Humans of the Uniting Church
Rev Dr Michelle Cook
April 23, 2024
This year, we’re excited to be featuring some of the inspirational people who make up the Uniting Church. Check out the growing hub of stories here. If you know of someone with a great story to tell, contact us and nominate them to be featured.
In this edition of Humans of the Uniting Church, we meet Rev Dr Michelle Cook who was recently elected Moderator-elect of the Uniting Church Northern Synod. She shares her Uniting Church journey, the people who have inspired her, the power of stories and her prayer that we may be the people God calls us to be.
"I love sitting with people and working with them to go deeper and wider into the Scriptures, into God’s mystery and how God calls us to discern God’s path through life, culture and faith."
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What’s your Uniting Church story?
I grew up at Indooroopilly Uniting Church. My parents were married in the Methodist ANZAC Memorial Chapel which happened to be across the road from the Presbyterian Church. The Indooroopilly Uniting Church started just before union became official. Throughout my childhood and teenage years Indooroopilly was a place of friendship, wide ranging conversations about faith and life, and a place that welcomed questions and doubt. It is through this faith community that I came to a deeper understanding of God’s call on my life, especially through mentors like Rev Deacon Jason John, Tony Pitman, Steve Bennett, my mother, Cheryl Cook, and Rev Dr Paul Walton.
After travelling to Iona in 2000, and through promptings from friends, I started the process of discerning where God was calling me next - that happened to be the ministry of Deacon.
What enlivens your faith in Jesus?
I love listening to people’s stories about how their faith has changed them, changed their outlook on life and inspired them to work for justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God. At the moment I find deep peace from reading the Psalms, and walking on the beach looking at the wonder of creation.
What are you passionate about?
I love learning, so I love sitting with people and working with them to go deeper and wider into the Scriptures, into God’s mystery and how God calls us to discern God’s path through life, culture and faith.
What’s one thing you love telling people about the UCA?
I love the diversity of the Uniting Church, and the clarity, complexity and beauty of the the Basis of Union and how we still tackle difficult and controversial issues even though we know there will be conflict.
What’s one thing you’d like to change, or something you hope for?
I’d love us all to hold more lightly to our collective resources. Much of our wealth as a church is a result of our history, not earned by us alone. It would be great if we shared that wealth nationally. This is a discipleship issue - can we allow God to transform our financial worldviews?
What's one thing you would like the rest of the Uniting Church to pray for?
Pray for us all to be the people God calls us to be - a people always on the way to the promised goal, only carrying what is required for the journey to the city that is to come. That sounds very spiritual. In concrete terms it means that we need to offer ourselves, and our communities of faith, to God every day, whatever is in front of us, whatever decisions we may have to make, and not be afraid of what is ahead of us, having faith that nothing can separate us from God’s love.