wfn.org | UCC listening tour to visit South Florida

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

> UCC listening tour to visit South Florida

> December 1, 2009

Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ will host
denomination's new General Minister and President Dec. 5-7.

The Rev. Geoffrey A. Black, the United Church of Christ's new general
minister and president, will make the fifth stop of his 10-site
listening tour in South Florida Dec. 5-7. Black, who became the UCC's
general minister and president Oct. 1, has taken to the road in his
first months in office to hear first-hand from diverse groups across the UCC.

Coral Gables Congregational UCC is hosting the visit which features
several meetings with area clergy and church members in an effort to
gain insights that will guide Black as he charts and communicates a
vision for the United Church of Christ.

The public is invited to hear Rev. Black preach at Coral Gables
Congregational UCC (3010 De Soto Boulevard) Sunday, Dec. 6 at 11:00am.
A reception following the service offers additional opportunities for
speaking with Black.

During recent trips to the Northern California-Nevada, Connecticut,
Massachusetts and Central Atlantic Conferences, Black emphasized the
theme of open communications by asking attendees, "How is God calling
us to better shape the United Church of Christ with an expectation
that God's spirit is moving among us?"

"We need to reinforce the things that keep us together, even when we
don't agree. We need to teach and learn the process of dialog,
something that I think can become a demonstrated faith practice in the
UCC," he told Northern California-Nevada Conference representatives.
"We need to use the technology that is now available to us to become a
community that is continually in dialog with one another."

Black was Minister of the New York Conference of the UCC prior to his
election as General Minister and President. He also served as the
pastor of local congregations for fifteen years, a university
chaplain, and was on the staff of the UCC Office for Church Life and
Leadership. He is a graduate of Lincoln University and Yale Divinity School.

Future listening sessions are planned for Des Moines, Chicago, and
Atlanta, among other cities.