wfn.org | UCC boasts 74 new church starts

[powellb@ucc.org]

United Church of Christ
General Synod Newsroom
Saturday, July 12, 2003
newsroom@ucc.org
http://www.ucc.org

By Claudette J. Spence

MINNEAPOLIS?First, the big band music caught the attention of the audience.
Then came a parade of colorful paper stars, held high above their heads by
new church members. But what engaged the heart was the jubilant procession
of diverse persons who were being welcomed into membership in the UCC.
Strutting to the marching band theme song from the movie "Drum Line," these
members, representing 74 new UCC congregations, showcased their enthusiasm
at being a part of a denomination that welcomes and affirms them as
Christians.

The Rev. David Schoen, Minister and Team Leader for Evangelism, spoke for
the General Synod in embracing the new churches. "These congregations
boldly witness to a new Pentecost in our church and world today," he said.
Schoen, who says he was born on his way to a new-church meeting, greeted
the Synod in several different languages. "On any Sunday morning," he said,
"there are 27 languages spoken in congregations across the UCC."

New church growth is sprouting across the country because people are
finding answers to their spiritual growth in the UCC, Schoen said. From
Hawaii to Puerto Rico, and many states in between, Christians are embracing
fellowship in the UCC.

They are doing this in a variety of ways: as new church starts, as existing
churches formerly without a denominational affiliation, as churches that
are seeking to change denominations. Kelly Sisson of Glade Baptist Church,
Blacksburg, Va., explained why her formerly Southern Baptist congregation
chose affiliation with the UCC: "The UCC placed a comma in our lives where
the Southern Baptists placed a period." Michael Erwin of New Hope Church,
Owensboro, Ky., said that his church is "open and affirming, multi-racial
and multi-lingual."

An interdenominational church founded in 1883, Mill Plain Union Church in
Waterbury, Conn., chose to join the UCC in 2002 through the leadership of
its interim pastor, the Rev. Michael Ciba. While the congregation was
seeking a new pastor, the UCC had been very supportive. As a result of this
relationship, Ciba said, the church found it fitting to embrace a
denomination that brought resources to them for ministry without pressuring
them into membership.

According to Schoen, new church growth is all about evangelism. Michael
Ciba agrees. He attended the Evangelism Event that preceded Synod. "It was
so good to see the diversity of the wider church of which we are a part,"
he said. That evangelism event brought tools and resources to its
participants for spreading the Good News in the diverse communities in
which the UCC church lives and ministers.

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