The United Church of Christ, what we all should know!

[blue sky at night]

The time has come to post a response to all of the controversy that is swirling around the United Church of Christ related to Obama's Pastor, Jeremiah Wright. My Pastor wrote this to our congregation, which was a good thing because frankly some of us really needed to be reminded what the UCC stands for, and I know for sure that many people in the Media and General Public need to hear this also.

Please excuse the lack of his name because I have not asked his permission to post this. When I gain it, I will put his name on it.

Our United Church of Christ
What We All Should Know


Ever since I was young, I remember congregations and members of the UCC being engaged in hard questions, sometimes raising great controversy. Sometimes, I didn’t agree with all that was said or done, but I was thankful for the sense I had that there were people seeking to bring Christ’s gospel to bear on difficult issues of justice and peace. Later I learned that these voices grew out of a rich heritage: pastors who secured legal defense for slaves who took over the slave ship Amistad, many members of the abolitionist movement, early advocates for women’s rights, and many others. These words, recently printed in the New York Times, share more about that heritage:


Much has been said about the United Church of Christ in recent weeks, much of it hurtful for many in our country, including members of Trinity UCC in Chicago. That is why we are eager to share the broad and diverse story of the United Church of Christ, one that we celebrate.

With all Christians, we rest in God’s amazing grace and hear God’s voice in the words of Scripture. Yet, the UCC is unique to some because we do not require uniformity of belief. We are a church of open ideas, extravagant welcome and evangelical courage. Our passion for democracy extends to both government and church, where decision-making rests within each congregation. We support liberty in our pulpits, just as we affirm the individual conscience of our 1.2-million members to agree, disagree and wrestle with life’s biggest questions in a spirit of love.

Our story is this nation’s story. We are the people of the Mayflower. More than 600 of our 5,700 congregations were formed before 1776. Eleven signers of the Declaration of Independence were members of UCC predecessor bodies.

As early abolitionists, we came to the aid of the Amistad captives and founded hundreds of schools across the South after the Civil War. We were the first mainline church to ordain an African-American (1785), a woman (1853) and an openly gay pastor (1972). We were also the first to form a foreign mission society (1810). Our multi-ethnic membership includes persons from every immigrant group, as well as native peoples and descendants of freed slaves.

Our unity is not dependent upon uniform agreement, but in our shared allegiance to Jesus Christ. Ours is a risk-taking church, because ours is a risk-taking God.

God is still speaking, ®

http://www.ucc.org/
edited title to get it right!

[ladjf]

1. Could you condense this down to a couple of key points?

[blue sky at night]

3. not complaining .....

but really, I look at many posts that make the greatest and they are much longer than this. I guess it may be too long to keep the attention of most folks, but sorry I will just let it go instead of condensing...if they were my words I would consider it.

[Catherina]

2. Thanks. I'm heartbroken over how HRC's political ruthlessness

smeared a Church that's at the forefront of social activism. K&R