The one million member United Church of Christ may be best known by its incredibly successful multi-year "God is still speaking" campaign. Perhaps you have heard the message: No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here. We believe in extravagant welcome. (For more information read The Language of God and Uniquely UCC then watch some of the original television commercials.) The United Church of Christ originated as the result of mergers that Read More …
United Church of Christ
Do you Attend a Living Church or a Dying Church? (#0312)
Sam Trumbore is a Unitarian Universalist (UUA) pastor who currently serves as minister of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany (New York). Previously, he was Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Charlotte County, Florida. Recently he wrote a piece contrasting the experiences of living churches with those of dying churches. This article was originally published in the newsletter of a Charlotte county church: Pilgrim United Church of Christ. More recently it Read More …
A Shift in Theological Education (#0292)
In the last two weeks two United Church of Christ (UCC) related seminaries have announced plans to launch or expand hybrid or online educational offerings. Andover Newton Theological Seminary will partner with The Alban Institute to offer "courses in church leadership and vitality . . . using Andover Newton’s online learning system and Alban’s authors as instructors." These four week offerings are designed primarily as continuing education for clergy. Eden Theological Seminary will Read More …
Review of New Feminist Christianity (#0229)
Mary E. Hunt and Diann L. Neu, eds. New Feminist Christianity: Many Voices, Many Views. Skylight Paths, 2010. ISBN: 9781594732850. Meet the Editors and Authors Mary E. Hunt (pictured on the left) and Diann L. Neu (pictured on the right) are co-founders and currently serve as co-directors of WATER (Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual), which is an an international community of justice-seeking people who promote the use of feminist values to make religious and Read More …
Review of Saving Jesus from the Church (#0202)
Robin R. Meyers. Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus. HarperOne: 2009. ISBN: 9780061568213. Meet the Author Since 1985, Robin R. Meyers has served as the Senior Minister of the 750 member Mayflower Congregational Church in Oklahoma City, which has been recognized as the fastest growing United Church of Christ congregation in the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference. In addition, he serves as a tenured professor of rhetoric Read More …
Catholics to Recognize Protestant Baptisms (#0189)
After working for the last six years on a means to provide mutual recognition of baptism with several Reformed Protestant denominations, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops voted in favor of the measure at their annual Fall General Assembly. While similar agreements have been reached in other countries, this is the first of its kind in the United States. According to Religion News Service, Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta, chairman of the ecumenical and Read More …
Reign of Christ / Christ the King (#0186)
From Christ the King to Reign of Christ to . . . This Sunday is the final Sunday of the liturgical year: Christ the King. Carey Gardner Mack provides a brief history of this new addition to the church year: Christ the King Sunday is a relatively new development. It does not bear the history of many long-held church traditions such as All Saints or Christmas or Easter and does not possess the deep and traditional biblical backing of these celebrations. Pope Pius XI brought Christ the Read More …
A Still Speaking and Still Doing God (#0129)
Offertory Sentences The God of creation and new beginnings The God of prophets and promises And the God of you and of me Is a still speaking God and a still doing God A God who welcomes us to participate in God’s ongoing work with our giving Prayer of Dedication Holy One, we acknowledge your power and welcome your influence in our lives and in the world. Enable within each of us a heightened spiritual awareness – an ability to see the expansive tapestry of your love. Accept now our Read More …
A UCC Response to Anne Rice (#0126)
Anne Rice, the best-selling American author whose books have sold more than 100 million copies, announced on Wednesday that she has quit being a Christian. According to the AP, Rice was "raised as a Catholic, she had rejected the church early in her life but renewed her faith in recent years and in 2008 released the memoir Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession." Other sources suggest that her progressive views have been at odds with the Roman Catholic Read More …
The Future of the UCC (#0123)
Over the last few years, the assumption that denominations will continue "as is" for many years to come has been dying. Increasingly, mainline pastors and even denominational leaders have been advocating for a variety of possibilities for reform that will help give shape to a new type of national organization that will be for their respective tradition what denomination served as in modernity. A week ago, Stephen Sterner wrote an article about what he sees as likely for the future of the Read More …