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Archive
From July, 2005:

July 29, 2005

UCC Southern Conference on verge of
disintegration

The Southern Conference
of the UCC has issued an ultimatum to it's member churches: Either
you are with us or you are against us. In a tersely worded document
posted on their web site, the Conference has threatened member
churches about who they can affiliate with:

| |
As a staff
we want to be clear that the position of the Southern
Conference is that any church that is affiliated with the
Evangelical Association is no longer seeking to be in good
standing or in covenant with the United Church of Christ or
the Southern Conference. In fact, affiliation with the
Evangelical Association means that that church has become a
church that is diametrically opposed to the faith and order
of the United Church of Christ. The pastor may be in
conflict with the vows taken at ordination and the “Pastor’s
Code of Ethics” in his or her relationship with the United
Church of Christ. Each Association’s Church and Ministry
Commission will take these matters under very serious
consideration. |

The root of the concern
from the conference is churches leaving the UCC after the General
Synod approved a resolution on Gay Marriage.
Regardless of your beliefs on gay marriage, it is outrageous that
the Southern Conference has effectively placed a test before
churches and threatened the standing of ministers based on who they
choose to affiliate with.

NOTE: UCCtruths.com has
not offered and will not offer an opinion about same sex marriage
but we have provided resources on
marriage similar to those on the Massachusetts Conference web
site. It is, however, our strong opinion that churches should not
leave the UCC over non-binding resolutions of the General Synod.
_______________

July 28, 2005
National Council of Churches
political fundraising

From
The Washington Times:

| |
"As funding from its member
denominations continues to decline, the National Council of
Churches (NCC) is increasingly relying on support from
liberal foundations and polemical direct mail campaigns,"
Mark Tooley writes at the Web site of the American Spectator
(www.spectator.org).

"A recent fundraising letter from NCC General Secretary Bob
Edgar blasts 'Jerry Falwell and his friends,' 'hard-right
fundamentalists,' libertarians, President Bush, Rush
Limbaugh, the Heritage Foundation, and the organization for
which I work (the Institute on Religion and Democracy)," Mr.
Tooley said.

"Preoccupied with its political purposes, Edgar's letter
never once mentions what is officially still the NCC's
purpose: to foster ecumenical unity within America's
churches. Talking too much about Christianity might sound
too 'fundamentalist.'

"So, seemingly writing for a largely secular audience, who
are expected to react viscerally to the mere mention of
names like Falwell and Limbaugh and Bush, Edgar hacks away
at hard-core political themes. In so doing, he seems to want
to confirm the worst allegations of the NCC's critics: that
the NCC has ceased to be a church organization and has
instead become a political lobby of the Left. Indeed, to
remove all doubt, Edgar mentions that the NCC works closely
with the far-left MoveOn.org, which, though unmentioned by
Edgar in his letter, also has provided funding to the NCC."
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_______________

July 27, 2005
Jews Outraged by Makari Wall
Resolution
Three denominations manipulated
by one family
UPDATE: Story breaking wide on dozens of network news stations this
evening - resolution called "functionally anti-semitic".

 |
UPDATE: READ THE TZIPPY COHEN SPEECH THAT WAS BLOCKED BY DOC
PRESIDENT HOBGOOD
Now that the Disciples
of Christ have
passed a resolution condemning the security wall in Israel,
a total of three denominations have passed anti-Israel
resolutions - and all three were either crafted or
influenced by one family - the Makari's. Peter Makari,
the Area Executive for the Middle
East and Europe of the Common Global Ministries Board,
concocted the last minute UCC divestment resolution over the
objections of the committee studying the issue as well as
architecting the Disciples of Christ (DOC) wall resolution.
His father, Victor Makari,
the Presbyterian Church (USA)
regional liaison for the Middle East and Europe, was
influential in promoting the Presbyterian divestment
resolution - which has received
significant opposition
from the rank and file of the Presbyterian Church.

The Wiesenthal
Center today expressed it's outrage over the DOC wall
resolution. From the
World Jewish Congress:

“The
resolution is an abomination,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper,
associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center. “It demands that
Israel take action that would put millions of its citizens
in immediate harm’s way in the never-ending campaign of
Palestinian suicide terror.”

“No other nation would ever be asked to do the same and as a
result, this politically-driven resolution is functionally
antisemitic,” Cooper added.

“It is especially outrageous that Disciple President Hobgood
has seen to it that a young survivor of a suicide bombing in
Jerusalem, Tzippi Cohen, was barred from speaking to all of
the delegates at the General Assembly prior to vote.” I have
no doubt that had the delegates seen the human face of the
victims of Palestinian terrorism, the outcome could have
been much different,” Cooper added. |
_______________

July 27, 2005
UCC Justice and Peace Action Network
blows it... again
Promotion of new documentary on
Wal-Mart based on bogus health care coverage information misses
opportunity to promote a good movie

Once again, JPAnet has
issued an action alert encouraging support for a new documentary
film about Wal-Mart on the basis of Wal-Mart's healthcare coverage
for employees. From the action alert:

| |
This fall, we
hope you will join over 1,000 churches and faith-based
organizations to help launch a Wal-Mart week of action
November 13-18. Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private
employer, has 600,000 employees with no healthcare
benefits, and the company is leading a race to the bottom in
our economy that is devastating our communities.
|

Back in
January, 2004, Bernice
Powell Jackson tried to spin Wal-Mart's lack of healthcare
coverage:

| |
The fact that the nation’s largest employer, Wal-Mart, for
instance, does not pay the health insurance costs for most of its
employees means that we all pay for their health care costs. |

There are plenty of reasons to jump on Wal-Mart,
but this issue isn't one of them. According to the
Wall Street Journal, the uninsured numbers
used by JPAnet and Bernice Powell Jackson are deceiving:

| |
At Wal-Mart Stores Inc., for instance,
new hourly workers must wait six months to sign up for benefits,
and part-timers -- those who work fewer than 34 hours a week --
can join the plan only after two years on the job.
About 10% of Wal-Mart's work force
doesn't have, or has opted not to take, insurance; about half
are on the Wal-Mart plan, and the remaining 40% have insurance
elsewhere. |

The movie JPAnet is
promoting, "Wal-Mart - The
High Cost of Low Prices" actually looks like a pretty good
movie. For an excellent expose on what is really happening at
Wal-Mart, read the Fast Company article
"The
Wal-Mart You Don't Know". It's a fascinating article that
demonstrates what a negative impact Wal-Mart has had on our economy
and how influential Wal-Mart is on a global scale. The sad thing is
that the UCC JPAnet missed a great opportunity to offer an honest
witness about a very serious issue.
_______________

July 26, 2005
7/27 UPDATE: NEW "Breaking
Down the Dividing Wall" resolution approved - details to follow
BLOCKED!


UCC AFFILIATED DISCIPLES OF CHRIST
BLOCKS JEWISH BOMBING SURVIVOR FROM SPEAKING ABOUT WALL RESOLUTION
AT DOC GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The Disciples of Christ (DOC), the ecumenical partner
of the UCC, is holding their
General Assembly
in Portland, Oregon this week - and much like the UCC General Synod,
it's not without controversy. Many the DOC resolutions are similar
to those voted on by the UCC General Synod - including one titled
"Tear
Down the Wall" aimed at getting Israel's security barrier
removed. In response, the Wiesenthal Center asked if they could have
5 minutes to address the Assembly regarding the wall and the
concerns that Jews have to the wall being removed. According to the
Wiesenthal Center, a "last-minute
change to rules that restricts speeches from the floor to voting
members of the Church" were used to block Tzippi Cohen (pictured
above), who was injured during the horrific Café Hillel suicide
bombing in Jerusalem in September, 2003, from speaking to Assembly
delegates.

 |
MORE:
DOC RESOLUTION CRAFTED BY PETER
MAKARI FROM THE UCC GLOBAL MINISTRIES

According to a letter sent by
Disciples of Christ General Minister and President Dr. William Chris
Hobgood to Jewish groups, Peter Makari (Area Executive for the
Middle East and Europe of the Common Global Ministries Board which
is a joint ministry of the UCC and DOC) is the architect of the DOC
"Tear
Down the Wall"
resolution. Makari was also responsible for the substitute
resolution on divestment that that the UCC approved over the
objection of the committee that was charged with discerning the
resolution. |
_______________

July 26, 2005
"Dear Sudan" campaign launched

From
UC News:

| |
The UCC is offering its
financial and technical support for Church World Services’
“Dear Sudan” campaign, a growing interfaith effort to
increase awareness of the inhumane conditions faced by
Sudanese refugees and to raise resources to support
humanitarian relief.

The expanding movement – dubbed “Dear Sudan” by Church World
Service – asks each local community in the United States –
through ecumenical, interfaith cooperation – to sign a “Dear
Sudan” letter that recognizes the suffering of Sudanese
refugees. In so doing, communities make a commitment to
raise enough money to feed for one day the number of
refugees equivalent to that community’s population.
|

Finally - a program not loaded with
political rhetoric that everyone in our denomination should get
behind. The main site is at
DearSudan.org
_______________

July 26, 2005
What's a "diciple"?

How does a seminarian in
his last year not know how to spell DISCIPLE?

Just ask
Chuck Currie.


_______________

July 26, 2005
Too little, too late on Sudan
National Council of Churches now
wants UN peacekeeping forces in Sudan

The Sudan charade
continues in the National Council of Churches. After thousands have
been killed, millions displaced and a peace agreement signed in
Sudan, now the
National Council of Churches wants to send a U.N. peacekeeping force
to Sudan. While there is still a need for a peacekeeping force in
Sudan, the call by the National Council of Churches is disingenuous.
A year ago, we noted
that the weak resolutions and suggestions coming from the NCC lacked
Human Rights Watch call for international peacekeepers - when Sudan
needed them the most. Unfortunately, the only real message from both
the NCC and the United Church of Christ focused on election year
politics. Instead of calling on the U.N. to send the needed
peacekeepers, the NCC and the UCC focused on the U.S. government and
urging the President to call the crisis a genocide. The United
States was virtually alone in calling for action in the U.N. months
before our denomination recognized the crisis. When the prophetic
voice of the religious community could have been focused on decision
makers in the U.N., the UCC and the NCC chose politics.
_______________

July 25, 2005
World Council of Churches attempts to
distance itself from anti-Semitism claims

The head of the World
Council of Churches (WCC), fending off charges of anti-Semitism
after calling for member churches to divest from "companies
that profit from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories",
is now telling Jews what is and is not anti-Semitic.
In the Christian Post,
Samuel Kobia, General Secretary of
the WCC says
“One
must be wary of simplistic metaphors, dividing the world into good
or evil in too facile a way,” adding that comparing divestment “with
a call for boycott of Jewish goods and Jewish persons as in Germany
in the 1930s" is a dangerous path to take.

Thanks for the history lesson... but
here's a lesson in "simplistic metaphors":

Bernice
Powell Jackson, the former Executive Minister for the UCC's
Justice and Witness Ministries and now the World Council of Churches
President for North America wrote in
August 2001:

| |
Many
Palestinians will say that what they are experiencing is not
racism in the strictest sense since Israelis and
Palestinians are both of the Semitic race. But they are
quick to add that it is discrimination, it is segregation
and that it does have many parallels with the apartheid
system of South Africa. |

Ah.... those
simplistic metaphors indeed! The entire divestment movement
is based on a simplistic metaphor that directly connects the
apartheid of South Africa to the crisis in Israel. How
ironic is it that the head of the WCC warns about simplistic
metaphors when his own leadership conveniently uses them?

It's also
incredibly disingenuous.

As long as
Israel is held to a different standard than Palestinians,
charges of racism and anti-Semitism will be raised.
_______________

July 23, 2005
UCC Minister headed for the South
Pole

| |
FARGO, N.D. - For nearly a
quarter century, the Rev. William Ziegler has answered a
call to God and to his country simultaneously, serving as
both a pastor and a chaplain with the North Dakota National
Guard.

Now Ziegler is leaving his pulpit at Fargo's First
Congregational Church to focus on his military career until
mandatory retirement in 2009.

In December, Ziegler begins a three-year assignment with the
Pacific Air Command, based in Honolulu. The colonel will
oversee the chaplaincy programs on the Hawaiian Islands, in
Guam and in Alaska.

But first, Ziegler will be deployed to the South Pole for a
two-month stint as a chaplain at the McMurdo Station.

Temperatures will be at freezing to 32 degrees below zero
while he's there, he said.

"I figure after living in North Dakota for 25 years, I'm
well prepared to handle the cold," he said. |

Click here for complete article
_______________

July 22, 2005
Wall Street Journal: Religious
Radicals - Mainline churches launch a policy to punish Israel

| |
"It is the Occupation in its
many facets that foments the violence and fuels the conflict
[in Israel]," said a report endorsed by leaders of the
Anglican Church in at their meeting in Britain last month.
They adopted a resolution there supporting divestment from
companies doing business with Israel.

The Anglicans are only the most recent on a list of mainline
Protestant churches to endorse a boycott of companies with
ties to the Jewish state. The United Church of Christ (UCC)
took similar action last month, and the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.) passed a resolution last year.

But there is little evidence that the leaders of these
churches are representing the sentiments of their members.
The Presbyterian action provoked outrage from the church's
rank and file, as well as bipartisan condemnation in
Congress. The church has yet to actually divest any funds,
and its horrified congregants might still reverse the
decree. |

Click here for complete article
_______________

July 22, 2005
Can Politics and Religion Mix?

| |
Dr. Eric Shansberg of Indiana University (New
Albany) addresses this profound question in his book, "Turn
Neither to the Right Nor to the Left: A Thinking Christian's
Guide to Politics and Public Policy (Greenville, S.C.,
Alertness Books).

"Today the Religious Left focuses on using government to
protect the environment and especially, to try to help the
poor -- to legislate economic justice," he writes.
"Meanwhile, the Religious Right is not excited about that
agenda, but instead promotes the use of government to
legislate social morality . . ."

Schansberg and others are beginning to outline a case that
Christians should be cautious and circumspect about lobbying
the state on social and economic issues. Such political
activism by the church risks being divisive, detracts from
the spiritual focus of the church and is a potential source
of corruption as Christians succumb to the temptations for
secular power. |

Click here for complete article
_______________

July 15, 2005
Sucker Punched on Divestment
Again, Besser says it
better than anyone else - From the
Jewish Journal:

| |
Jewish groups were sucker
punched last week when the United Church of Christ (UCC)
abandoned a carefully crafted compromise and instead voted
to support “divestment” from Israel.

| Some outraged
Jewish leaders publicly suggested anti-Semitism as a
motive. Others were uncomfortable with the label,
but a growing number of Jewish officials don’t see
any other explanation for a divestment push that
|
|
“The
gap between Protestants in the pews and
their national leaders was evident at the
UCC general synod in Atlanta when church
leaders stepped in at the last minute and
discarded a compromise Mideast proposal.
” |
|
defies logic and turns
fairness on its ear.

Leaders of the divesting churches — including the UCC and
the Presbyterian Church (USA) — insist they have nothing
against Jews or Israel, but their willingness to be guided
by forces that are implacably opposed not just to Israeli
policies but to the Jewish state itself, and which seek to
use animus against Jews as a tool in that effort, suggest
otherwise. |
_______________

July 11, 2005
Pension Boards to John Thomas:

Divestment Resolution Legal?
UCCtruths.com has received the copy of a letter to John Thomas from
the Pension Boards. In it, the Pension Boards raise serious
questions about the divestment resolution and the process that was followed to
get the resolution passed. From the letter:

-
“...there
will be thorough review of the process leading to the
action taken by parliamentary experts to determine if
this is a legal resolution.”
-
“Why did the UCC spend
more than $1,000.00 to bring me to Atlanta and totally
disregard my efforts.”
-
“Further,
we were never informed of the recommended substitution
in advance of the debate until we
|
|
| |
received a copy of the motion from a volunteer
minutes before it was presented to Synod. This is
all the more disturbing to me because a Collegium
member was present during the after hours
discussion.”
|
|

In light of the new information,
additional questions are being asked.

 |
-
Did
John Deckenback
(pictured left),
Central Atlantic Conference Minister,
Peter Makari,
Area Executive for
the Middle East and Europe of the Common Global Ministries
Board, and
Curtis Rueter,
chair of the Wider Church Ministries board of directors,
purposely draft and propose the resolution on the floor of
General Synod because they knew there would be no Jewish voice
heard on the issue?
-
What Collegium
member helped sabotage the General Synod process by being
present during the drafting of the substitute resolution?
-
Will
Conference Ministers
respond appropriately?
|
_______________

July 10, 2005
UCC Church vandalized with fire and
anti-gay graffiti


UCNews also has the story with comments from John
Thomas:


These acts must be
deplored by all people who call themselves faithful and there's
absolutely no room in the contentious debate over same-sex marriage
for violence
of any sort. However, it's also unproductive to claim that everyone
who objects to or questions same-sex marriage shares
responsibility for acts of violence as
Chuck Currie has done. A large majority of UCC churches are not
"Open and Affirming" (the designation UCC churches take when they
publicly accept homosexuals into the full life of the church) and
reasonable people certainly wouldn't lump in churches that have not
adopted the designation or are debating the issue.
Comments like Chuck's are only intended to shut down discussion
and debate which our church leadership has called for.
_______________

July 8, 2005
American Jewish Congress to John
Thomas:
REJECT THE RESOLUTIONS!


| |
Dear Rev. Thomas:

On June 29, prior to the recent United Church of Christ
General Synod, I wrote you to ask that you lead in the
rejection of the divestment and Tear Down the Wall
resolutions being proposed. Sadly—for Jews, Christians and
all concerned with peace in the Middle East—the UCC passed a
resolution approving divestment as a means of economic
leverage as well as the Tear Down the Wall resolution, which
is deeply flawed by historical, legal and moral
inaccuracies. These resolutions are destructive and do
nothing to help settle the conflict in Middle East, which is
a moral, religious and human tragedy for all affected. On
political and humanitarian levels they will do nothing
whatsoever to help relieve the suffering of Israelis and
Palestinians, but they have already created much justified
frustration and anger throughout the Jewish community.

I cannot overstate the negative consequences of these
resolutions within the Jewish community, and the need for
repair and healing.

The Jewish community’s cooperative work with the United
Church of Christ on the important issues of peace and
justice have been compromised by these resolutions. We also
understand that within the polity of the UCC you are
empowered to accept or reject resolutions of the General
Synod. In the interest of maintaining the cooperative
relationship that our two communities have enjoyed and in
the interest of bringing our communities closer together to
promote a practical and meaningful resolution to the crisis
in the Middle East, we vigorously urge you to personally
distance yourself and the leadership of the denomination
from these harmful resolutions.

You have the institutional and moral ability to repair the
damage done to Jewish-Christian relations, and we recommend
that you to do so publicly and unequivocally.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

With prayers for peace,
Neil B. Goldstein
Executive Director |
_______________

July 7, 2005
UCC Church has 1 million bees, honey
in walls

| |
KNOX, Pa. -- One could say
that St. Mark United Church of Christ is bee-deviled. The
church in Clarion County, about 60 miles north of
Pittsburgh, has been infested with bees in its walls for
about seven years. The church tried an exterminator and that
didn't work. Now the problem has gotten so bad that honey
oozes through its walls. |

_______________

July 7, 2005
American Jewish Congress Responds
The American Jewish
Congress is responding to the resolutions as well:

| |
NEW YORK, July 6 /U.S.
Newswire/ -- Based on reports from the United Church of
Christ news service, while the UCC resolution on economic
leverage in the Middle East contains positive ideas, the
American Jewish Congress finds unacceptable the resolution's
inclusion of divestment as a course of action. "Investment
is constructive and creates hope, while divestment from one
side is destructive and unjustifiable," said Neil B.
Goldstein, AJCongress executive director. "We urge the UCC
to choose the responsible path."

Dr. Eugene Korn, AJCongress
director of Jewish Affairs, commented "The UCC opted for
positive and constructive use of economic leverage as a
first option. This will help Jewish- Christian relations and
aid Israelis and Palestinians working for peace. But if UCC
decides to divest from companies doing business with Israel,
it will lose its moral credibility and harm chances for
peace. In the end, the call for divestment is rhetoric to
weaken Israel and strengthen the extremists and the
rejectionists."

The AJCongress condemns the second UCC resolution regarding
Israel's defensive barrier. Goldstein continued, "'The Tear
Down the Wall' resolution is deeply flawed in law, facts and
moral logic. It fails completely to acknowledge that the
separation barrier is a legitimate defense against
Palestinian terrorists who continue to try to murder
innocent Israeli civilians. The barrier should be removed
only after the Palestinian Authority apprehends the
terrorists in its midst, dismantles the Palestinian
terrorist infrastructure, and signs a peace agreement with
Israel. There can be no peace before responsible
Palestinians take these steps." |

_______________

July 6, 2005
More response from the Jewish
community...
From the Jewish Week, which did an
outstanding job of describing the process and the breadth of Jewish
opinion:

| |
The divestment
vote came a day after a Mideast committee approved a
compromise that rejected outright divestment and instead
urged church bodies to use a variety of “tools of economic
leverage to promote and support peace in the Middle East.”

But on Tuesday, several UCC leaders introduced a substitute
measure, which was quickly passed.

Despite a surge of anger and dismay, Jewish interfaith
leaders were laboring to put a positive spin on the final
resolution.

“It’s not exactly what we wanted, but we’re pleased it does
not call for a boycott,” said David Elcott, interreligious
director for the American Jewish Committee, who attended the
meetings in Atlanta. “Our concern was that they would
support a resolution isolating Israel, which is what the
Presbyterians have done. They didn’t do that.”

But other Jewish
leaders said the vote struck to the heart of interfaith
dialogue with groups such as the UCC.

“We were heartened by the work of the committee, which
seemed to reflect the things that we have been hearing from
UCC members in the pew,” said Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor,
interfaith director of the Anti-Defamation League. “But the
revised resolution, which received less than an hour of
debate, not only speaks about resorting to divestment, but
makes the occupation an analogue to violence.”

That, combined with the shift to harsher language on
Israel’s separation barrier, left Jewish groups “to wonder
about the intention of the leaders who substituted these
versions of the resolutions at the last minute,” he said.
|
_______________

July 6, 2005
Anti-defamation League "dismayed"
More fallout from the divestment
resolution and the wall resolution came today from the
Anti-defamation League, recognizing that the move to add
divestment language back into the approved resolution came from the
national office, which today stated:

| |
We
are dismayed because what we are hearing on the ground from
the people in the pews is that they were seeking a more
balanced approach that would not single out Israel, but also
include the Palestinian Authority. The United Church of
Christ leadership has chosen to ignore these voices and
put forth a resolution that broadens economic leverage to
specifically include divestment, while calling on their
individual churches and members to consider divestment
tactics. |

_______________

July 6, 2005
The morning-after 'Spin Machine'
How can John Thomas say that the
resolution "does not call for divesting from companies doing
business in Israel"? Did he even read the resolution his own team
crafted? From the resolution:

| |
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the 25th General Synod calls
upon the Covenanted Ministries, Pension Boards,United Church
Foundation, Conferences, local churches and members to use
economic leverage, including, but not limited to: advocating
a reallocation of U.S. foreign aid so that the
militarization of the Middle East is constrained; making
positive contributions to groups and partners committed to
the non-violent resolution of the conflict;
challenging
the practices of corporations that gain from the
continuation of the conflict; and divesting from those
companies that refuse to change their practices of gain from
the perpetuation of violence, including the Occupation |

One thing is
certain: National office staff members Peter Makari and
Curtis Rueter were deceptive in their
presentation of the resolution to the General Synod. When asked a
number of times what the difference was between their last-minute
substitute resolution and the committee resolution, both gave vague
answers and it wasn't until Art Cribbs, Jr. had the courage to
confess at the microphone that the divestment terminology was the
difference.
8/1/2005 Correction:
Curtis
Rueter is the chair of the Wider Church Ministries board of
directors.
_______________

July 5, 2005
General Synod - Day 5
Wiesenthal Center calls resolutions "functionally anti-Semitic"

HIJACKED!
New resolution drafted by
National Office staff includes divestment

>>>Copy of Divestment Resolution<<<

|
Today is a sad day in the
history of the United Church of Christ. Today, the General
Synod of the United Church of Christ has voted in support of
divestment over the wishes of the committee assigned to
discern the issue. The committee, which spent hours
reviewing three different resolutions, drafted their own
resolution titled
"Resolution
concerning use of economic leverage in promoting peace in
the Middle-east" and clearly and intentionally removed any
reference to the term 'divestment'. Members of the
United Church of Christ National Office drafted an
alternative resolution overnight without the input of the
committee studying the issue and without consulting the
Pension Boards whose funds this issue concerns.
Specifically, Curtis Rueter, chair of the Wider Church
Ministries board of directors, with assistance from Peter
Makari, Area Executive for the Middle East and Europe of the
Common Global Ministries Board, presented the General Synod
with the last minute resolution that was voted on with less
than an hour of discussion on the floor of the General
Synod.

With this action, the United Church of Christ has
effectively placed a wedge between itself and the Jewish
community. The process of developing the divestment proposal
essentially hijacked the discernment process and was done
with the noted objection from committee members. The simple
fact that National Office staff manufactured the resolution
reflects a lack of leadership of John Thomas
who refused to speak directly to the issue of divestment
before General Synod and ignoring the concerns raised by our
Jewish brothers and sisters.

On a personal
level, I want to apologize to our Jewish brothers and
sisters who will be most affected by this resolution. It is
my hope that the UCC will understand the pain that it has
caused and change direction.
James Hutchins
jutchins_ucc@yahoo.com |
_______________

July 4, 2005
General Synod - Day 4
Updates posted regularly



DIVESTMENT DEAD?
Resolution will be
published here as soon as it's available in an electronic format


Other stories we are following
-
Business Wire:
Simon Wiesenthal Center: United
Church of Christ's 'Tear Down The Wall Resolution' -- Immoral,
said Rabbi Abraham Cooper
-
WOAI:
Area Church
May Break Away after Same-Sex Marriage Proclamation
-
Associated Press:
United Church of Christ
rulemaking body passes gay marriage resolution
(NOTE: The General Synod does not
make rules for the local church and each church is free to
decide for itself the issue of gay marriage)
-
Associated Press:
United Church of
Christ committee passes gay marriage resolution
-
Jerusalem Post:
UCC faction fighting divestment drive
_______________

July 3, 2005
General Synod - Day 3
Updates posted regularly



Farewell Bernice Powell Jackson
Commentary
From everything I've heard, Bernice
Powell Jackson is an extremely nice, intelligent and gracious person
- and I don't have any reason to doubt that she's been a faithful
steward for our denomination. Clearly she has dedicated herself to
pursuing true justice for those with little or no voice and her
dedication should be acknowledged - even by those like myself that
have had serious concerns about her leadership. There is more to her
leadership than her character though and one of the primary
reasons this site was built was to challenge many of her public
statements that regularly distorted the truth. While her pursuit of
justice is admirable, the ends do not justify the means. While the
political rhetoric that often plays fast and loose with the facts
may work well for those in government, religious leaders like
Jackson should be held to a higher standard of honesty.

Many of the issues she promoted, I
supported as well. For instance, her concern about the lack of
health care for working Americans and violence in video games are
issues that everyone should support, but with honesty.
Her distortions about health
care coverage at Wal-Mart did little to help the very real issue
of health care insurance. There is no doubt that some video games
are full of violence but to
sign on
to a statement about specific video games that hadn't been
released and then to misspell some of the names only demonstrated
that she really didn't know what she was signing on to.

Particularly disturbing was
her distortion of Charles
Pickering's civil rights record during his judicial nomination.
Instead of sifting through the political rhetoric that accompanies
the nomination process, she jumped on to the political bandwagon by
linking Pickering to racism even though his state's own civil rights
activists (including Medgar Evers brother, Charles) claimed that he
was a civil rights champion. Not only does this do a disservice to
those fighting for civil rights, it dilutes the message of others
who raise legitimate civil rights concerns.

Our faithful witness should not rest on
the political battles between Republicans and Democrats, liberals
and conservatives. The faithful witness of our denomination has to
rise above political rhetoric. Whether it's the Christian Coalition
or the United Church of Christ, we are first called to be honest in
our communication. While I wish Bernice Powell Jackson the best as
she moves on to a different stage of her career, we should all look
forward to the new opportunity we have to be more honest in
communicating the concerns of those who do not have a voice.

-James Hutchins
_______________

July 2, 2005
General Synod - Day 2
Updates posted regularly



"Selective Investment"
proposal to be presented at General Synod as alternative to
divestment

>>>SELECTIVE INVESTMENT RESOLUTION<<<
1.4MB PDF

Not long after the original
divestment proposal was given to the General Synod for
consideration, we floated the
idea of "Selective Investment" as an option. At the time, we had
an opportunity to speak with Jewish leaders who were receptive of
the idea as long as the language of "selective investment" wasn't
used as a 'politically correct' mechanism for divestment. Someone
must have been listening as the Massachusetts Conference of the UCC
will offer the alternative to General Synod. From the
Boston Globe today:

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''We are uncomfortable
with the language of divestment, because there's the
possibility that it tends to place uneven responsibility on
Israel for the conflict itself, and that's a problem,
especially in a year like this when there's been so much
movement toward resolution," said the Rev. John A. Nelson,
senior pastor of Dover Church and a Massachusetts delegate
to the synod.

The Massachusetts delegates face an uphill battle, because
they have not already submitted their proposal as a
resolution. But they are hoping the denomination will
consider the proposal; they point to an e-mail from a group
of leading Presbyterians expressing regret about that
denomination's decision last year to pursue divestment and
urging the United Church of Christ delegates not to support
divestment.

''The Presbyterian resolution was attention-getting, but
ultimately it was a symbolic effort that may have been more
destructive in terms of Jewish-Christian relations and not
particularly constructive in terms of alleviating the
Palestinian plight," said the Rev. Nancy S. Taylor, senior
minister of Old South Church, a United Church of Christ
congregation in Copley Square. |

Other stories we are following
-
Associated Press:
Andrew Young endorses UCC same-sex resolution
-
The Introduction and Speech of
Linda Jaramillo, nominee for Executive Minister of Justice and
Witness Ministries, last night didn't give much hope that
the political rhetoric of JWM
is going to change anytime soon
_______________

July 1, 2005
General Synod - Day 1
Updates posted regularly



From the Wiesenthal
Center Press Conference
Associated Press: Jewish group urges UCC against
Israel-Palestine resolutions

From Richard Weinhagen at General
Synod on the Wiesenthal Center press conference:



Other stories we are following
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