UCC General Synod Report

United Church of Christ General Synod 2013

June 28-July 2

Long Beach California

Report of the UCC Representative

Jeannette Brown

 

This was General Synod 49, held every two years by the United Church of Christ.  This year three other Christ Church members joined me, Rev Caroline Dean a youth delegate, Frank Bolden, who was newly installed on the new UCC Board of Directors, Christine Shesler retiring member of the UCC Board and her husband Carl Shesler.  I was happy for the company because it meant that I did not have to be everywhere to cover all the events.  Other eyes could see the events.  I hope that our team will have a debriefing meeting sometime to think about some of the action items that came out of Synod.

Because we are in the digital age, Synod was well documented by reporters so that I will put the links to the web at the end of my comments.  In addition, I have many photos to document the trip.

 

Friday June 28 

              This was the first day of Synod, which began its first session in the afternoon.  The exhibit hall was also open and it contained a bookstore and a gift shop along with displays about all the organizations of the UCC.  Here is the link about that: http://www.ucc.org/news/general-synod-exhibithall-06282013.html

              The opening plenary session started at 3:00 PM with the introduction of the Moderator and her three assistants.  The meeting consisted of administrative information for the delegates and introduction of the use of the electronic voting instrument (clickers).  They took some test votes and found out that part of the hall was dead, so they fixed that for the next time the clickers would be used.

              Next came the sponsored meals.  I attended the dinner of the Open and Affirmative Coalition since Christ Church is an O&A church. They gave information about the number of O& A churches, which constitute only 25% of all the churches.  They want to work to increase this number; therefore, they have started a fundraiser to raise money to hire a person who would work with churches on the sexism and racism programs.  They asked for pledges but since I was not authorized to pledge for Christ Church I will submit the information to the Board of World Fellowship.

"The celebration also recognized the leadership of the Rev. Otis Moss, senior pastor of Trinity UCC in Chicago, for taking a public stand in support of same-sex marriage. Bishop Yvette Flunder, founder and pastor of the City of Refuge in San Francisco, presented the Courage Award to Moss. His remarks to the hundreds gathered at the banquet came via a recorded video message, since Moss had to remain in Chicago for a funeral of a longtime member of his congregation"  http://www.ucc.org/news/gs2013-lgbt-coalition-06282013.html

Finally came the evening worship service.  It was preceded by the introduction of guests of the synod so that worship did not begin until about 8:30 when it was supposed to begin at 7:00 PM.  There was a great sermon by a young African American Minister, Rev. Neichelle Guidry Jones from Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago.  She was very active as she preached in the African American manner, which was good because that late at night, I personally was very tired.  http://www.ucc.org/news/guidry-jones-calls-worshipers.html

 

Saturday June 29

              The day started at 8:30 with a brief worship service.  It was a contemplative worship service with no sermon. 

              Plenary started at 9:00 AM   I gave a "Speak Out" about my book.  Speak Out is when anyone can sign up to speak about anything not on the agenda.  I was trying to get people to purchase my book and mentioned the UCC references in the book.  My photo is posted on the Christ Church Facebook Page.

At the plenary, they celebrated the fact that 47 new and renewed churches in the last two years.  Some churches request to join the UCC in fact the UCC is the most desired group for churches to join than any other mainline church organizations.

W. Mark Clark, associate general minister for the UCC, said that in order to make sure that everyone who wants to be a member of a UCC church, but lives in an area where people are far apart may become a member of a virtual church, which would be established.  The UCC staff will be divided into teams to make this happen.

In addition, in order to make this happen there will be an office of philanthropy to receive donations from individuals as well as churches and associations.  http://www.ucc.org/news/extravagance-ucc-launched-GS2013.html

              The Wilmington Ten Story was introduced by Video.  Rev Ben Chavis who was one of the Wilmington Ten was there at Synod. Dr. Chavis said in every generation we must take the risks in order to do justice.  (Note: the story was told better at the Central Atlantic Conference meeting.) http://www.ucc.org/news/forty-years-after-the-fact.html

Finally, during that morning Maria Hinojosa an Emmy award-winning journalist gave an impassioned speech about the immigrant "problem".  http://www.ucc.org/news/maria-hinojosa-urges-synod.html

              Her talk lasted so long I missed going to the Service Project that I had signed up for, but that was OK because they wanted me to paint and I did not sign up to paint.  I visited the exhibits instead.

              I met the archivist of the Congregational Archives in Boston.  They have a booklet about the methods to be used for church archives.  They also have a person who will help churches or send interns to help so I will pursue that.

              Media and Technology workshop- Since I did not do a Service Project I attended a workshop on Media and Technology in the church.  Since Christ Church is media savvy, I did not need to pay much attention.  The leader said that 83% of the 18-25 year olds in the church want less technology in the church, which was surprising.  The leader said technology should be used to enhance the worship experience and do not overload the service with technology.  http://www.ucc.org/news/general-synod-workshops.html

              The evening dinner was a Luau that was organized by the Pacific Island churches.  It was held outside in the park and there were long lines for food.  Since it was very hot, I sat down in a shady spot and waited until the lines got shorter for my food.  There was entertainment by the Samoan and Hawaiian and other Pacific Island churches. http://www.ucc.org/news/samoan-luau-GS2013.html

              The evening entertainment was Bernice Johnson Reagon and Toshi Reagon her daughter.  It was a good concert.  Afterward they did a book signing and cd signing.  I gave Bernice Johnson Reagon a copy of my book and she was well pleased.  She told me of a place where I should display and sell my books.  She signed one of her books for me.

 

Sunday June 30.

              Sunday was a day of rest. I had signed up for the United Black Christian luncheon but since I was singing in the choir, the choir rehearsal was at the same time so I had to forgo that lunch.  I sang in the Synod Choir (my picture is on the Christ Church Facebook page).  The rehearsal lasted two hours; we sang a piece Fiat Lux by Jeffrey Haeger.  He conducted his piece.  We had been sent the music and the sound track to study before rehearsal.  I found a You Tube performance so I learned the music that way.  The rehearsal was fun.  Worship Service was great and when we sang the piece went so fast that I missed it.  Rehearsal was more fun.

              Since I was tired, I did not do any evening events so I missed meeting the ministers who write the Still Speaking Devotions.

Monday July 1

              This was a workday for the delegates.  Since I was staying at the hotel where the Central Atlantic Conference group was staying I went to the 7 AM meeting.  At this meeting, the Rev Geoffrey Black attended along with his chief of staff and other UCC staff.  He was up for reelection to his post as General Minister.  The meeting lasted one hour followed by breakfast

              The plenary started at 8:30 AM. They started to vote on the resolutions.  The resolutions are listed on the UCC website, but by the time, they come up for a vote; a committee of delegates has worked on them so they may not look like the original resolution.

·       Resolution on Immigration Reform was passed and there was a later march.  We were asked to meet with our congressional delegations to speak about our views of immigration reform. http://www.ucc.org/news/GS2013-immigration-reform-march.html

·       The Doctrine of Discovery Resolution was passed. Many people have been patiently waiting for their time, especially Native Americans who have been displaced from their homelands because of the Doctrine of Discovery," he said. The Doctrine of Discovery, a well-established idea among Christian nations for many centuries that is still being used today, claims that any land not belonging to Christians can be taken into possession by the one who discovers it.   http://www.ucc.org/news/GS2013-Doctrine-of-discovery-repudiated.html

·       The resolution about Veterans passed. http://uccfiles.com/pdf/gs29-10-VeteranCompassion.pdf

·       The resolution about a relationship with the United Church of Canada passed

·       The resolution about revision of conference borders passed.

http://www.ucc.org/news/GS2013-UC-Canada-veterans-conference-borders.html

 

Lunch was a Sponsored meal for The Wider Church Ministries.  Some of the missionaries were at this lunch and spoke about their work.

 

The afternoon plenary was more work for the delegates.

·       The Resolution about Divestment from Fossil Fuel Companies passed after some discussion and revisions.  The Pension Board and the other boards will decided which companies would be on the list for divestment as some companies are working towards working on green energy. They will bring their decision to the next Synod.   http://www.ucc.org/news/GS2013-fossil-fuel-divestment-vote.html

·       The National Officers and the new members of the board were reelected. 
http://www.ucc.org/news/GS2013ucc-national-officers-reelected.html

·       The resolution about women passed with Rev Loey Powel head of a new women's group. http://www.ucc.org/news/synod-votes-to-resist-actions.html

·       The resolution to make churches more carbon neutral passed. http://uccfiles.com/pdf/gs29-2-CarbonFootprints.pdf

 

The Christ Church team met for dinner. (See photo on the Christ Church Facebook Page.)

 

The evening Plenary

 

·       The resolution about funding for Seminary Students evoked a big discussion so that it was to be continued the next day.

·       The 100th Anniversary of the Pension Board was celebrated. http://www.ucc.org/news/GS2013-pension-boards-celebrates.html

A hip-hop minister led worship that evening. http://www.ucc.org/news/worship-in-a-season-of-new.html

 

July 2 Tuesday

·       The resolution about funding for Seminary Students passed but not over whelming so the minority voters were asked to present the minority view which was added to the resolution. http://www.ucc.org/news/GS2013-seminary-aid-resolution.html

The next group of resolutions passes almost without comment, probably because the delegates were tired.

·       Resolution on Outdoor Ministries passed.

·       Resolution on gun violence  http://www.ucc.org/news/synod-affirms-OMA-fellowship-gun-letter.html

·       The affirmed the relationship with the Samoan Community (Caroline Dean was on that committee). http://www.ucc.org/news/ucc-recognizes-united-samoan.html

·       Resolution on tax fairness passed. http://www.ucc.org/news/general-synod-resolution.html

·       Resolution about Honduras passed http://www.ucc.org/news/general-synod-delegates.html

·       Resolution against bullying passed http://www.ucc.org/news/synod-bullying-decried.html

·       Resolution about affordable housing passed without discussion http://www.ucc.org/news/affordable-housing-is-an-act.html

·       Resolution about mountaintop removal passed. http://www.ucc.org/news/synod-mountaintop-removal-mining-vote.html

 

Lunch Sponsored lunch was sponsored by Our Church's Wider Mission, which our Board of World Fellowship supports.  Christ Church Summit and the Congregational Church of Montclair donated the most money for their size in New Jersey and they were highlighted in the booklet.

 

Other actions.

              General Synod adopts statement on Supreme Court voting rights ruling http://www.ucc.org/news/general-synod-adopts.html

              United Church of Christ Board introduced to General Synod Frank Bolden is a member of this Board. http://www.ucc.org/news/united-church-board.html

Theological reflections bring further meaning to Synod actions and activities this was done by Rev. Rita Nakashima Brock and the Rev. Quinn Caldwell as tag team.  It reminded the delegates why they were there. http://www.ucc.org/news/theological-reflections-bring.html

The scarf project wanted 3 thousand scarves and got 10 thousand.  They were giving them away to anyone who promised to fulfill the pledge against bullying. I brought back 13 to be worn by the choir in the Let Justice Role concert.  (humm I will have to make more!)  http://www.ucc.org/news/gs2013-scarf-project-06282013.html

 

Synod ended with a worship Service in the evening.

 

Comments

As a synod junkie, I have some comments both pro and con about this synod.

·       I noticed that many young people were involved in synod as delegates, volunteers and attendees.  They had a whole synod program for young people, which started a day before our meeting, and those kids did a lot.  Caroline Dean was impressed and thought we should bring our kids to the next Synod.

·       I also noticed a lack of interactive music.  At other synods, a musician who made us stand up and sing or sway to the hymns or folk music broke up the meetings.  The plenary tended to go straight through with the business without a break or only a short break.

·       The housing was not listed only to go to the chamber of commerce list.  As a result, I booked the wrong hotel, as I did not know that there were two Residence Inn's in Long Beach and I booked the wrong one.  I found that out at the last minute but lost my roommate and the Synod hotel rate. (The national staff person in charge of this was new to the job.)

·       The shuttle buses were great which was the reason I had to change hotels to be on the shuttle route.

·       They had great volunteers and a lot of them.  The Conference asked for volunteers from every church in the conference!

·       They did not bring out the traditional cookies until Sunday Afternoon.  By then most of them tasted stale. http://www.ucc.org/news/synod-cookies-06302013.html

 

 

Submitted by

Jeannette Brown

July 13, 2013

Central Atlantic Conference Annual Meeting Newark Delaware 2 Conversation with Geoffrey Black UCC General Minister

Rev Black had a conversation with the members of the audience in which he answered questions about the UCC.  When asked about the mandate to have a "Conversation about Race", he said this should not be a one time thing.  Churches should have an ongoing relationship with another church in the area in which the congregation is totally different from your church in regard to race, social status and sexually orientation.  For example he mentioned a UCC Church in Chapel Hill NC who formed a partnership with an African American Church.  They now share a choir that sings at the UCC church in the morning and then the African American church in the afternoon.  (When I spoke with the Rev about this, he said this is something we could consider.)

There was a question about Rev Jeremiah Wright situation during the Obama election.  He said that he respected Dr. Wright as a colleague and the whole situation was simply political brought up by people who were against the Obama election and people should not put much stock in what was said then.

Rev Black then went on to explain the UCC much of which can be found on the UCC website .
The main goal is plant new churches.  He said the church is changing.  There are now Internet churches where people don't leave their homes to go to church.  When he was the conference minister in New York he said there was a new church start in a bar!  He said the UCC is you, the people.

The core values are:
          God is Still Speaking
          We believe in an extravagant welcome - everyone is welcome in our church
           We beleive in changing lives
            The reason for being is to serve God.

Then he itemized the UCC Goals over the next thirty years.
            To be involved in deep theological engagement to know our faith and that of others.
            To be a bold public voice for legislation and in the media,
                   just as the catholic church and conservative churches.
             To have excellence in leadership which includes the clergy and laity.
             To be passionate about the environment we want to take care of our earth
              We value cultural diversity which is our mantra.  this means age, and the demographics.
                    of the community.

For more about the UCC please visit the UCC website.

Jeannette Brown
UCC Representative

Central Atlantic Conference Annual Meeting Newark Delaware

The Central Atlantic Conference of the UCC Annual Meeting was held last weekend, June 10-12 at the conference center of the University of Delaware in Newark DE.  This is about a 2.5 hour drive from my house which I usually do alone.  This year I decided that it would be pushing my old Volvo to make the drive so I asked for a ride with Rev Chuck Rush was was going anyway because he is a member of the Board of Directors.  We left early and should have arrived on time but we ran into traffic in Princeton New Jersey because of detours.  There had been a storm the night before and maybe some trees were down.
Housing for this meeting is either in the dorm or in the Courtyard by Marriott.  I opted to stay in the hotel and this year I had a roommate.  She was the interim minister of Sojourners UCC Church in Charlottesville Va.  We decided to room together again next year.  The first night Friday we were so tired that we did not talk but we did the last day.  We both sang in the choir. Sojourners is a relatively new church that I visited when we had an Antiracism task force meeting there.  They were meeting in rented space.  They now have a building that they were able to purchase.

Since I got to the meeting early I relaxed over lunch before the formal meeting started at 4:00 PM. It was a group meeting entitled "How we woke up! Good News from the churches - What have we done to Energize our congregations"  This was the theme of the meeting.  Churches were invited to tell their stories.  LL DuBreuil who is minister of a church in Union NJ told us the story of how her church which was formed by the union of a German E & R church and a UCC Church became multicultural and multiracial.  There are a lot of African immigrants who attend her church and have taken over the meetings.  I told the story of "Let Justice Roll" that I wrote up for the UCC Synod.  Rusty Hick's ( a fromer Christ Church minister) church in Homedale  NJ had a interier face lift because a painters union picked their church to paint for free.  Every year they pick a church to help.  One of the members redesigned the church ceiling and they only had to pay for the painting of the design.  Mark Wakefield's (another former Christ Church minister)  church in Middletown MD burned last year.  They were able to get it renovated and put back to normal in one year with the exception of the organ which will be ready in October.
The next meeting for me was choir rehearsal followed by dinner.
The first Plenary Session was the beginning of the business of the session, including the introduction of Rev Geoffry Black, General Minister of the UCC.  We also have seven visitors from Germany including the new Bishop of the Lutheran Church. There was a worship service in which Rev Geoffry Black preached.  The evening ended with a traditional ice cream social.
Saturday consisted of workshops and Plenary  session followed by worship service and banquet.  Many of the attendees come just for Saturday since most of the business is done then and they have to go home to run the service in their churches. It would not be a meeting without a controversy since the business was only the budget and the ministers compensation, I wonders where the controversy would be.  It turned out that they amended the budget to include more money for Lancaster Theological College. The money was added due to an amendment of the budget after a lot of disscussion.
Sunday consisted of workshops and a final worship service which included communion.
I will include details about some of the sessions in my next blog.