wfn.org | John Thomas Discusses Changes in UCC During His Presidency

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

In Conversation: John Thomas reflects on a decade of leadership

September - October 2009

John Thomas Discusses Changes in UCC During His Presidency

With his tenure as UCC general minister and president scheduled to 
end Sept. 30, United Church News posed a few parting questions to the 
Rev. John H. Thomas:

How has the UCC changed in the 10 years you've been GMP?

The easy answer, and the hard answer, is that we're smaller than we 
were 10 years ago. We're not alone among denominations in this, but 
that doesn't make it feel any better. The reasons for this are 
complex and long standing, and that cautions against simplistic 
finger pointing.

At the same time, during these 10 years I've encountered an 
increasing number of local churches across the UCC that are growing. 
Those that are growing have been welcoming to all, courageous in 
their commitments to justice and peace, committed to excellence in 
worship, and passionate about transmitting the Gospel to a new 
generation of Christians.

Paradoxically, we have grown smaller as a denomination at precisely 
the time we are learning more and more about how to be faithful and 
vital in the waning years of Christendom. I've described this as the 
transition from "respectable religion" to "evangelical faith." Every 
generation has wrestled with this, but it seems particularly 
challenging and important today. Will we make this transition? I 
would say I'm anxious, but still hopeful.

What do you feel was your biggest accomplishment as GMP?

I've long felt that we don't effectively articulate the deep 
connection between personal piety and public responsibility. This has 
often left our justice work looking very much like secular political 
activity or, on the other hand, turned piety into private 
introspection, what one theologian described as "the manicure of our 
own souls."

In my preaching, teaching, writing and public witness I have tried 
hard to make the connections, showing how sacraments, scripture, 
prayer, and theology shape a spirituality of resistance to the 
dominating and demeaning powers. I think people have noticed this 
about me, and have appreciated it. As products of the Enlightenment, 
we've tended to believe that if we think and do the right things, 
we'll succeed. Perhaps the pre-Enlightenment reformers have something 
to teach our post-Enlightenment church, namely that our only comfort 
is that we belong to Jesus Christ. To the extent that I have prompted 
a rebalancing of head and hand with heart, I think I've made a contribution.

> What was your biggest disappointment?

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the struggle for justice in 
Palestine have dominated the 10 years of my leadership.

Arrogance and idolatry have swept across our political landscape and 
horrible things have been done in our name. Voices of protest and 
resistance have been raised, ours among them. But for the most part, 
and in the main, we have sounded a cautious, at times a timid note of 
resistance.

I've been sorting through my bookshelf, getting ready to move my 
library. Today I came across this quote: "One might argue that the 
deep malaise afflicting American life in the last decades is rooted 
in the fact that for the first time in our history we have confronted 
a situation that would not yield to American power or acquiesce in 
the notion of America as bearer of a special destiny to the whole 
world" (Clifford Goen). That was written in 1974, the year before I 
was ordained! Some years ago I participated in a protest against the 
Iraq war in Washington. Standing next to me were Joan Baez and Ramsey 
Clark. It occurred to me that they were both part of a protest I 
attended on that very spot in 1970!

Have we learned anything? I continue to be haunted by a quote from 
Bonhoeffer: "Are we still of any use?"

What is the greatest challenge the UCC faces in the next decades?

Leadership, leadership, leadership! Whether for large, vital 
congregations, or small, vital congregations, or for congregations 
ready for renewal, or for emerging and developing  congregations, the 
role of the pastoral leader is crucial. Courageous congregations need 
leaders who can equip them biblically and theologically for the 
prophetic task. Generous congregations need leaders who can inspire 
sacrifice. Evangelical congregations need leaders who can teach the 
faith and nurture deep practice. And good leaders need a church 
prepared to discern their gifts, train them, support them, and 
continually challenge them.

Our system has worked hard over the last years to ensure that leaders 
don't transgress the boundaries of good ethical behavior. Our system 
has not yet done enough to ensure that leaders reach toward new 
horizons of excellence. This will take sustained commitment and more 
money and attention than we have provided of late.

Our whole church needs to shift from a culture of leadership 
consumption to leadership production!

Under your leadership, the UCC embraced technology and digital 
communications. What sort of opportunities and obstacles does and 
will this present for the church going forward?

My colleagues would get a good laugh at the thought that my 
leadership had enhanced our embrace of technology. I'm not a Luddite, 
but I'm not cutting edge either!

For the most part I've tried to stay out of the way and let creative 
people take the lead. And lead they have! I'll confess that as one 
who loves the feel and texture of paper in my hand, I lament the 
demise of print media, and as a pastor who knows the value 
of  attentive presence, I worry over the excessive electronic 
multi-tasking that often intrudes into our encounters.

At the same time, I've grown tired of pervasive resistance to the 
church's embrace of technology and electronic community because not 
everyone is ready. Too often we fail to engage those in my sons' 
generation because we were shaped by and are still reluctant to leave 
the world of filmstrips that were the electronic mainstay of ministry 
in the '70s when we started out. By the way, if you don't know what a 
filmstrip is, just Google it!

What would you like to say to the UCC as you depart?

Embrace Geoffrey as you embraced me. Support him, care for him, 
celebrate his gifts. He has great gifts to offer. And above all, 
thank you for an amazing ride!