I Joined the UPC

[Sam]

I Dreamed That I Joined the UPC

I had a weird dream last night. I dreamed that I joined the UPC.

In my dream I was in a room with other people. The room was a meeting area and also had a dining area in it. I was in the meeting area. There were chairs out and arranged facing a head table with several leaders sitting at it. The chairs were not in straight rows but placed rather randomly. The dining area was right next to it and some people were seated at tables at the edge of the dining area but were part of the group that were in the meeting. I walked up to one of the men at the head table and said, “I’ve decided to take out a license with the UPC.” The man stood up, smiled, reached for my hand and seemed happy and said, “Well, it’s about time.” Another man who had been seated next to him also stood up to welcome me and echoed the same sentiments. It seemed they were familiar with me and happy that I had decided to join them and they willingly accepted me.

The people at the head table were not dressed up but were in casual attire or semi-dress up attire. They did not have on suits and neck ties but were in dress slacks and casual shirts. One woman seemed to be the “Queen Bee.” She was walking around and stopping often to converse with people seated in the seating area. She had a place of prominence and I thought she was the wife of the Superintendent, Chairman, or Presiding Bishop. She had on a small “pill box” type hat. Her hair was (dyed) black and quite short just feathering out from under her hat. She had on several strings of pearls and a black dress. She had on earrings that matched the pearls around her neck.

A younger woman came up to me and I recognized her. She was a combination of a couple of the teenage girls who were a part of the youth group in our ALJC Church back in the nine teen seventies when I was a sectional Youth Leader and my sons were teenagers. This young lady was now in her late forties, possibly early fifties which is the age of my children now. She was a teenager with them and knew them. Her hair was light brown to blonde and came down to about her shoulders. Her husband (that I did not see right then) was a UPC minister. She was glad that "Bro. Ellis" was now part of them sorta like it was when I was a youth leader and Sunday School teacher to them years ago.

I was dressed casually with gym shoes, jeans and a western type shirt --blue and red stripes, two pockets with flaps on the front, and pearl snaps instead of buttons. I don’t drink alcohol but at one point in my dream I was sitting with some ministers and I had a quart bottle of a local Cincinnati brand beer next to me from which I had been drinking. I did not try to hide the bottle and it seemed OK to them. I thought, “well, they can smell the alcohol on my breath so there is no need to hide this bottle from them.”

It seemed to me that this was not an international or national meeting but was a meeting of the Ohio District of the UPC and they were meeting in Cincinnati.

The whole group seemed very accepting of me even though they knew what I believe and teach. It seemed like they welcomed diversity among them and had “relaxed” some of the things they had taught in the past.

I remember wondering about a couple things. I had not filled out an application for license yet I was accepted and licensed as a minister. I had not read all the books required for licensing and thought that maybe they had waived that requirement for me based on my one year of UPC Bible School back in 1956/1957 and the years of experience preaching and teaching that I have. I also wondered how I could ever keep up the dues, assessments, etc. realizing that even if I took it out of my tithe, the tithe might not be enough to cover it all and that would result in a decrease in financial contributions to our local church. I had the impression that I was granted a UPC minister’s license and would not be giving up my ordination in the Churches of Jesus Christ International and in the Hamilton Dream Center (our local church). So I would now be affiliated with 3 organizations instead of 2 like I am now. I also wondered, “What will I do about the Affirmation Statement? Do they still do that every other year or should I just modify it by saying that I will preach ‘the Bible’ and cross out some of the other words before I sign it.”

When I woke up it just seemed so strange to have dreamed something like that. It seemed strange to see a UPC which had relaxed, become more open and accepting, and could accept me as I am. I guess that really IS a dream.