As I mentioned earlier, I am working on receiving Privilege of Call within the Potomac Association of the United Church of Christ. I’m not going to giev a blow-by-blow account of this process, but if you’re interested you should see the UCC’s Manual on Ministry, available on-line.
Link: Manual on Ministry.
Section four is the one of interest. I am roughly in, or approaching, step two, and that means it is time to write. In particular, “a theological perspective paper” and a “paper demonstrating familiarity with the United Church of Christ, including knowledge and understanding of its history, theological roots, polity, and practice.” This should be fun. (My A.B. was in history and religion and my M.A. work was in American religious history.)
That’s the part I’ll be scouting out here. When I get the first part written, I’ll assign it a “category” and all of them will be readable from the categories list.
Since “one way to approach” the former paper is in the context of the UCC Statement of Faith, or the second chapter of the UCC Constitution, I’ve put them in extended entry, below.
United Church of Christ Statement of Faith original version
We believe in God, the Eternal Spirit, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and our Father, and to his deeds we testify:
He calls the worlds into being, creates man in his own image and sets before him the ways of life and death.
He seeks in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and sin.
He judges men and nations by his righteous will declared through prophets and apostles.
In Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Lord,he has come to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and death and reconciling the world to himself.
He bestows upon us his Holy Spirit, creating and renewing the church of Jesus Christ, binding in covenant faithful people of all ages, tongues, and races.
He calls us into his church to accept the cost and joy of discipleship, to be his servants in the service of men, to proclaim the gospel to all the world and resist the powers of evil, to share in Christ’s baptism and eat at his table, to join him in his passion and victory.
He promises to all who trust him forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace, courage in the struggle for justice and peace, his presence in trial and rejoicing, and eternal life in his kingdom which has no end.
Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto him.
From the Constitution of the United Church of Christ:
2 The United Church of Christ acknowledges as its sole Head, Jesus Christ, Son of God and Savior. It acknowledges as kindred in Christ all who share in this confession. It looks to the Word of God in the Scriptures, and to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, to prosper its creative and redemptive work in the world. It claims as its own the faith of the historic Church expressed in the ancient creeds and reclaimed in the basic insights of the Protestant Reformers. It affirms the responsibility of the Church in each generation to make this faith its own in reality of worship, in honesty of thought and expression, and in purity of heart before God. In accordance with the teaching of our Lord and the practice prevailing among evangelical Christians, it recognizes two sacraments: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion.