UCC General Synod July 5 Continued

I took notes at the meeting while I knitted on my prayer shawl which I finished at the meeting.  As I look at the UCC web much of the information  that I obtained at the meeting has been reported on the web.  But I still think there is nothing like being at the meeting and hearing the information first hand.  I hope that I can encourage someone from Christ Church to attend the meeting with me next time in 2013.  It will be held in Long Beach California.  I hope our youth and our youth minister will attend the youth events at the meeting.  They seemed to be having fun.  The participated in youth events and work projects in the community.  They rocked the Howard Johnson Hotel which was dedicated to the youth.

Ok More resolutions:

• Putting Our Money Where Our Values Are: Evaluating Church Financial Relationships  
•  Voted YES
• This resolution was brought by the Central Atlantic Conference, grew out of a single church member asking his pastor if the church had explored the practices of the bank it was using, based on the church’s faith values.  I remember voting on this resolution at the Central Atlantic Conference meeting in 2010. ( I remember saying that my financial advisor had advised me to get out of the bank and use my credit union, which I now do).
• An African American minister spoke about the situation in his church and other churches in the African American community.  The bank they were using was not making loans in that community.  They formed a  banking collective and moved the money of several churches to it so that they were able to give back to the community.
• Christ Church.  This resolution requests that members  examine faithfully the business, lending and investing practices of the financial institutions they do business with.
• The Right of LBGT Parents to Adopt and Raise Children   VOTED YES
• This resolution got to me when they spoke about the number of children in the foster care system that age out of the system before they are adopted and are considered "adults" but have no family!
• Some state do not allow LBGT parents to adopt children, fortunately New Jersey is not one of them.  This resolution is in support of the LBGT who would like to adopt and maybe to call on state legislatures to permit this.
• This gives children in the foster care system a family that can care for them and love them.
• Note: as I left the meeting to take a shuttle bus to my hotel I saw what looked to me to be a lesbian couple and their three small children.  The women were white and their three children were African American and Hispanic ages 2, 3 and maybe 4. I did not speak to them, just smiled as one of the kids wanted to run after the jacket she kept throwing into the street.
• Christ Church  We should continue to support the adoptive families within our midst and celebrate the members of our congregation who make this possible, legally and as social worker and supporter.

•  Affirming Health Care Coverage For Clergy Families   Voted Yes
• In some small churches they drop benefits for the clergy when the budget is tight.
• On woman minister spoke of having an ill child and having her health care coverage dropped and having to scramble to find health care coverage.

• Supporting International Human Rights Related to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
• Voted Yes
•  This resolution seeks to raise awareness of international instances of systematic  discrimination, violence and abuse targeting persons based on their sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI), and of contexts where such abuse is not prohibited by law but rather legally,  politically, socially, and even religiously sanctioned. The resolution would commit the UCC to advocate for the fair and equal application of universal human rights principles and laws toward the protection of all persons from sexual or gender status-based abuse, discrimination or criminal prosecution.
• Three international gay people came to thank synod for passing the resolution.

• Common Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Baptism  Vote Yes
• The problem that the delegates found with this was that it advocated saying the trinity during baptism.  Some of our churches don't believe the the trinity.
• One minister said she had to conform to the baptism service advocated by her church.
• The delegates were told that this could not be changed since it was an ecumenical agreement and that UCC was the last denomination to ratify this agreement.
• It is my opinion that this agreement would not be binding on any church because UCC churches are always free to do what they want. I have not talked to the Rev about this.
• In Support of Effective and Constructive Peacemaking Between Palestinians and Israelis Through Positive Investment in Palestine  Tabled.
• This was tabled because there were other agreements that may be in conflict with this one.

These were the resolutions that were passed in the morning.  I screwed up and scheduled to leave Synod on the last day not knowing that it really ended after the 7:30 PM worship that night.  So I missed the afternoon session and last worship.  I ordered the DVD of the last worship so I will view it when it comes.  You may look at the web for the resolutions that were discussed in the afternoon.

Jeannette Brown

UCC 28th General Synod July 5th

On the last day of General Synod the delegates voted on the resolutions.  At every General Synod there are a number of resolutions that are proposed by various of segments of the UCC.  They can be proposed by the Covenanted ministries such as Justice and Witness to mention one, or be started by a local church.  If they are started by a local church they have to go to the Association for a vote.  If they pass the vote of the association it then goes to the Conference annual meeting for a vote.  If the resolution passes these hurtles it then goes to General Synod.  This year the Central Atlantic conference of which Christ Church is a member, had no  resolutions to approve, but there was one in 2010 which was sent to General Synod. 

The process when the resolutions come to synod is that a committee looks at all the resolution submitted, and puts them into categories and then assigns them to a group. Sometimes if the subject is similar, they are combined. The delegates are assigned to a committee to work on resolution.  The Conference Minister gets the list of resolutions and caucuses with the delegates about what position he/she thinks should be taken, but the delegates are free to vote their own mind!  This is the UCC where every voice can be heard!  The delegates go to their assigned committees and speak about the subject.  This  year something new was tried, in that there were experts who gave a talk about the background information for the resolutions.  That happened on Friday July 1, the first day of synod.  After the committees have met and come to a decision, there are hearings in which everyone, including visitors can speak about the topic.  Visitors can observe the committee meeting but not speak.  So this is a short version of the resolution process.  When a resolution is passed it becomes the voice of the whole church and in most cases it goes back to the local church to implement.  The UCC groups can provide resources for the implementation or not.  There is a chart of how business is conducted on the web.  

I will only mention the resolutions that were discussed at this meeting by title and whether they passed or failed and the possible action item for Christ Church.  For those who would like to read the full copy of the resolution I refer you to the web. www.ucc.org/synod

·       Proposed Changes to the Bylaws Pertaining to the Frequency of General Synod (pdf)  Voted NO

Note: Synod is  currently every two years and the resolution would be a bylaw change to make it every three or four years. 

·       A Call for a Reflection and Advocacy on Behalf of the Democratic Republic of Congo  Voted YES

          This resolution seeks to raise awareness of and engage settings of the church in advocacy 11 regarding the violent conflicts and human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of the 12 Congo, related especially to the exploitative mining of resources for export and industrial 13 applica
 The mineral needed for our cell phones is mined in the Congo..

o   Congo Week in October – A week that Christ Church will pray for the people in the Congo and members are requested not use their cell phones for a day in support of the Congo works.  Put that on your voice mail!

·       In Support of the Release of Puerto Rican Political Prisoners  Voted YES

·       A Covenant for Church Youth Ministries YES

o   There was a lot of discussion about this.  In some churches the youth ministry was done by volunteers and some by paid staff.

o   This resolution gave guidelines for the support of the youth minister.

o   It also called on churches to celebrate the achievements of the youth.  As one person said “”We don’t need to entertain them, we need to engage them” 

o   Christ Church  We already affirm our youth minister and her parent volunteers. We need to look at the guidelines to see what more we can do.

More later
Jeannette Brown

UCC General Synod 28 Tampa Florida Day 1

July 1 was the first day of the UCC General Synod in Tampa Florida.  I left for Tampa on June 30 on Amtrak train #91 The Silver Star.  It was a great train ride.  As usual I met a lot of interesting people on the train.\

The train arrived in Tampa about one hour late which is not bad for Amtrak.  I checked into my hotel the Hyatt and then took the shuttle bus to the convention Center where the meeting was to be held and received my registration materials.  Then I went into the exhibit hall. 


The UCC has a huge exhibit where they showcase all the resources of the UCC.  All  the programs of the UCC are showcased and this year there were discussion groups in the exhibit hall, ,so there was a lot of things for a visitor to do.  Just exploring the exhibits takes time.

Also some of the non UCC exhibitors such at SERVE and other exhibitor sell things.  You can buy robes and stoles for the clergy and choir and jewelery, coffee etc. The UCC sells books and tee shirts etc.  I bought a book of daily prayers.


At 3:30 PM the first plenary session began with the business of the synod.  This was just the routine business like establishment of a quorum, introduction of the Moderators and the parliamentarians.  There are two parliamentarians, one for the moderators and one for the delegates.  They need them because sometimes fights over the method of running the meeting break out.  There are three moderators one primary moderator and two assistants.  This year one of the assistant moderators comes from Hawaii.  They like to have a diverse group of moderators, just as they like to have diversity in everything else that is done at Synod.  The delegates have to diverse by race, gender and age and there is a quota for 20-30's because they want to emphasize the youth.  The Central Atlantic Conference did not make that quota in their delegates.
During the middle of the business they decided to break the meeting and introduce the new church starts.  In the last two years there were 78 new church starts which is more than had ever happened since the formation of the UCC.  So a representative from each church marched in with a sign saying the UCC Rocks and danced onto the stage.  Unfortunately someone was injured during this, maybe the person fell off the stage so they paused while the paramedics attended to the person.

The two candidates for positions in the UCC Collegium gave their nomination speeches. One was  Rev. Ben Guest who is the nominee for the Executive Minister and would be the first openly Gay member of the group.  The other was Rev James Post candidate for the head of Wider Church Ministries.
They did not finish the business at the first session so they continued before worship service that night.  They must break at 5 PM for sponsored dinners and other dinners.


I had a ticket for Justice and Witness Award Dinner, which I forgot about, almost.  I am not used to jumping off the train and going right to a meeting, so I went back to my hotel and then I discovered the ticket.  So I went right back and was able to eat at the end of the dinner.  Wow!  I am sorry that I missed the meeting part of the dinner since Justice and Witness is the group that I care about most in the UCC as you can tell why. 

The evening session started with the unfinished business followed by worship service.


The worship service was unique because instead of using candles for each person to hold the minister told us to take our our cell phone and wave them in the air.  I used my i-pod.  It was pretty because it was like fireflies and was within the fire code.  The service included three testimonies by three young clergy, one African American woman told us how she grew her church from 5 people to three hundred people.  Another woman gave a testimony and there was a young man who was a minister but her looked like a high school student.

It was a long day.  So long I forgot to go to the wine and cheese celebration to meet the people who write the daily Still Speaking Devotions.  I was too tired and I thought the event was another night.

If you want to watch Synod it is streaming on line.http://www.ucc.org/synod/live.html
The archives will also be posted.
I will post pictures later.
Jeannette Brown