The United Church of Christ Responds to CBS/NBC

[blue sky at night]

The controversy continues on the Religious Left, as two major networks refuse to air the U.C.C.'s ad about inclusive churches. I am proud of my Denomination, I only the wish the folks in my local church agreed.

the Quote: "It's ironic that after a political season awash in commercials based on fear and deception by both parties seen on all the major networks, an ad with a message of welcome and inclusion would be deemed too controversial," says the Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC's general minister and president. "What's going on here?"

the Link: http://www.stillspeaking.com/news/release2.html

[gorbal]

1. That's it!

I"m gong to a UCC church this weekend to show support....if I can find one:)

[blue sky at night]

4. go to their website:

They are experiencing heavy volumne right now, I couldn't post the link, but it is just UCC.org, and thanks for the support.

[GreenPartyVoter]

28. Hooray for the UCC and other liberal denoms for

standing up to the RWers and trying to have their voices heard.

Me, I like the newspaper ads for the UU and the TV ads I have seen for the ... Methodists... I think it was. :)

-----------------------------------
Would Jesus love a liberal? You bet!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/

[Pacifist Patriot]

5. You can find churches at this link

http://www.stillspeaking.com/find/

[Glenda]

19. I have tons of them around me!

I never knew. Women pastors and late morning services - that's a good sign.

I think the controversy is good advertising for them.

[Pacifist Patriot]

21. LOL! I've been evangelizing for the UUs lately and one of my

best selling points is that our service doesn't start until 11:00. I'm thinking there is a great ad campaign in there. A denomination for the rationally spiritual yet energetically challenged?

[Glenda]

24. I found one at 10:30, maybe I should keep looking...

for one later :) :) :)

:hi:

[madison2000]

2. I am proud of the UCC

and I think they are handling this just right. There was a UCC minister who called AirAmerica this morning and pointed out that the history of this denomination goes back to the pilgrims. Back to the very notion of coming to America for religious liberty.

And as she also pointed out, most UCC congregations are mixed. They are made up of middle America, Reps and Dems, young and old, gay and straight. People don't agree on everything but the door is open to everyone, and this is the whole point. The UCC is left of most of the other mainstream churches, but I still consider it to be part of the mainstream.

You can find one here http://www.ucc.org/intro.htm Welcome!!!

[sariku]

6. Thank you Madison

I am agnostic, but my 15 year old is a believer. I am vey much interested in taking her to the UCC Church. The last thing I ever want to do is encourage her to go to a church that will teach her to be pompous, biased, or hateful. To her credit, I don't think she would tolerate that at all - on election night she actually cried because Oregon passed the anti-gay marriage amendment.

[intheflow]

9. Another denomination you might consider is

Uniarian Universalist. It's not Christian now, but was Christian once and still honors the teachings of Jesus (the "good" teachings), along with other world religions and all kinds of philiosophy. This might be an option for an agnostic and a believer to feel comfortable worshipping in the same place.

The UUs and the UCCs were the same church back in the days of the Pilgrims. They split because the UUs didn't believe there was any biblical basis for the trinity. Indeed, there's a joke between the two denominations today that UCC stands for "Unitarians Considering Christ." O8)

Either way, you can't go wrong. I know a lot of UCC agnostics--and they're all in seminary with me!

[sariku]

18. Thanks!

Now I have two possibilities. I have looked up local churches for both of these churches. They each have one not far from me. We can visit each of them.

[hlthe2b]

25. Is Unitarian Universalist associated with Unity Village in Kansas City?

They occasionally do very late night mini messages and I've always wondered about them. (My mom took me out there to learn to swim when I was very young and i remember the community spirit out there and lovely campus).

[intheflow]

30. No.

They're a different group. Christian.

But I know a former Catholic priest (he left the priesthood to get married) who goes there and says it's the most Buddhist Christian meditation place he's ever been to. At least, I'm pretty sure that's the place he goes to. Here's a link to their website: http://www.unityonline.org/index.htm

[hlthe2b]

34. I haven't been there for years, but I can see why he'd say that...

It is a wonderful place and definitely does have a Buddhist-Christian sense to it.

[madison2000]

12. Actually, agnostics are welcome in the UCC too!

So its the perfect church for you and your daughter. I wasn't raised in the UCC, but I know the Protestant denominations pretty well. When they say inclusive they mean it.

In terms of their theology they aren't that different than other Protestant Churches, but the style of church governance is "congregational" which means the local churches have a lot more decision making power than in most churches. I think that's why the "culture" of this denomination is so welcoming. At the UCC Church I attend they have both a traditional worship service and a more modern service with a band up in front. I go in jeans. I hope you can find something like that, your daughter will love it!

[Pacifist Patriot]

3. I'm beyond furious.

What this means for religious liberty in this country is alarming. Lying about political candidates is unacceptable, but telling the truth about a religious denomination is not. Go figure!

[soleft]

7. I better not see an ad for Church of Latter Day Saints on CBS or NBC

[intheflow]

13. That was my first thought, too.

I wonder if the networks did this, though, so they wouldn't be obligated to air ads for Rev. Fred Phelps (www.godhatesfags.com) or other such lunatics preaching hate. Of course Falwell & Co. have their own stations so already have round the clock infomercials going.

Funny how "fair and balanced" network policies always seem to hurt the left disproportionately.

[SemperEadem]

41. actually

according to the website:

The ad has been accepted and will air on a mix of broadcast and cable networks, including ABC Family, AMC, BET, Discovery, Fox, Hallmark, History, Nick@Nite, TBS, TNT, Travel and TV Land.

[Walt Starr]

8. Another example of Christofascism at work attacking Christianity

Too bad. Had I been exposed to Christianity as a child I might have chosen a different path in life. Unfortunately, my only experiences with "Chritianity" were actually with Christofascism.

[Bucky]

11. I've met many UCCers and they're good people. But I don't like that ad

The controversy on that ad isn't that it's got a pro-acceptance message. It's the slur on other churches as having barroom bouncers working their front doors and ejecting undesireables. If they wanted to show a gay couple being accepted at a UCC church, that would be a good thing. But them doing a negative advertising campaign on fellow Christians is really in bad taste.

[Walt Starr]

15. all the UCC ad does is show how Christofascism works

If you don't think Christofascism is a real threat, you aren't paying attention.

[Pacifist Patriot]

23. Having attended a SB wedding with lesbian friends I can attest

to the bouncer analogy not being terribly wide of the mark.

If a black person set foot in my grandmother's church they would most definitely NOT be made to feel welcome. I can't imagine any African American wanting to return there.

I think it's an important component to the message because it's true. There are too many churches that deliberate turn away members with whom they do not want to associate.

I used to live down the street from a Presbyterian church that would not allow working mothers to become full members. Not just single moms, but families in which the mother worked.

I'm glad the UCC has the courage to hold up a mirror in front of our faces. Too many people either don't realize this is happening or refuse to see what is going on right under their noses.

[SemperEadem]

43. they are showing the truth of what other churches do subtly

this past sunday, I went to church with my bro and s.i.l.... an apostolic pentacostal church. I've posted before about my brother's family's overbearing obsession with gays and couldn't understand where he'd gotten that from. Well, I found out when I attended church with them. Their pastor is a blatant, blazing homophobe--in fact, he's got a huge hang up on anything in the sex realm... instead of talking about pride, coveteousness, hate and the rest of the 7 deadly sins being the cause of the church being under attack, he could not get past gays, lesbians and fornicators as being the only reasons worth mentioning...

I was turned off before about their religion because I don't agree with its tenats, but the bucket of water thrown on any kind of tolerance I could have had due to that pastor being so myopic and stupid because he can't get past gays and lesbians and see the real cancers destroying the church is what stops me from granting any kind of pass to that religion.

The ad visually points out in an effective way what other churches do on the sly--because their intolerant, exclusive rhetoric is as offensive as the 2 'bouncers' determining who gets to come before God and who doesn't.

[Smeggy]

10. brrr

Doesnt anyone else think theres something fundamentaly wrong with 'advertiseing' religion anyway?

[intheflow]

14. Hi Smeggy.

Welcome to DU. :hi:

Normally I would agree with you. But considering Falwell & Co have their own networks polluting the airwaves with spew competely devoid of Christ's teachings of love and acceptance whle caling themselves Christians, I think the religious left has to stand up for itself.

[SnowGoose]

16. TV has largely replaced reading.

Churches have published tracts since forever - why not TV?

Not that I particularly dig churches, but like someone else said, so many of these people have their own TV shows and even networks. I guess I'm just happy to see a xian church actually saing "we don't believe it's our job to judge people." I'd like as many people as possible to see that message, since it will cause some few to pause and think, "wow, my church isn't like that... I wonder why not."

[madison2000]

17. The advertising is not to sell but get a message out

I can tell from the comments on this messageboard that there are a lot of people who think that ALL CHURCHES are bigoted, right wing, bastions of Bush loving "morans". The reason is that the other churches are practically invisible in our culture. People don't have any idea who they are or what they stand for. I think its long past time that we get the message out. I also think there are a lot of gay people who may not know that there are churches which will welcome them, and that is a message worth getting out.

It will cost more to do this advertising than the church will get in new members and contributions.

If the enemy hadn't so thoroughly enmeshed itself in the mainstream media, including televion and radio and even the internet, I might feel differently. But when the right wing is so committed to taking over the media and the tools of mass communication- I think its time for more groups on the left to put their money where there beliefs are.

The "bouncer" thing may be offensive to some, but its not as offensive as what the right wing churches did to get Bush re-elected.

[Bridget Burke]

20. No.

If I don't like a commercial, I hit the remote. As can others.....

[bloom]

29. Liberal Christians getting the message out...

A lot of people on DU had been saying that liberal Christians should get their message out that they are not like the Christian right. So here someone is.

I would say it is working. I wouldn't have thought that the UCC is so liberal. So I have to say it is a good thing.

And as far as seeming like a negative ad - I think these exclusionary churches need to be shown for what they are.

[iamjoy]

46. Advertising Religion - I Don't Know

I seem to recall the Methodists had a campaign a few years ago, they'd show some peaceful scene & have a voice over (one male, one female - pleasant voice) talking almost like a parent to a distant child (I never stopped loving you, etc) and at the end, just said, "Love, God" I was raised Jewish, am now agnostic, but thought these ads were really nice.

The larger issue about religions advertising is - could that money be better spent feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, etc? But then, other charities advertise.

I have no problem with it. Too many Americans are isolated from religion and I would rather tolerant denominations reach out to people. I am not too worried about the fanatics getting a hold of people, because those people are already sucked in. Imagine if we all started going to religious services on a regular basis - it would play havoc with the polls when they try to figure out how religious Americans vote O8)

and welcome to DU!

[panestra]

22. You know I've been sitting here

for an hour looking at this threat and thinking of my father. My dad was a minister and he was very much afraid of the religious right. He warned me many years ago about them. "Keep an eye on them," he said, "they want to win and they don't care how they do it. They will lie, cheat or steal to achieve their goals. They do it because they think their cause is righteous." So I've been watching, mostly in horror, as all I was taught was turned upside down. The part that makes me the most disgusted is how the real Christian churches sat back silently and let this happen. My dad died a couple of years ago and I haven't set foot in a church since, but I think this Sunday that will change. I'm going to make a fifty mile drive to Eugene to go to church. I will gladly support any religion that stands up for the real message of Christianity.

[Kansas Wyatt]

27. Some Churches & Religious Leaders Did Speak Up

The problem was that the real Christian Churches are not equipped to spread their word like the "Christian Right" spreads it's ill.

Monday before the election, a minister wrote a letter to the KC Star and complained about fliers that had been left on all the windshields at his congregation. He was outraged, because he had to explain to his congregation that the church did not put the fliers there, and he even wrote that the REPUBLICANS did it.

Also on Larry King the weekend before the election, a Catholic Priest was trying to make the point that abortion rates dropped during Clinton's tenure, but were rising again under GW Bush. Larry King and other religious leaders on the show did not want to hear about that fact, or about how economic hardship on most of the population drove abortion rates up.

[madison2000]

31. Sojourners: Christians for Justice and Peace

has been out there speaking all along- and I think now they will become more visible.

http://www.sojo.net/

[gaia_gardener]

36. Sojourners is a great magazine

I was always afraid of it, thinking it would be more right wing propaganda, but I found it at my inlaws house and it is so great. I think I'm going to suggest a subscription when I'm asked what I want for xmas.

It's also rather "sneaky" about it's liberal tendencies, so I think this would be a good magazine to give to right-wing family members.

[blue sky at night]

39. WOW! you just made my day......

thanks for the insight...you know it never ceases to amaze me how strong and faithful people can see right through the haze of Lies that others try to get away with. Your father was a great man. The church I attend is a UCC, but in reality from discussions with many lay members, I don't think they really know what we stand for. I have had a falling out of late over the issues of War, and the political situation we are in. thanks again panestra, and everyone else who responded.

Here is a link for you and anyone else who desires more info about the UCC.

http://ucc.org/index2.html

go to find a church

[Just Me]

26. Only in the new right-wing America would an ad re: tolerance,...

,...compassion and inclusivity be rejected.

The ad is an impactful acknowledgement of one of the primary reasons so many people "quit church". I "quit church" a long time ago for precisely the message contained in that ad,...and I was not even one of those persecuted and rejected. I just could not be a part of a stone-throwing environment which felt so anti-Christian to me.

Whatever happened to the value of "random acts of kindness" and "do unto others as you would have them do unto you"?

I am truly saddened by the destructive path this country is travelling.

[China_cat]

33. Keep in mind

that Jimmy Carter resigned from his church due to its position on women. With barely a mention from the media.

Maybe it's time to start mentioning it again.

[RaRa]

32. For anyone looking for a UCC keep this in mind

I'm a member who was shopping around for a new one (we moved). I made sure to find one that is "open and affirming". This for all practical purposes means they accept gays and perform gay marriages. Because most UCC were something else before they merged (my first was Lutheran, current was Congregational), keep that in mind - that former culture can carry over since these churches are pretty independent by nature. My parents thought they liked one until the Pastor gave a pro-war (Irag) sermon. They ran without looking back.

[prairierose]

35. To reiterate what RaRa said..

look for one that comes from the Congregational background. They are usually the more inclusive. It will often have Congregational in the name of the church.

As one of my friends said once upon a time, "Yes, this is the church of our pilgrim fathers"

" But I thought they were very strict and mean"

"They've changed a whole bunch since then!"

This is the church that first came out against the Viet Nam war and for choice.

Church governance goes from the congregation up to the national level, not the other way around as most churches are.

If I were still a Christian, I would still be going to this church!

:evilgrin:

[Buddyblazon]

37. I have ALWAYS been a Congregationalist....

but I stopped going when I was 13, because we moved to the big city and the UCC we started going to didn't have the magnificent music the one in Lawrence, KS had. We had the Chair of the Music Dept at KU as the music director. His instrument was the pipe organ. And the church was SOOOO old.

I just didn't feel it when we moved here to Denver.

But I've been pondering this for months now. My girl goes every Sunday. She's into the Course of Miracles. I told here she would like the Congregationalists because they are so open. I call it the "Party Religion"...cause the make being spiritual fun...and they exclude NO ONE! Even 20 years ago. We had an extremely diverse congregation.


I want to go this weekend...but will be out of town on Sunday. Guess I'll have to go next week.



Folks...this is a lot bigger than you think. We need to fill the pews to overflowing. It will show people that you don't have to hate...or support criminals...or exclude anyone to love God.

THIS is the answer to the Evangelicals.

[Logansquare]

38. UCC in Cleveland had a 25% increase in attendance after

running that ad on local TV. I'd say it's an effective way to market your church

[otohara]

40. Is ABC Accepting The Spots?

I hope so! All My Children would be a great show to advertise on since it has a gay charachter.

[madison2000]

44. ABC is not running the spots either

according to the World News Tonight email I just got. But they are doing a story on it in tonights broadcast in just a few minutes.

I guess network decisions and network news aren't exactly the same thing?

[madison2000]

47. ABC has a policy against running religious advertising at all

nothing against this ad in particular. And they aired most of it in their broadcast. Good coverage!

[Trajan]

42. As an atheist and former catholic ....

I recognize the decent, respectful nature of the UCC and UU philosophies ... Toss Quakers into the group and you have a delightful, all-inclusive hat-trick ...

As a secular humanist, it is MY wish, truly, that mankind looked to alleviate the pain and suffering of human beings NOW, instead of focusing on their supposed condition in the 'hereafter' ...

The UU and UCC let their humanity shine through their christian tenets ... they DO focus on helping the hungry, cold, weak and infirm in the HEREANDNOW .... and I applaud them for that ...

I used to participate in the Jerry Voorhis Democratic Club at the UCC at Claremont College: though most were septagenarians (or older), I could not have found a kinder more thoughtful group of people to commune with .... I miss them ....

Anyways: THIS Atheist salutes the United Church of Christ, the Universalist Unitarians and the Quakers for their decent humanity ...

Bravo ...

[Shallah Kali]

45. Shame on CBS & NBC! With all the junk they show, this is so hypocritical

Tolerence should not be intolerable!

[Kat45]

48. I am an active member of a UCC (Congregational) Church.

This is the nicest bunch of people I've ever met. Everyone is welcome. The minister, who shares my opinion of bush, often talks about social justice in his sermons. Unfortunately, we are a very small church in a town with a transient population; every time we get new members, it is offset by those who move away. Unlike the rich fundie mega-churches, we're struggling from year to year to meet our expenses--and hoping we can stay open for more than the next year or two.

I'm hoping that these ads will make more folks aware of this church that actually follows Jesus' way, and that more people will join this denomination, and my little church in particular. I researched denominations before I looked for a church several years ago, and I found that Congregational was the most liberal and most in line with my way of thinking. And the particular church I found in my town is wonderful. Participating in the current UCC outreach, we recently put a banner up outside our church that reads: "Our faith is 2000 years old. Our thinking is not. God is still speaking."