Silly me, I had assumed that when I got to Sutter the church would be apparent. It turns out it is a free standing country church whose roots, like those of the Church of Peace, are German Evangelical.
An ecclesiastical council in the United Church of Christ is when a candidate for ministry presents a substantial paper for review by a group of ministers and representatives from churches of an Association. The paper is discussed, questions are asked of the candidate, who responds orally. At the end the candidate and his or her family are dismissed from the room and the ministers and delegates from the churches vote either “yes” or “no” for ordination. A candidate at this point has graduated from seminary and been recommended by a Church and Ministry Committee, I was there as the Chairperson of the Church and Ministry Committee to formally recommend Chad. Nevertheless, the ecclesiastical council is still an important milestone which a candidate must pass. Chad passed with 100% yes votes.
What struck me was that in his section about God, Chad commented that “the Process Theology of John Cobb was especially helpful” in forming his thinking. John Cobb taught for the vast majority of his career at the School of Theology in Claremont, California. He was the main systematic theologian when I attended Claremont. Process Theology can be a little technical. Chad did a very fine job of explaining some of the main concepts in words we could all understand.
That almost 40 years after I was first a student of John Cobb to hear his ideas discussed in this free standing country church in Illinois on a December afternoon warmed my heart. We do all knit together in the fabric of the church.
Here is a photo of theologian John B. Cobb
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