Just Six Words...

When Bishop Woodie W. White came to the Indiana Area to serve the (then) two Annual Conferences, North Indiana, and South Indiana, he brought to the over eleven hundred UM churches in the Hoosier State a call-and-response mantra that is still used by many in worship services every Sunday. 

The Bishop would call out: "God is good!"
The people would respond: "All the time."
The Bishop would call out: "All the time."
The people would respond: "God is good!"

Of all the good leadership and graceful presence the Bishop offered in his years in Indiana, he may just be best remembered for those six words.

I am sure others have changed the wording a bit in the years since the Bishop came to be with us,  I certainly have.  I changed it up a bit recently for use in a Call to Worship.

The Leader calls out: "God is with us!"
The people respond: "All the time."
The Leader calls out: "All the time."
The people respond: "God is with us!"

You can see the many possibilities, can't you?  To list just a few of the obvious ones:

"God is peace! All the time."

"God is love! All the time."

"God redeems! All the time."

"God loves all, with no one left out! All the time."

"God is here! All the time."

"God is knowable! All the time."

"God is approachable! All the time."

"God is creative! All the time."

"God forgives! All the time."

"God is truth! All the time."

So, there ya go.  Just a six word mantra offered by a Bishop, who offered hundreds of thousands of other words during his time in Indiana.  But those six words stuck.  Stuck because they struck a truth that is deep down inside many, if not most, of us, I think.  Six words that are, in reality, a confession of faith.  Much simpler than any of the long creeds or other confessions of faith in print...but it could just be more profound than all of them.  Just six words.