Ubuntu declares that a person is a person through other people; that one is only fully human when all others are also fully human; that my humanity is fundamentally grounded in your humanity; that when one person is in pain we are all in pain, when one person celebrates we all celebrate. Ubuntu explains why the oppressor and the oppressed are equally dehumanised – and in our complex society why both winners and losers in the sole pursuit of power and wealth are equally dehumanizing.

Ubuntu is a rich cultural mores that sets free the ancient Gospel truth that we are made one in Christ: that we are one body with many indispensable parts (Rom 12 and 1 Cor 12); that it is in the everyday encounters and ordinary relationships that we meet the Sacred in ourselves, in others and in the space between and beyond us (Matt 25); that fullness of life is found in the interdependence and mutuality between those with power and those without, those with wealth and those without , those at the centre of mainstream society and those at the extreme margins (Gal 3). This is the Truth that has characterised the community at First United for 125 years. It is the Truth that shapes us still today.

When Sandra Severs, former Deputy Executive Minister at First United, walked across Hastings Street one wet and uncomfortable morning she was seeking the solace of a brand-name coffee. On the street she saw a young woman doing what the local folk call the “Hastings Street shuffle” (a disturbing jerky walk with arms flailing and the body contorting, induced by crack cocaine). She also saw a male photographer intrusively snapping provocative images of this object of curiosity. Intervening, she gently but firmly asked the photographer to stop, despite indications from the somewhat incoherent woman that she had given permission for him to take the pictures.  As the visitor left, the woman for a brief moment stopped her dramatic movements, the intensity about her subsided, and she stepped gently towards Sandra engaging her in a deeply authentic hug. In the sacred space of that embrace she whispered just two words: “Thank you”. They stood like that for a while, then she let go and staggered off down the sidewalk. But, for a life-giving moment time had stood still. The woman’s body was relaxed, her mind peaceful. Sanity and wholeness broke through the darkness. And two women were each deeply and fully human. It was a precious gift that both women gave and both received.   It was about Ubuntu. It was about the Gospel. It was about the Truth at the centre of First United’s life.

First United’s 125 year legacy is built on this Truth. Our past has produced a platform from which our vision for the future will take off, flying to the tomorrows on wings that are lifted by the spirit of Ubuntu and are empowered by the Spirit that makes us one creation.