Archive

From June, 2004:

"Winners and Losers"? Perhaps "Lies and Liars"

June 30, 2004 - With the presidential election season in full swing, the United Church if Christ spin machine is working overtime to shape the year's political debate. While the UCC isn't the only religious group to play politics, our denominational leaders do continue a tradition of positioning justice issues with distortions and half truths. The latest attempt is a document titled "Winners and Losers" which was written by Witness and Justice Ministries. The document attempts to identify who the winners and losers are in our country from a federal budget perspective. Our disagreement with the UCC document should not be considered an endorsement of the Bush administration budget - our disagreement is with the UCC's plainly dishonest use of the facts that are cited within the document - and whose conclusions are contradicted by the same source of information. We believe that the "witness" from our denomination must first be honest and truthful if it is to be credible.

Read the full report here.

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Clergy Leadership Network site back up, almost

June 28, 2004 - The Clergy Leadership Network website, which went offline in the middle of their national meeting in Cleveland last month, has been slowly coming back online nearly a month later. The site is still not fully functional but appears to be slowly coming together.

The Clergy Leadership Network is another in a series of groups and websites from disgruntled clergy who want to have an impact in the upcoming presidential election. The Clergy Leadership Network had a dismal turnout for their national meeting and, despite the backing of billionaire George Soros, is still suffering from a fundraising deficit.

It's one thing for political candidates to seek the votes of the faithful, it's an entirely different matter when the clergy themselves are actively campaigning against a candidate, as the Clergy Leadership Network has been doing. Suspicion of the group is only compounded when almost all of the money raised for the group comes from a source that is not directly connected to the clergy themselves, but is simply a piece of a broader political agenda - one that has nothing to do with clergy.

The failure of the Clergy Leadership Network is a success for democracy and for the separation of church and state.

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Pick Me, Pick Me

June 23, 2004 - Bob Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches USA, is trolling for someone, anyone, in the media to interview him when the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the due process case for enemy combatants at Guantanamo.

If Edgar was considered a credible resource by the media, he wouldn't need to make this solicitation.

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What local church autonomy looks like

June 19, 2004 - While the national office and conferences of the UCC like to claim that local churches enjoy autonomy, the ongoing controversies within our denomination demonstrate otherwise. It's too bad we aren't more like our brothers and sisters in Congregational Christian Churches. From the Providence Journal:

They see themselves firmly in line with the original Mayflower Pilgrims, a people committed to the idea that religious liberty entails a congregation's right to decide how to worship and what to believe. The National Association of Congregational Christian Churches holds its annual meeting here starting next weekend, and on one thing all agree: you won't be seeing delegates passing resolutions on any of the things that have been tearing other denominations apart. There will be no resolutions about the war in Iraq or conflict in the Middle East. No pronouncements on abortion, or whether gay marriage or even homosexual behavior itself can ever be deemed acceptable in Christian terms. The Rev. Alice Murphy, pastor of Colebrook Congregational Church in Connecticut and the incoming chair of the association's executive committee, acknowledges that the approach is quite a bit different from what you'll find in the 1.2 million-member United Church of Christ, which also proclaims a link to the early Pilgrims but has had no qualms about approving a variety of positions, mostly liberal ones, at its annual conferences. "But that's not our polity," she says. 'We never make any statements on behalf of the churches -- because we can't."

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National Council of Churches apologizes for Abu Ghraib

June 18, 2004 - FaithfulAmerica.org, another political action group affiliated with the National Council of Churches, has videotaped an apology to air on Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya networks apologizing for abuses in Iraq. The video includes messages from Reverend Don Shriver, Imam of Al-Farah Mosque in New York City Feisal Abdul-Rauf, Sister Betty Obal and Rabbi Arthur Waskow.

No word yet when they will be videotaping an apology to the American people for the beheading of innocent Americans in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, September 11, the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, the bombing of the USS Cole, the bombing of the U.S. consulate in Pakistan, the killing of three missionaries in Yeman and the bombing of American housing compounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -  all acts committed in the name of Islam.

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GUILTY

Cleveland imam with UCC ties convicted, now faces jail and deportation

June 17, 2004 - Fawaz Damra, imam of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, was found guilty of lying "when applying for U.S. citizenship about connections to terrorist organizations." The imam's trial was brief -- only two days -- without any witnesses called by the defense. Damra now faces the possibility of 5 years in prison and deportation. In videos from the early 90's shown to the jury, Damra calledon Palestinians to aim their rifles "at the sons of monkeys and pigs, the Jews" and that "terrorism alone is the path to liberation."

The Imam was profiled in a January 2002, UC News article that claims he was "transformed" from his past at a UCC-related seminary. After his indictment, Damra received support from Rev. Stephen Coates of Brunswick United Church of Christ.

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Largest UCC Church in New England votes to leave!

First Church of Christ UCC, fifth largest church in the denomination

Commentary Update: 6/7/2004:

"In Essentials, Unity"

What does this mean to the UCC? Is there a difference in meaning between the local church, the conference and the national office?

This is a serious question for discernment. Depending on who you ask, you'll probably get a different answer to the question. And maybe that's the root of the problem - we probably couldn't agree as a denomination what the key things are that unite us, the key things that define what the UCC is. Some might say it's our "Statement of Faith," others might say it's the "Basis of the Union" while others will point to the historical issues of justice that the UCC has championed.

There probably are no wrong answers to the question. We can, however, reflect on a few of the critical issues. The debate on homosexual marriage (or unions) seems to be the focal point of debate as more churches decide on breaking union (there are more churches currently considering leaving the UCC, which we will comment on later). While this issue is the easiest to communicate a viewpoint on, it's only a symptom of the problem.

By design, the national office (and General Synod) endorsement of same-sex unions was not intended to be a mandate to the local church - it was supposed to respect the autonomy of the local church to decide what is best for the local church. But by execution, the national office and some conferences have failed miserably to respect this autonomy and it has put many churches in an uncomfortable position of picking a side. The national office now has a label on every church whether you know it or not. Each church is classified as either being "Open and Affirming" or not. While the intent was to provide information for curious church-seekers, it has essentially created an "us and them" mentality. Intentionally or not, the national office of the UCC has made "Open and Affirming" the only defining characteristic of the local church (besides demographic data). Now churches are being forced to define themselves - and it isn't pretty. The translation is ugly: Either you support same-sex unions, or you are some sort of closed-minded bigot. Local churches are feeling alienated. Respect for autonomy has been thrown out the window and the national office, not the local church, has broken the covenantal relationship.

Why? Is this an "essential" for unity? It wasn't supposed to be this way.

But this is only a symptom of the problem. The numerous political statements from the church and the political activities of the church have, for some time, alienated the local church - which is why a site like this has become necessary. The national office has repeatedly demonstrated that it does not work with the local churches on discerning these issues - whether it's the "Open and Affirming" designation or the boycott of Cincinnati (unbeknownst to the local churches there). The problem is larger than any single issue - It's the structure and behavior of the national office in how it respects the local church.

What are your thoughts? Post them on the message boards.

A different view:

Pastoral letter from Rev. Dr. Davida Foy Crabtree, Conference Minister, May 27, 2004 prior to First Church's vote

News Update 6/7/2004:

Newsday: Largest UCC church in New England votes to become independent

Hartford Courant: Wethersfield Church Breaks Affiliation

Stamford Advocate: Largest UCC church in New England votes to become independent

WFSB: Largest UCC church in New England votes to become independent

WCTX: Largest UCC church in New England votes to become independent

Boston Globe: Largest UCC church in New England votes to become independent

WRGB: Largest UCC church in New England votes to become independent

In a stunning loss for the denomination, First Church of Christ in Wethersfield, Connecticut, one of the oldest churches in the state and the largest in New England, has voted to leave the denomination. From the church's website:

A Special Congregational Meeting was called for June 6, 2004, to act on a motion to disaffiliate with the United Church of Christ. Church members present at that meeting, by a margin of 510 to 59, voted to disaffiliate. Three people abstained.

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Largest UCC Church in New England may leave

The First Church of Christ in Wethersfield, Connecticut, one of the oldest churches in the state and the largest in New England, is going to vote on Sunday to decide whether or not they will leave the United Church of Christ. Leaders of the 3,300 member church distributed a pamphlet that states:

"Because of the growing trend in recent years for the UCC to champion positions that reflect a secularist rather than biblical worldview, many members of our congregation whose views are more biblically based have felt alienated and marginalized," the pamphlet states. "Regardless of one's political views, a church member should not have to support a specific political agenda or social ideology, either actively or passively in order to feel good about their membership in a local body of believers."

From the Hartford Courant article, it appears the lighting rod issue is the national office and conference position on homosexual marriage, and that's unfortunate. The message from the national office all along has been to respect the the autonomy of the local church - even on the issue of homosexual marriage... but the perception of local church leaders certainly doesn't reflect that respect. The leaders at First Church have it right: Regardless of one's political views, a church member should not have to support a specific political agenda or social ideology, either actively or passively in order to feel good about their membership in a local body of believers.

It doesn't matter what the political issue is, the local church should not feel isolated because they are exercising the autonomy in the covenantal relationship between the local church, conference and national office. The conference and the national office will most likely wash their hands of the matter, confident that the issue is homosexuality and not the breaching of covenant - which misses the point.

In essentials, Unity.

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