Part One of Our UCC Church Structure

Dear Friends,

Some have asked me to do an adult confirmation course, which we may do someday, but until then, in this wintery January month, maybe it’s a good time for me to explain a bit about the United Church of Christ as a denomination. This article will be about the national church, then next month how the church works in a more grassroots way. We are mostly national but have international missions. We do our mission work jointly with our “sister denomination”, The Disciples of Christ, or Christian church. (Not all churches with that name are of that denomination, such as the one in Lincoln.) We also have a covenant with the United Church of Canada and some other United Churches across the globe. We also have a baptismal covenant with the Presbyterian Church, USA, the Reformed Church of America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. We and the other three denominations recognize each other as similar enough that our ordained ministers can exchange pulpits, we recognize each other’s baptisms and can intermingle with relative ease.

The UCC has 4,882 churches, 824,866 members, average worship attendance is 67 and the average church size is 171, according to the 2019 statistical report. We are a relatively small denomination compared to others, but we are mighty! The UCC Center is in Cleveland, Ohio and Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer is our General Minister, who was just reelected last June for a second term. The national office has 28 other staff members as well. Our national church meets every two years at “General Synod”. Delegates are elected by each Conference to be the official “voters” but guests are invited and encouraged. Decisions made at General Synod speak “to the churches, not for the churches”. The next one is July 16-20, 2021 in Kansas City. I am an elected delegate so when the time comes, I will be filling you in on the resolutions, etc. Pretty much anything you want to know about the national church can be found on ucc.org. Nationally, we are known as a progressive or liberal church, but again, individual congregations are who they want to be. I’ve served both extremes (liberal and conservative) but by in large, our congregations celebrate diversity and freedom of thought.

Since we are a “congregationally based church”, the National Staff and church have no “authority” over individual congregations. We have what we value in the UCC as a “covenantal relationship” between all levels of the church. The national church has a constitution and a statement of faith (that we use on Communion Sundays), but it does not speak to how individual congregations order their ministries, etc. Some believe UCC stands for “Utterly Confused Christians” or “Unitarians Considering Christ”. Because of the freedom we value, there is not a lot of structure or dogma. We highly value these four themes in the UCC: Covenant, Freedom, Unity and Service. The motto is “That All Be Made One”. Our national church has recently adopted “The Three Loves: Love of Creation, Love of Neighbor, Love of Children”. The three loves are promoted throughout all the levels of the church to differing degrees.

This is just a sweeping overview of our national presence in the world. Next month I will write more about Illinois and how it operates on a Conference and Association level. I love our United Church of Christ with all my heart, even with its imperfections. I hope you either love it with me or will learn to love it, also.

Peace!
Pastor Laurie