bigger-than-life.

 

And this big cavern is filled with countless (i.e., in the thousands!) people, lay and clergy, who have in common their faith in God, their call to serve Christ, their dedication to the United Church of Christ, and their willingness to spend five days over the Fourth of July in the heat and humidity of Tampa (OK, there is A/C indoors) being part of something that is bigger – way bigger – than the local church.

 

And the challenge I feel today is imagining how I might take this big-scale experience and replicate it in the small church I serve – that everyone there (big and small) might have the same sense of faith, calling, dedication, and willingness to serve.