25 Jan This may not be the case at all.

Greetings Westwood UMC Family,

This week, the Claremont School of Theology is hosting its first in-person classes on their new Westwood Campus, on our church campus; they are hosting two inter-term classes on campus this week. The renovation projects that are preparing the lower level of Helms Hall to be their ongoing location are still underway, but we’re glad that we were able to welcome them to other spaces on campus for classes this week.

To mark this important moment and transition in the life of the school, we shared a moment of reflection and ritual on Monday. (We will do this again on Wednesday, as the second class begins, too.) Dr. Carter was there–he is co-teaching one of the classes this week–and he invited us each to call to mind someone who is an ancestor for our faith and theological journey.

Immediately, I thought of Dr. Marjorie Suchocki, who taught formative classes I took while a student at the Claremont School of Theology from 1998-2001. By gracious coincidence, and thanks to her friendship to Rev. Sharon Rhodes-Wickett, she was also in worship here at Westwood UMC on my first Sunday as your pastor, in 2019. I’m so grateful for ways that my theological education and pastoral life are knit and twisted together.

One of the things I’m most grateful to have received from Marjorie was the theological humility that marks her deep, thoughtful faith. She challenged us toward theological thought marked by integrity and consistency, and she also asked us to recognize that we will never get it all right. She even encouraged us to end papers with the humble, wild recognition that: “On the other hand, this may not be the case at all.”

Living confidently with humility continues to be a challenge. And, I think, is one of the most faithful ways to be a follower of Christ. Acknowledging that I might be wrong sets me up to continue to grow in my understanding and practice of Christ-like love. Humility is possible because I believe that my belonging and my worth don’t depend on my getting it right. There’s space for me to confidently belong, to claim the assurance of divine grace, and to accept that there are also things I’ve gotten wrong.

I’ve let my privilege insulate me from understanding the deep wounds of racism. I’ve allowed my prejudices to bias me against seeing God at work in people I prefer not to be with. I’ve not trusted in the overwhelming, improbable, amazing capacity of God’s forgiveness. I’ve used words to describe God that were too confining, and that brought harm I never intended to others.

But that’s how it has to be: I have to let my faith come up to its limits, so that I can enlarge my capacity to believe. Finding the places where I need new words and new ways of being faithful is righteous, spiritual work.

All of which is also to say: I’m excited that Claremont School of Theology is here on our campus, and I look forward to what will come as they move in more fully. I am grateful for the ways CST — and folks like Marjorie — have shaped my faith, too.

May your faith, too, continue to be deepened as you get things wrong and learn new ways to describe and practice the love of God.

grace and peace,
Pastor Molly