Category: United Church of Christ

Y’all should know I’ve suspended my process towards the United Church of Christ and have requested that my ministerial fellowship in the Unitarian Universalist Association, which would otherwise been lost or resigned, transferred to Associate Fellowship.

Of all the angst-ridden group processes Unitarian Universalists have endured in recent years, none has promised so much and produced so little as the quest to find a “theological center.”

I think that quest asked too much. I was much heartened to read what the Rev. John H. Thomas, the General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ had to say on the matter. He spoke at the Potomac Association meeting on Saturday, on which was piggy-backed one of four UCC polity and history institutes I need as a part of my transition to the UCC. One of his addresses was in the required reading, and he graciously sat in for the first forty minutes of the class and answered questions. (That pilot program is extraordinary for any number of reasons. See more.)

Now, there are differences between the UUA and the UCC. The UCC is a confessional, rather than credal, body and even the basis of this confession enshrined in the Basis of Union and Preamble to the Constitution of the United Church of Christ has lots of wiggle room. For instance, the Preamble says the UCC looks to

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.

Thomas repeated to the class — he’s clearly said this before — that while these documents speak of the creeds, confessions and reformers they don’t say which creeds, which confessions or which reformers. The field of UCC theology has field-goals, but there is some disagreement where they are placed. The same can be said for the UUA, even if the field covers different ground. So I think Thomas has something to say to Unitarian Universalists.

In his 2001, he delivered a paper “A Theological Heart: Confessional Commitment in the United Church of Christ Reflection on the Preamble to the Constitution of the United Church of Christ” to west coast chapters of the Confessing Christ organization. In it, he wrote

[L]et me first say a word about language. You’ll notice that I have chosen to use the phrase, “theological heart” rather than “theological center.” I do this, recognizing that Confessing Christ has tried over the years to explore the concept of a theological center for the United Church of Christ. In many ways this has been a helpful and constructive effort and I am grateful to many of you for seeking to engage the church in one of its core responsibilities. In the hyper-sensitive, highly suspicious ecclesial environment in which we live, however, center language almost inevitably suggests a spatial image and raises for some—fairly or unfairly—the specter of hegemonic control by some over against others. Center implies for many a contrast with periphery or margin, and to historical and contemporary struggles over ecclesiastical power and privilege. This is a particularly sensitive issue in a denomination like the United Church of Christ, where we are less inclined to ask, “which theological voice is normative?” than “which theological voice or voices have been silenced or ignored?”

He has more to say, and the paper is worth a read.

“A Theological Heart” (UCC.org)

One of the nice things about slipping out of the inner UU orbit is that I get to be a bit of a newcomer again with the UCC, and that I can make disinterested (and I hope helpful) comments about the UUA. PeaceBang (her most recent word) et alia have kicked up some dust about the Sunday evening/closing worship event. Let’s review.

I’ve not been to General Assembly since 2003, but what was done then was what was commonly done for a good number of years before: there was the Service of the Living Tradition, which honored retiring and deceased ministers, in the morning; the Christians would have Communion that evening — I think the big CLF service was often at the same time — and the Ware Lecture finished Sunday, though I don’t recall ever going to one.

The Service of the Living Tradition meant a lot to me, even though I would make rather broad impersonations of John Buerhens (a page from that era) over-emoting the prayer for the dead. To tell the truth, that’s one of the things I will miss. It was at the 1993 GA Service of the Living Tradition that I resolved to cast my lot with the UUA. So thank God for streaming video, because it is important. Goodness! After I linked the page above, I noticed Dan Weck was memorialized in 2000.

He charged the congregation at my ordination, having served a small South Carolina church deep in his retirement. He died shortly thereafter. Dan was the kind of little-known, tireless minister who got their due at the Service of the Living Tradition, and that’s part of its power even when it looks like Commencement. I think it says a lot about the ministerial college that there was so little grousing about it being moved, so a Sunday morning seeker service could take its place. Well, for one year anyway.

I wonder if its this messing around with ecclesiological feelings — deep custom eroded by marketing — that’s at the core of the agita about ending GA with what should be an important service. After all, we don’t know what to expect any more. That’s more than discomfort; rather, it seems to take the “sense of the Assembly” too lightly. Who owns GA, after all? It seems to be an event looking for a rationale, which is rather sad. But perhaps I’m wrong: the GA delegates will have to figure it out for themselves and I’ll be content as long as I have adequate bandwidth.

Lastly, from a logistics viewpoint, now that GA has been shifted to end on Sunday, but really too late to be of much use to most delegates. So they’s resign themselves to not going to the closing celebration or will attend only because they couldn’t get a reasonable flight out that night anyway.

One of the funny things about transitioning to the UCC is that I can see so many parallel actions. I can imagine administators in Boston and Cleveland having each other in their Rolodexes — at least it seems that way.

For what its worth, the UCC’s General Synod 25, last year in Atlanta had no Sunday morning “big service” but did have morning prayer, as GA will have a spiritual disciplines event I suppose. Even if there was adequate UCC church capacity in Atlanta (there isn’t), Sunday morning was full of committee hearings. The main Sunday service was that evening, but comparisons don’t quite work since GS 25 didn’t break until Tuesday.

That said, and without having been to a General Synod, it looks like General Assembly compares well with worship opportunities. Of course, both denominations might as well need to pray more in coming years.