Tri-Jo Parish United Church of Christ
Contact Pastor Moira Meet our Pastor...the Rev. Moira Finley
Moira was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Moira grew up in the church, literally, spending many hours in the church kitchen preparing meals, learning about the hospitality and welcome that the church provides. She has two cats, Iona & Kieran, a passion for justice and peace (particularly work to end sexual violence and discrimination against women) and a love of reading theology and mystery novels (particularly those set in Scotland, the home of her ancestors). She also loves crossword puzzles and has a collection of rubber duckies.
Moira was called to be our pastor and teacher in January 2002 and began serving as our pastor in March 2002. She attended the University of New Mexico (UNM) in Albuquerque, New Mexico where she earned a BS in Biology. She then attended Pacific School of Religion (PSR), part of the multi-denominational Graduate Theological Union (GTU) in Berkeley, California where she earned her Masters of Divinity. She was ordained at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Albuquerque on February 24, 2002.
Reflections from Pastor Moira...
On the church...
The church is the dynamic expression of each generation's faith in God. The church expresses this faith through its worship, spiritual formation, and missio nactivities. In all of this, the church is called to be both attentive to the needs of the present time as well as aware of the tradition and history of Christianity. The church seeks to help people gain a deeper understanding of themselves and their relationships - with one another and with God - and seeks to help people interpret the Christian faith and apply this faith to their daily lives.
I believe that the church is called to continue the minsitry of Jesus Christ, made relevant to our contemporary realitites. The church should strive to model the radically inclusive table fellowship that Jesus practiced. In sharing at the table of communion, as well as all of our tables, we make real to ourselves, our communities and the world the love of God.
The church gathers as a community whose faith is grounded in Jesus Christ and which expresses this faith through worship and the practice of the sacraments. With this spiritual base, the church is then called to serve its community and the world by engaging in a ministry of education, by providing both physical and spiritual care for those in need, and by working for peace and justice. I have a great love of worship and a deep belief in the power of the sacraments. I believe that as a pastor I serve to help the congregation give voice to their vision of what it means to be God's people and to help give action to that voice.
On God, Jesus Christ & the Holy Spirit...
At the center of my faith is a belief in the God of love and justice who both created the world and continues to create in the world. I believe that, despite the evidence we might try to amass to the contrary, God is a God of justice and the universe moves towards that justice. I believe that it is our faith in this God of justice, mediated by love not wrath, that both compels us and enables us to act in the world, that we might be one step closer to the beloved community of God's realm.
I belive in Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, who walked among us, ministering to the physical and spiritual needs of his people. I belive that Jesus' preferential choice for the poor, the marginalized and the outcast sets before us an example of radical inclusiveness for our minsitry. I believe that Jesus' life also sets before us an example of living both faithful to God and fully in the world and that Jesus' life is a supreme example of a commitment to active faithful nonviolence. I believe that in Jesus God took human form, validating the human experience and revealing to us the divinity present in ourselves and in all of creation. I believe that Jesus' death was a consequence of the life he led and that in the resurection we see that the final word is not death, but new life.
I believe in the guiding and supporting presence of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that helps people of every time understand the claim of God on their lives, that makes real the presence of God in daily life, and that gives meaning to the promises of redemption through faith in Jesus Christ.
On being a pastor...
As a pastor I am a servant of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by teaching and preaching about the Christian faith, by helping people know how this faith can be made relevant in all of life's activities, and by witnessing to God's unending and unbounded love for all of creation.
I am a servant of the congregation who calls me by being a compassionate and attentive witness to people at all stages of their life journey, by facilitating the ministry of all people, and by ably and faithfully adminsitering the human institution that is the church.
I am a servant of the wider church by standing as a bridge between the history of the Christian faith and the contemporary experience, by providing a link and resource to our covenantal partners in ministry, and by working to strengthen the ecumenical mission of the church that they may all be one.
On the United Church of Christ...
I am privileged to be a part of the UCC, particularly at this time in Christian history. The UCC, with local congregational autonomy strengthened by covenantal relationships, is gifted with the flexibility necessary to be the church in the 21st century. Our denomination brings together people from a wide variety of backgrounds with the firm commitment that this diversity enriches our life together. Christianity has been used as a means of dividing and excluding people. The openness of the UCC provides a church home for those who have felt excluded by and unwelcome in the church. The UCC also provides a church home for those who have long-standing positive connections to the traditions and history of the church. Our inclusiveness and flexibility will only be enhanced as we learn to claim our faith in positive language - defining ourselves by what we are rather than what we are not.
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