wfn.org | Cuban church vitality not really new, say observer

["Barb Powell"<powellb@ucc.org>]

Jan. 21, 1998

Office of Communication
United Church of Christ
Arthur Lawrence Cribbs Jr.
(216) 736-2201
cribbsa@ucc.org
Hans Holznagel
(216) 736-2214
holznagh@ucc.org

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
The Rev. David Vargas
(317) 635-3113, ext. 291
Raquel Rodriguez
(317) 635-3113, ext. 282
Clifford L. Willis
(317) 635-3113, ext. 207
DISCNEWS@ecunet.org

In Tennessee, contact:                 
The Rev. Ted Braun, (931) 277-5135

A D V I S O R Y :
Cuban church vitality not really new, 
North American observers say
                      
EDITORS AND PRODUCERS: If you are looking for North
American religious views on Cuba in light of Pope John Paul II's
visit, here are two knowledgeable mainline Protestant voices who
are available for interviews.

    "The press is giving the impression that only now is the
church becoming resurrected in Cuba.  This is not true," says the
Rev. David Vargas of Indianapolis, secretary for Latin America
and the Caribbean with the Common Board of Global Ministries of
two denominations, the United Church of Christ and the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ).  "Churches in Cuba have been
holding religious services over all these years.  But they have not
been holding open rallies in public squares.  And they have not
been doing social-service work because that has been the
government's role."  Vargas continues:  "Our two denominations
have been very, very firm against the U.S. embargo.  We have
been requesting for many, many years that diplomatic relations be
reestablished between the two countries."  Phone him at (317) 635-
3113, ext. 291.

    The Rev. Ted Braun of Pleasant Hill, Tenn., a retired
United Church of Christ minister who in February will make his
19th annual visit to Cuba with a UCC delegation, says: "It's the
Protestant church that has had real impact in Cuba up to this point
in relating to the government.  The real revival of people coming
back to church started with Protestants.  It started in small
churches in rural areas, not in city cathedrals.  And it started
among blue-collar workers, not with the upper class, who
traditionally have been Catholic.  These Protestant churches have
been full of worshipers in my last three or four visits, long before
the Catholic churches began to be full."  Phone him at (931) 277-
5135.

     Since the 1970s, the General Assembly of the Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) and the General Synod of the United Church of
Christ have each called repeatedly for normalization of U.S.-Cuba
relations and an end to any trade embargo or blockade.  Each is a
biennial meeting of representatives from the denomination's
congregations (Disciples) or regional bodies (UCC).  For texts of these
resolutions, phone the Cleveland or Indianapolis contact persons listed at
the top of this advisory. 
     Note: In the UCC and Disciples systems, Synod or Assembly
statements speak only for the "national" or "general" settings of the
church.  Regional bodies, congregations and individual members or
pastors are free to hold differing views.  At the 1997 UCC General
Synod, the entire Florida delegation abstained from voting on a
resolution creating a UCC partnership with the Council of Churches of
Cuba.
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