Archive

From October, 2005:

October 31, 2005

Major changes in store for UCC Insurance Board

CORRECTION 11/1/2005: We now understand that UCCIB WILL NOT be partnering Heffernan... more details as more information is available

According to a number of sources, a weekend meeting of the United Church of Christ Insurance Board yielded a number of significant changes that will result in a dramatic overhaul of UCCIB. Details are still being finalized, but it appears that UCCIB will be partnering with Heffernan Insurance to provide coverage. A number of conferences were already working with Heffernan to provide alternative coverage.

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October 28, 2005

UCC leaders condemn anti-Israel comments from Iranian leader and Palestinian suicide bombing

From UCC.org:

Thursday, Oct. 27 – On Oct. 26, two violent attacks were launched against Israel and its citizens. In a speech, the president of Iran, Mahmud Ahmadinejad, quoted the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini stating that Israel “must be wiped off the map.”  Later in the day, a Palestinian suicide bomber claimed the lives of five Israeli citizens in Hadera, in central Israel.  The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ roundly condemn both instances of violence. Such violent rhetoric and violent action incite violent reactions, adding momentum to an already senseless spiral. These attacks are in direct contradiction to our two churches’ clear positions affirming Israel’s right to exist securely next to a viable Palestinian state, and opposing violence in all its manifestations. With our partner the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, we assert the moral reprehensibility of suicide bombing. The hateful and violent intent of President Ahmadinejad’s remarks are never acceptable in political discourse.

This is a welcome, albeit twisted, condemnation. As noted below in the Associated Press article, Sabeel leader Naim Ateek has been accused of "fanning anti-Semitism through his divestment movement and sermons".

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October 28, 2005

Prominent U.S. clergy speak out against divestment, Sabeel

From the Associated Press:

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October 27, 2005

Changes at UCC Insurance Board raise more questions

According to the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference web site, "The United Church of Christ Insurance Board announced on Friday, October 21, 2005, that Rev. Bennie Whiten, Jr. has been called to serve as the Acting President and CEO of the United Church of Christ Insurance Board following the resignation of Mr. Tim White"

The change in leadership comes after a number of conference and local church ministers raised questions about insurance coverage earlier this month. The lack of communication from the UCC Insurance Board led a number of churches to seek alternative coverage in case UCC/IB was unable to provide coverage. The quiet change in leadership ~and the lack of communication about the change~ is raising new questions about UCC/IB. As one local church minister put it "Why is it so difficult for UCCIB or the national office to let us know what is going on? This isn't the sort of thing that builds confidence."

An announcement of the leadership change could not be found on the United Church of Christ web site or the UCC Insurance Board web site.

Update 10/27/2005 - 6:30pm: UCC web site has the story.

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October 26, 2005

Breaking: Press conference scheduled for Thursday featuring prominent U.S. clergy speaking out against divestment - CLICK FOR DETAILS

BOUNCED!

UCC member blocked from UCC-sponsored divestment conference

Although the United Church of Christ advertises that all are welcome to church, apparently the same doesn't hold true for UCC-sponsored events. Dexter Van Zile, a UCC member from Boston (and regular editorial contributor to UCCtruths.com), was prevented from attending the UCC-sponsored divestment conference being held this week in Toronto. Van Zile, who works for the David Project - a group dedicated to promoting a fair and honest understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict - was denied entrance because conference organizers (Sabeel) determined his "aims and work to be in opposition to Morally Responsible Investment" (the new politically-correct words for divestment).

According to Van Zile, "this proves that the leadership of the United Church of Christ is not really interested in an honest discussion about effective strategies that may lead to a lasting peace in the Middle-east - a peace that would give security to both Israelis and Palestinians. The whole point of this event is to encourage people to offer an anti-Israel narrative to churches. Why is the UCC co-sponsoring this event, unless of course, the leadership in Cleveland is on board with this agenda. I've been to numerous Sabeel conferences and I can assure you, Palestinian suffering will be blamed entirely on Israel, Arab terror will be given a pass and the failure of Palestinian leadership to protect the rights of Christians will be ignored. In other words, the narrative about the Arab/Israeli conflict offered by Sabeel will be indistinguishable from the story told by our church leaders. This narrative can't withstand any scrutiny, which is why the Sabeel event is closed to the public and UCC members".

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October 26, 2005

UCC-sponsored divestment conference begins in Toronto

Details posted throughout the day

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October 25, 2005

New group forms to counter anti-Israel bias, includes UCC members

From a Press Release on the Religion News Service:

(Newark, New Jersey) October 25, 2005 -- Christians for Fair Witness on the Middle East (Fair Witness), has gathered mainline Protestant and Catholic clergy and lay leaders to counter the ill-informed criticism and one-sided condemnation of Israel by some American churches. "While we understand that for many this criticism expresses their Christian concern for the oppressed, we worry that it overlooks many historical and current realities of the Arab-Israel conflict, and contributes to bias against the modern state of Israel. This bias could reverse many years of dialogue between American Christians and Jews, and lead to a dangerous weakening of the perceived right of Israel to exist as well as to a perpetuation of the conflict,” says Dennis Hale, Ph. D., a political science professor at Boston College. According to Sr.Ruth Lautt, O.P., Esq., National Director of Fair Witness, a radical Jerusalem-based Palestinian Christian group known as Sabeel has become a driving force behind the anti-Israel orientation growing in some American churches. “Naim Ateek, Sabeel’s founder, has said that the creation of Israel constituted a ‘grievous injustice’ and has repeatedly pointed to Israel as the sole cause of the conflict – while failing to hold the Palestinian leadership accountable for their history of violence against Israelis and their role in creating the conflict that exists today,” she said. “There is an agenda here that is neither just nor Christian.” Rev. Peter Pettit, Ph.D., director of the Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Penn., said, “Fair Witness will help North American churches voice their distinctive perspectives as long-time partners with the Jewish community, as brothers and sisters to the Palestinian Christian community, and as concerned citizens.” Fair Witness includes members of the United Church of Christ and the Lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic churches. “Our goal is to help churches find a constructive voice that reflects the Christian obligation to justice, embracing both Palestinians and Israelis in their respective fears, hopes, and aspirations,” said Rev. James Loughran, SA, Director of the Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute in New York City. “Israel’s right to exist within secure borders and to defend itself from attack are as fundamental as the dignity of Palestinian life and the need for Palestinian national self-expression.”

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October 24, 2005

"Still Speaking" Fundraising Stunt

FLASHBACK: October 2004: "Because the campaign is being financed without tapping into Our Church's Wider Mission—the UCC's shared purse that funds common missions and ministries—the money must come from individuals and congregations that have an expressed interest in making sure that the campaign gets off the ground."

-UC News, October 2004

There are still more surprises though... as we reported last week, another ad controversy / publicity stunt is brewing as the major networks have reportedly told Buford that they will not air the new ad.

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October 23, 2005

Clergy and Laity Network gone?

For nearly a month, the web site for the Clergy and Laity Network has been down. The partisan political group was a spin off of the defunct Clergy Leadership Network which went belly up after the 2004 election season. The Clergy Leadership Network generated almost all of it's fund raising came from a single source: billionaire George Soros' "Americans Coming Together" - a shadow advocacy group that skirted campaign finance laws by funneling soft money to IRS classified "527's" like the Clergy Leadership Network.

Jordan Ballor of the Acton Institute examined the theological challenge of the Clergy Leadership Network back in 2004.

Christians of all political inclinations should be able to agree with the CLN’s conclusions about the importance of faith in public life. As the group says: “religious faith provides the lens through which public life is viewed and consequently engaged. Faith will not allow us to be bystanders.” The difficulty arises when God’s will is simply and easily equated with the platform of a particular party. The express partisanship of the Clergy Leadership Network undermines the inherent complexities involved in Christian political affiliation. The church is witness to this higher reality. As theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg writes, “This means ipso facto, by the very existence of the church and in the living of its liturgical life, a challenging of the claims of every political and judicial order, whether monarchical, oligarchical, or democratic, to embody the form of social life that is ultimately in keeping with human destiny.” To this end, individual Christians, and to an even greater extent Christian institutions, should not identify so closely with any secular agenda that they lose their autonomy and abdicate their prophetic responsibility. An extreme and frightening example of such abdication is the German state church’s complicity in Hitler’s grab for power in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.

The Clergy Leadership Network was never about religion at all... it was about politics. They were supported by a secular, partisan billionaire, not by clergy and their message didn't advocate a prophetic witness, just recycled political rhetoric.

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October 16, 2005

UCC gearing up for another ad controversy

According to an online interview with Ron Buford, coordinator of United Church of Christ's Still Speaking initiative, the major networks have rejected a new UCC television ad last month although the ad was just shot last week. In the interview, Buford says "We hope to reach 70 percent of the population with this message. We want to raise questions in people's minds about their preconceived notions about homosexuals."

Although the rejection from the networks came last month, there is no mention of it on the UCC web site. As with the last controversy, the UCC national office is probably waiting until the new ad is released to express it's surprise and shock of the rejection... and then deny the timing was intended to be a publicity stunt.

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October 15, 2005

THOMAS IN DENIAL

UCC President lashes out at "groups within and beyond the United Church of Christ," acknowledges declining funds

In a speech given yesterday to the UCC Executive Council, John Thomas continued his strategy of blaming everyone else for the failures of the national office. From his speech:

He doesn't mention UCC Truths in his screed because we don't fit into his paranoid political conspiracy theory since we aren't affiliated with any group inside or outside of the church.

The most offensive part of his speech was his attempt to claim that concerns about our denominations anti-Israel resolutions were merely "a wedge to divide unsuspecting UCC folk and churches." UCC Truths was one of the only groups to openly challenge the national office on divestment. It wasn't used as a wedge issue, it was done because the divestment resolution was wrong - and thankfully other people on the General Synod committee that debated the issue agreed. It was John Thomas himself that created the wedge issue when he personally sought to change the resolution to insert divestment language.

There are a number of ironies in Thomas' speech as well. Apparently, it's OK for the national office of the UCC to affiliate with outside political groups but not local churches. It's also ironic that he charges that these groups "disseminate deliberately deceptive information" (without citing any examples) but refuses to acknowledge that the national office has been doing this for years.

Thomas also laments the losses of OCWM funds for the first nine months of the year and attributes part of the loss to the Gay Marriage resolution from General Synod... even though the controversial vote only occurred three months ago. The truth is that contributions to OCWM have been declining for some time (although that wouldn't fit the conspiracy theory).

What does this all mean? It means John Thomas isn't really serious about healing the church or working towards unity. If his speech were pastoral, it would have laid out a plan to reach out and recognize the concerns of others... even if he doesn't agree with them. Unfortunately, Thomas doesn't have the pastoral humility it would take to actually listen and understand the concerns of others. Instead, he has put pastors and conference ministers in the awkward position of playing peace maker while he and other national leaders distribute conspiracy theories.

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October 10, 2005

Conservative "web-zine" criticizes UCC on divestment

From FrontPage Magazine:

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October 6, 2005

John Thomas and the UCC's legacy of defending Puerto Rican terrorists

No one familiar with the United Church of Christ's history should be surprised by UCC President John Thomas' belated call for an investigation into the FBI shooting death of Puerto Rican terrorist Filiberto Ojeda Rios... especially since an independent investigation was already ordered over a week ago.

Ojeda Rios was wanted by the FBI on a number of charges including orchestrating an armed robbery of $7 million in Connecticut in 1983. According to FBI agents who staked out a rural Puerto Rican residence he was hiding in, Ojeda Rios shot and critically wounded one of the agents who approached the house. Ojeda Rios was then shot in his shoulder in return fire from the agents. He reportedly bled to death in his bullet proof vest after agents refused to enter the house for 20 hours for fear that the house was booby-trapped. The death of Ojeda Rios has sparked outrage in Puerto Rico.

Background on the FALN

In the early 1970's, Ojeda Rios formed Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional ~also know as the FALN~ which was responsible for at least 120 terrorist bombings against the United States between 1974 and 1983. The UCC has, for decades, defended the Puerto Rican terrorists at the expense of their victims. In the 1990's, Paul Sherry, then UCC president, Rev. Thomas A. Dipko, Executive Vice President of the former United Church Board for Homeland Ministries and Rev. Nozomi Ikuta of the United Church Board of Homeland Ministries actively lobbied and consulted with President Clinton, the Department of Justice and Congress on releasing the FALN terrorists from prison.

According to notes from an April 1998 meeting in a candid discussion with Clinton Administration Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, Rev. Paul Sherry was asked whether or not they (the FALN terrorists) had renounced violence. "Rev. Sherry said they would not change their beliefs. This probably meant they would not change their beliefs about Puerto Rican independence, although he gave a carefully phrased answer that did not make it entirely clear that they had renounced the use of violence."

On August 11, 1999 President Clinton offered clemency to the FALN terrorists and on September 7, 1999, 12 of the terrorists accepted the terms of the clemency. Clinton offered the clemency over the objections of the Anti-Defamation League, Sen. Patrick Moynahan and his wife, Hillary Clinton.

On September 15, 1999, Rev. Nozomi Ikuta testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the clemency process and her lobbying activities. What became very clear through her own testimony is that the United Church of Christ did not, at any point, try to communicate with the victims of the terrorism. This prompted Rocco Pascarella, a former New York city policeman disabled by an FALN bomb in 1982, to respond in the same hearings: "Did I understand correctly that some people from the group trying to gain clemency for these individuals met with somebody from Justice or the White House? If that's the case then, I really think that that has to be the most outrageous thing I've ever heard in my life. Because as a victim I was never contacted by anyone."

History repeating itself

Thomas' statement is more than just a call for an independent investigation since an investigation is already underway. Thomas' statement is deliberately misleading by not offering an honest witness of Ojeda Rios' violent past which would give context as to why the FBI might have waited before entering the residence. Just as his predecessor did, Thomas fails to recognize the victims of Ojeda Rios and FALN as well as the FBI agent wounded at the scene.

It's also worth noting that if everything that has been reported is accurate, Ojeda Rios could have left the residence with his wife who was detained without violence. With what we know, the benefit of doubt should rest on the outcome of the independent investigation and not the irrational political delusions of a denomination President with an axe to grind.

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October 5, 2005

Church World Services blows more smoke on Sudan crisis

Proving once again that playing politics is more important than actually being effective, the leader of Church World Service has issued a press release to announce that he'll be fasting for a whole day to draw attention to the crisis in Sudan. The press release also notes that CWS continues "asking people to pressure the Bush administration to work more forcefully within the UN Security Council". As has been noted here and in many news outlets including the Washington Post, the U.S. government was one of the very few to raise the issue about Sudan to the public and to the U.N. The U.S. has brought a number of strong resolutions to the the U.N. on the matter and is one of only a few to call the crisis genocide... but why let the facts get in the way of politicizing a crisis, right?

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October 4, 2005

UCC Office of Communication, Inc. files suit in federal court for stricter

children's programming rules

The UCC Office of Communication, Inc. has filed suit in federal court because children's programming rules do not go far enough. In a related move, Viacom, NBC and ABC have filed suit in federal court to get the new rules thrown out for constitutional reasons. From Broadcasting & Cable (subscription required):

What any of this has to do with the mission of the church is beyond me. The UCC wants a complete ban on interactive advertising on children's programming? Wasn't it our church that screamed about the first amendment when the networks decided not to run religious ad's earlier in the year?

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October 4, 2005

Insurance crisis avoided although concerns about communication remain

From Bill McConnell New Hampshire Interim Conference Minister:

Dear Colleagues, Susan Henderson, Beth Nordbeck, Les Norman, John Eller, Glen Whitehouse, Rhoda Hardy and I have all been working on the serious concern of whether the Conference and our churches would continue to be fully covered by our UCC Insurance Board program after today. Late this afternoon, we heard from Timothy White, President and CEO of the Insurance Board. He affirmed that "coverage will be provided for all lines". He promised that there will be an announcement forthcoming as soon as they can work out the details. This means that we can all "stand down" about what has seemed to many of us like an emergency situation. Our church and Conference programs will continue to be covered. However, as the Insurance Board warned all of the policy holders in early August, next year's rates will be going up in the order of 30%. They believe they will be able to give us those rates sometime next week. All of us who have been working on this situation have strong feelings about the seeming failure of the Insurance Board and its management team to provide information in a timely and transparent fashion. At least one of the e-mails to us has acknowledged our concerns. We expect further information and will let you know. Meantime, may we all continue in the hands of the One who provides our primary insurance. And may your sabbath be blessed. Bill McConnell Interim Conference Minister

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October 2, 2005

Questions about UCC Insurance Board Send Churches and Conferences Scrambling for Coverage

UPDATE 10/3/2005: Coverage extended 30 days, UCC/IB actively seeking new carrier for insurance

A September 28 email from Conference Ministers Bill McConnell and Susan Henderson in New Hampshire to local churches has left local church leaders quickly trying to find insurance providers. From the email:

Our insurance carrier has been the United Church of Christ Insurance Board (UCCIB), just as it has been for 91% of our churches. Our policies with them expire at midnight this Friday, September 30. As of this date, they have been unable to assure us that they will be able to renew our liability coverage (They apparently can renew our property coverage.) So, our first reason for writing is to tell you that your Conference leaders have chosen to get quotes on coverage from agencies here in New Hampshire just in case the UCCIB is not able to provide coverage for Horton Center and the Conference Center. We are doing this in the interest of being good stewards of the responsibilities entrusted to us and to avoid an unacceptable level of risk. Second, we are telling you this because you and your church leaders may want to make contact with your local agencies just in case the UCCIB is not able to provide you with insurance coverage beginning this Saturday, October 1.

With only a couple of days to find alternative insurance carriers, local church leaders are deeply concerned. From a pastor in New Hampshire:

When our Trustee called UCC/IB she spoke with a person who would only read a prepared statement and would not answer questions. We have to assume that as of midnight Friday we have no property or liability coverage because we have heard nothing. Even the Conference is running around trying to get insurance for its property/camps/etc. So, looks like we don't have any either. This being a weekend, we can't do anything until Monday. The biggest frustration was the timing of the notice (near the week end) and the total lack of helpful guidance or info. There is nothing on the UCC website about any of this. Looks like there is no attempt to get helpful information out to the churches and we are all alone again! I would like to know who knew what, and when, because this didn't just happen over night. In speaking with a local insurance man whom I know, he said "let that be a lesson to you for going with a self-insured group. These types of things are inevitable in that system."

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October 1, 2005

United Methodist Church expresses "disdain" for NCC leader's partisan political message

The United Methodist Church, the largest denomination in the National Council of Churches (NCC), sent a "letter of concern" to the NCC expressing concern over the departure of the Antiochian Orthodox Church and to “take immediate steps to understand” why the Orthodox church left the NCC. In the same letter, the United Methodist Church also expressed it's "disdain" over a politically loaded fundraising letter that NCC General Secretary Bob Edgar sent in June. From the Christian Post:

The UMC, with over 8-million members, is the largest church body within the NCC. Last week, during an annual meeting of its commission on Christian unity, the denomination sent a letter of concern to Hoyt, encouraging the Council to “take immediate steps to understand” why the Antiochian church left. "We believe the impact of this loss to the council will become apparent over the coming months and years, and we implore the council leadership to take immediate steps to understand this action and reach out to leadership within the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese," the letter stated. The Methodists’ letter also expressed disdain over the “partisan political tone” of the June letter by Bob Edgar. “We hope that this concern will be addressed in a formal way within the council’s accountability structures,” the Methodists wrote.

Edgar's initial reaction to the criticism he received from the political fundraising letter was to suggest a conspiracy of "those who try to dilute our witness and mislead our friends by suggesting that the National Council of Churches is a partisan, left-leaning organization." According to Thomas Hoyt, President of the National Council of Churches, Edgar now “has acknowledged that the letter was sent from the development office without proper review."

It's not quite an admission that Edgar has further politicized the National Council of Churches, but it's interesting to note the change in reaction from the NCC once it's largest member recognized the problem of Edgar's political activism.

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