Synod Day 5 Tuesday

Well this was the day! I decided I needed to sleep and then have my last swim in the pool followed by breakfast so I arrived at the Plenary session late, 9:30 AM, they start promptly at 8:30 AM! I arrived just in time to find out from my new friend that they were finishing the voting on Single Governance which was the most controversial business of the synod. They gave one committee all six or more resolutions which dealt with the topic of single governance. This committee looked at them all and came up with a new resolution which was a compromise. Here is the report that is on the UCC website:

Synod votes for a unified governance structure

Written by W. Evan Golder
June 30, 2009

Tuesday morning’s first order of Synod business was consideration of a unified governance structure for the national structure – and the motion was adopted. The effort required 49 minutes, with 29 speakers engaging in debate.

Currently, five different boards guide UCC policy and decision-making in the national setting. With this motion, General Synod affirmed the principle of a single, unified governance board.

GS27 asked the Executive Council and the Covenanted Ministry Boards to bring to General Synod 28 a proposal for a single governance board, along with necessary constitution and bylaw changes. That Synod is planned for Tampa, Fla., in 2011.

Conspicuous by its absence was any floor discussion of the issue that had attracted the most opposition prior to Synod: the concern of the racial and ethnic constituency groups about losing their hard-earned representation on the current governing boards.

After the vote, protesters gathered at microphones to request reconsideration of the vote so they could introduce a minority resolution. The moderator ruled the request out of order.

Now I was at the meeting and from what I heard, people were at the mike to present the minority opinion but the question was called before they could speak. Calling the question ends debate according to Roberts Rules and the delegates voted to end debate.

Well that's went the ruckus started and they wanted to reconsider the vote etc but according to Roberts Rules it was out of order. People are allowed to react to this at the center mike according to the standing rules of the synod and react they did. Minorities in the UCC, African Americans and Asian and Pacific Islanders felt that they were not a part of the original meetings about the new governance structure and wanted a pause so that all voices could be heard. I have a copy of the resolution that was passed and I will scan it or try to find it on the UCC web so that you can read it. One of most important things in this resolution that was passed is that the Sacred Conversations about Race should continue. I will write a separate blog about that in the future because of course, I have some opinions.

In fact there was another resolution about "Sacred Conversations about

Race" that was introduced and passed. It called for resources from UCC to facilitate these conversations:

Synod says Sacred Conversations on Race to continue

Written by J. Martin Bailey

June 30, 2009

The 27th General Synod requested the Justice and Witness Ministries covenanted ministry to take the lead in continuing the program of Sacred Conversations on Race.

The delegates called on conferences, associations and congregations to "establish, promote and encourage" the conversations.

The resolution, which passed without objection, had been proposed originally by the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference.

They went on to other business before lunch. At lunch time I decided to find the Bank of America ATM to save money and found a newly opened restaurant that served Mediterranean fast food. Greek and Israeli. I had lemon chicken soup and a Greek salad which was good.

After lunch the delegates concluded business. There are a lot of resolutions that they considered but I will highlight one here. The rest can be found on the UCC website. Here it is:

General Synod encourages diversity education in public school

Written by J. Martin Bailey
June 30, 2009

The experience of two UCC congregations in California prompted the denomination's General Synod to urge churches in assisting public school efforts to protect children and help them understand people of other races and sexual orientation.

The congregations in Hayward and Alameda have longed worked with their local schools and their pastors accepted invitations to participate in school programs designed to end bullying and harassment. Delegates learned that frequent taunts of "You're so gay!" has led to violence and to two suicides.

Those schools and several others in California have been targeted by "traditional values" groups following programs designed to create safe schools as required by state law. An organized campaign of intimidation has been directed at schools that have sought to protect children of gay and lesbian parents and children whose parents are immigrants or from a different country of origin.

The General Synod action, approved by an overwhelming majority after extensive debate, encourages public schools to develop programs that help to keep all children safe, and for churches to assist in appropriate ways. The resolution includes recommendations to local churches, Conferences and to national ministries.

The educational programs are to embrace students of all races, ethnic origins, genders, faiths, abilities, sexual orientations, gender identities, socio-economic classes, countries of origin, and their families.

During the debate Synod delegates listened to appeals that the California churches not expect nationwide support for programs designed to protect children of gay or lesbian parents, or that sexual orientation and gender identities be separated from racial and ethnic diversity. Attempts to modify the resolution failed.

The two UCC pastors have resisted the pressures that included personal threats and legal actions. Both Eden UCC in Hayward, Calif., and First Congregational UCC of Alameda, Calif., have supported their pastors, the Rev. Arlene Nehring and the Rev. Laura Rose. Their efforts have also been supported by their Conference Minister, the Rev. Mary Susan Gast.

It is my opinion that this resolution mixes apples and oranges. I agree that schools should have education programs about sexual orientation, but I also think they need to have programs that cover the racial diversity of the students so that they can understand the differences and similarities between races. That has not happened yet in some schools.

The evening ended with a worship service which ended Synod.

The next Synod will be in 2011 in Tampa Bay Florida. This was a switch from Hawaii due to the economy.

Jeannette