Sermon Text: James 3:13-18 (The Message) Sermon Excerpt Last Sunday I shared that our denomination – the United Church of Christ – was in the middle of something called General Synod. Held every two years this national gathering affords an opportunity for many in our tradition to come together in one place for several days of worship, learning, and decision making. At this General Synod – our thirtieth, held in Cleveland – delegates voted on more than a dozen resolutions. By Read More …
General Synod
The UCC, General Synod, and the Trinity (#0422)
Earlier this month, Terry Mattingly wrote a misguided and poorly researched article, "Got News? Adios to God the Father?" suggesting that the United Church of Christ was about to move away from being a fully Trinitarian denomination. This kind of journalism is not what one would expect from Mattingly who writes the nationally syndicated "On Religion" column for the Scripps Howard News Service in Washington, D.C., and is director of the Washington Journalism Read More …
The Unique Vocation of the United Church of Christ (#0414)
The United Church of Christ is currently in the midst of General Synod 28 (July 1-5) in Tampa, FL. Yesterday afternoon, I joined other members of local churches from across Florida as guests at a special community wide afternoon worship service. The Rev. Dr. Laurinda Hafner, Senior Pastor of Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ, preached a prophetic sermon marked by hope, which included these words: A year ago Bishop John Shelby Spong, the former Episcopal Bishop Read More …
The Abbreviated Sermon on the Mount (#0394)
Drew Willard, pastor of the United Church of Christ of the Villages, FL, will be leading a session on Biblical storytelling, entitled "The Three Point Sermon on the Mount," on July 3 at the United Church of Christ's General Synod. Recently he shared what he calls "the Cliff Notes of the Sermon on the Mount" with some of the folks in the Florida Conference: You have heard that it was said, "One Way," but I say to you, "God is still speaking..." Don't pray, donate or serve Read More …