Title: Iowa pastor top winner in sermon contest
Date: January 25, 1999
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Contact: news@cm.disciples.org
99a-2
INDIANAPOLIS (DNS) -- "Denominational leaders just don't get it," wrote the Rev. Leslie Borsay. The Iowa pastor's sermon, Mergers, Mega-Churches and Mountain Tops, was judged best among 51 entries in the first sermon contest on Christian unity sponsored by the Council on Christian Unity of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Borsay is acting pastor of Early Chapel Christian Church, Earlham, and Redfield (Iowa) Christian Church.
"Isn't unity our pole (polar) star'?" he asked. "Aren't we committed to the idea of reuniting the churches?" He compared the resistance to unity among Christian denominations to the apostle Peter's eagerness to erect three tents: one for Elijah, one for Moses and one for Jesus on the site of Jesus' transfiguration. He argued that denominations, instead of acting on Jesus' plea for unity (John 17.22), shelter their historical identities in tents of human making, forgetting that Jesus rebuffed Peter's notion.
"But Jesus, when we finally turn to him, can cast out the demons of our divisions, can quiet our raging controversies, can heal our destructive self-absorptions," Borsay preached. In the end, he said, Christian unity is a gift of God's mercy. "It begins not with councils and committees, but with the Lord -- and his people on their knees. . . . If we pray and if we fast, if we focus on God and if we are willing to sacrifice our pride and our wants, the reunification of the body can begin."
The Rev. Suzanne Webb, former pastor of First Christian Church, Carbondale, Ill., called on her congregants to "tear down the fences separating us from each other. . . . That's when the glory will be revealed . . . as soon as the church of Jesus Christ lives as if it is ONE church; lives as if it reveals ONE God; lives as if it has one passion and one goal -- and one faith." Her sermon earned second place in the contest.
The Rev. C. Michael Cunningham, pastor, First Christian Church, Bluefield, W.Va., preached his unity sermon on the 17th chapter of the Gospel of John. Jesus' prayer, he said, explains why Christian unity has been the "polar star" of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). "Jesus prayed that his followers may be one, even as he and his Father are one.
"Well, how are Jesus and the Father one? Answer that and you go a long way toward answering How are Christians to be one?'" Cunningham wrote. Christians mirror the unity of the Father and the Son by being "one in will, one in love, one in knowledge and one in glory with all Christians in our community." His sermon earned third place.
The panel of judges included the Revs. Roy Griggs, Tulsa, Okla., and Jack Sullivan, Jr., Seattle, Wash., and Sally Paulsell, Lexington, Ky., all members of the Council on Christian Unity board of directors. Renowned Disciples preacher and educator, the Rev. Fred Craddock, professor emeritus, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga., also served as a judge. The identities of the sermon authors were not known to the judges until the winners were determined.
"The panel of judges was extremely pleased with the quality of sermons received," said the Rev. Robert Welsh, CCU president. The final choice was so difficult that the panel also named two other pastors in the category of "honorable mention": the Rev. Timothy Carson, Webster Groves Christian Church, St. Louis, Mo., and the Rev. J. Christopher Michael, First Christian Church, Narrows, Va.
Welsh announced the winners' identities during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Jan. 17-23. When asked who the top winner was in the sermon contest, Welsh replied, "the Council on Christian Unity."
The first, second and third place honors include prizes of $1,000, $300, and $200, respectively. The awards will be made at the council's dinner during the 1999 General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Cincinnati. Welsh hopes to arrange for the winning preachers to deliver their sermons in local congregations during the October assembly as well. In addition, the sermons will be published in the April 1999 issue of Mid-Stream, an ecumenical journal with world wide distribution, published by the council.
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