wfn.org | New UCC blog lifts up coverage of local churches, justice concerns

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

New blog lifts up coverage of local churches, justice concerns

> Written by staff reports
> September 26, 2007

United Church News has launched a new interactive blog to lift up news
about local churches and invite conversation about justice issues.

The Rev. Chuck Currie, a veteran blogger and pastor of Parkrose
Community UCC in Portland, Ore., will oversee development of United
Church News' blog in order to amplify secular news about UCC
congregations as well as issues of concern to church members.

"For many in the UCC, the name 'Chuck Currie' was one of the first
progressive voices of faith they encountered in the blogosphere," said
the Rev. J. Bennett Guess, editor of United Church News and the UCC's
acting communications director. "It's long overdue that we offer this
type of give-and-take conversation. The frank, first-person approach
will be new to some, but it's just the kind of accessible
information-sharing that the internet affords us."

Currie was recognized by The Los Angeles Times in 2004 for "top-tier"
editorial writing. A 2006 graduate of UCC-related Eden Theological
Seminary near St. Louis, he is considered a pioneer in faith-based
blogging, having written one of the first UCC-related blogs on the internet.

"Hopefully, the blog will be a little like a virtual 'water cooler'
where people gather to hear the latest information and commentary
about the United Church of Christ," Currie told United Church News.
"The site will not only highlight news about local churches but also
about the ecumenical movement and the important social justice causes
our denomination is involved with."

By virtue of the medium, blogs are not intended to be one-sided
commentary, but interactive conversations. While United Church News
will continue to offer its scrolling denominational news headlines at
the UCC's homepage, the blog will give greater attention to local
churches in the news and encourage reader conversation on
media-related topics. A link to the blog can be found easily at
ucc.org/news or accessed directly at unitedchurchofchrist.blogspot.com.

"Very few denominations have blogs," Currie said. "So the UCC will be
in a unique position of offering an on-line forum where the big issues
of the day facing our churches can be discussed."

Currie said the best feedback he's ever gotten, in response to his
blogging, has been when people have asked for help finding a local UCC
church where they can worship.

"This new blog is an adventure in evangelism," Currie said. "With it
we can reach out to people, many of whom have not yet found a church home."

An outspoken advocate for the homeless since 1986, Currie served on
the board of the National Coalition for the Homeless from 1998 to
2002. In 2003, UCC-supported Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon awarded
Currie its Vollum Ecumenical Humanitarian Award.