I was privileged to witness history in the making yesterday.

True, it wasn’t history on a grand scale, but it was a watershed event in the life of the Irvine United Congregational Church (IUCC for short) as they welcomed their new pastor and his partner of twenty years into their church family.

I’ve visited the IUCC about once per year since September 11th, 2001. I attended interfaith events after 9/11, seeking for healing, and IUCC’s Fred Plumer wasn’t afraid to be without answers in the aftermath. It takes a strong person to lead with uncertainty. I was intrigued to learn that many members of the congregation were gays who felt pushed out of LDS and other conservative Christian churches, and last Fall I enjoyed a program that was run entirely by the female high school members of the congregation.

Reverend Plumer retired last year, and IUCC spent several months engaged in an intense search for a new pastor. I timed my pilgrimage to coincide with the “job-talk” of the primary candidate and the subsequent vote.

The members of IUCC (click on the image to the left to find a profile of church members) meet in a geometric dome of a building. The sparsely decorated interior makes it possible for other faiths to share the meeting house (the University Synagogue met there until they were able to raise funds for their own meetinghouse). For our worship meeting a simple cross and a couple of candles adorned the altar.

As I was getting settled, I heard a clear, repeating soprano “Alleluia” drift from the foyer into the worship hall. Choir members slowly filed in, adding their own unique Alleluias until the every hollow was filled with this sublime cacophony, a ringing, peeling chorus like a cathedral with angels instead of bells. I’m used to singing in unison in Church, or in simply structured harmonies. I was amazed at the choir director’s ability to create such sublime beauty from apparent chaos.

Reverend Paul Tellstr??m (click the image to the left to see his profile) got up to speak and the first thing I noticed was that a) he looked kind of like my mission president, and b) he was wearing pink robes. Later I learned that the robes were white, and that the faint pink shade was from the lighting near the pulpit, but it did highlight his same-sex orientation in my mind.

This was the culmination of months of courtship between the IUCC congregation and Reverend Tellstr??m. He performed magnificently. His remarks focused on “Reverend Gino the Eskimo of the Church of the Open Bar,” as Tellstr??m masterfully wove a narrative around an experience that he had watching the earthy Gino offer healing and understanding to a bar patron. His conclusion:

“This was Church being done in a way that most Churches couldn‚Äôt fathom‚Äù and that ‚ÄúLife is worship.‚Äù

He then proclaimed his pastoral emphasis on community over certainty and on his mission to reach out to those who felt excluded and marginalized. When he said that

I believe in taking back the symbols of the Church and giving them back to those on the margins, and not reserving them for those whose surety draws too small a circle.

he was interrupted by enthusiastic applause. When he affirmed with great authority that “You have purpose,” I could almost feel the collective straightening and energizing of the congregation. I loved his benediction at the end of the meeting:

May God take your lips and speak truth through them. May God take your hearts and set them on fire.

The new pastor had spoken as a true leader, with a perfect mixture of humor and seriousness, authority and humility, passion and reason. The meeting was over and he had left the building, but the climactic moment was still a few minutes away.

This next part fascinated the Mormon in me. Our leaders are always chosen for us by another man (albeit through inspiration). In the business meeting that followed, the congregation followed parliamentary procedure and the head of the search committee detailed the arduous process of seeking and wooing the potential pastor. They placed ads, sought recommendations from informed and connected people in greater UCC community, read resumes, listened to sermons, visited churches and events, checked references, and spent countless hours in interviews and in prayer. They felt that they were indeed lead by the spirit of God in their search. They then presented Tellstr??m’s name for a vote. Over a hundred hands held up bright yellow cards in his favor. Not one voted against. The vote was unanimous.

The feeling was euphoric, like being on the side of the winning team after a championship soccer game. The congregation gave the search committee a long standing ovation and then enthusiastically welcomed Reverent Tellstr??m into the life of their church.

I wish I could capture the feeling I had in that moment, even as a non-attached bystander, and convey it to you. I cannot imagine how it felt to the members of that church to finally have a father again–one who promises to unify their diverse community.