wfn.org | United Church of Christ General Synod Elects New President and Four Top

[George Conklin <gconklin@wfn.org>]

Officers

United Church of Christ
Office of Communication

In Providence, July 1-6, 1999:
UCC Press Room (401) 458-6701
Providence Convention Center
Show Suites A/B
http://www.ucc.org
(216) 736-2217                  
For immediate release
July 5, 1999

General Synod delegates elect Collegium of Officers
to lead United Church of Christ into the new millennium

By: Irwin Smallwood and W. Evan Golder

        PROVIDENCE, R.I.  A vision of restructure first dreamed of more than a
decade ago took a giant step toward reality Monday when the 22nd General Synod
of the United Church of Christ elected the leaders who will be responsible for
guiding  the church into the next century.
        The Rev. John H. Thomas, 48, who has been ecumenical officer of the UCC
for the last seven years, was named General Minister and President, and four
others with equally impressive records of distinguished service to the
denomination were elected with him to a collegium that will be responsible for
giving life to a reconstructed national setting for the UCC. They are:

        Edith A. Guffey, 45, currently secretary of the UCC, who will be
Associate General Minister.

        The Rev. Jose A. “Joe” Malayang, 60, presently an executive with the
United Church Board for Homeland Ministries, who will be Executive Minister of
Local Church Ministries.

        Dale L. Bishop, 52, a missions secretary with the United Church Board
for World Ministries, who will be Executive Minister of Wider Church
Ministries.

        Bernice Powell Jackson, 50, head of the UCC’s Commission for Racial
Justice, who will be Executive Minister of Justice and Witness Ministries.
        Their election, which came at mid-afternoon, followed approval late
Sunday night of Bylaw amendments needed to cover the restructuring process.
With these two actions, the General Synod completed its work on a project that
has weathered some stormy moments as it made its way through a dozen years of
study, debate and often agonizing deliberation.
        However, the church’s Executive Council, which serves as the UCC’s main
deliberative body between Synods, still has some details to attend to, and a
number of other present entities, including both the Board for Homeland
Ministries and Board for World Ministries, must sign off on the project in
order to cover certain legal responsibilities before restructure becomes
official.
        The Rev. Robert Witham, chair of the restructure transition team, was
obviously relieved
after the vote was announced. “I am grateful for the work everybody has done
and that Synod has made its decisions to continue down the road [to
restructure],” he said.
        Target date for completing the process is July 1, 2000, and the
five new
officers will officially take office at that time, although they will begin
work this coming Oct. 1. Although officers in the new structure eventually will
all be eligible to serve three fouryear terms, the officers elected Monday have
staggered terms so that all will not need to be reelected at the same time. 
        Thomas and Malayang both were elected for two years and will be
eligible
to serve two fouryear terms thereafter. 
        Jackson was elected for six years and may be elected to another term of
four years. 
        Guffey and Bishop were elected for fouryear terms and will be eligible
to serve two more fouryear terms.
        In the new executive arrangement, the five will work together in a
Collegium of Officers, meeting as peers. This setting is designed to provide an
opportunity for mutual responsibility and reporting, as well as ongoing
assessment of UCC programs.
        Following the election, Thomas said, “I look forward to joining my
colleagues in a new style of leadership in the UCC as we seek to carry forward
the historic commitments of our church into the 21st century.”
        The United Church of Christ, with national offices in Cleveland, has
some 1.4 million members and more than 6,000 local congregations in the United
States and Puerto Rico.  It was formed by the 1957 union of the Congregational
Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church.