wfn.org | United Church General Synod meets July 1 - 9, 1999 in Providence

[George Conklin <gconklin@wfn.org>]

Titlle: United Church of Christ General Synod 22 meets in Providence, July 1 -
6, 1999

United Church of Christ
Office of Communication
700 Prospect Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44115
contact: Barbara Powell
  phone:   216-736-2222
  email:   powellb@ucc.org
   http://www.ucc.org

        PROVIDENCE--July 1, 1999 - The last General Synod of the 20th century
opens its six-day session in this historic seaport tonight. Delegates will
elect a new leadership team and vote on reforms that will decide the shape of
the United Church of Christ in the 21st century.
        More than 740 delegates from the UCC’s 39 Conferences and almost 2,400
visitors are arriving in Providence under cloudy skies--a good omen for
drought-stricken New England. When the clouds disperse later this week the
United Church’s 1.4 million members will learn the answers to two questions: 
        * Will General Synod vote final approval for a new structure that will
reform churchwide ministries and improve delivery of services to local
congregations?
        * Will General Synod elect a slate of new officers--including the
church’s future “General Minister and President?” 
        Several months ago, some members of the church predicted that the
century’s last General Synod would be “dull.” The UCC’s summer meeting would
not be disrupted by the same “culture war” issues that have threatened other
denominations with schism.
        But this Synod will be anything but dull. Some of the potential drama
centers on two innocuous words: “acting” and “interim.”
        The dictionary says they have nearly the same meaning. But Synod
delegates may be asked to choose between them, and their choice could decide
whether the UCC will have a President in the year 2000.
        When boards of the UCC’s churchwide agencies voted on leadership
nominees in March, they failed to agree on two key positions--“General Minister
and President” and “Executive Minister for Local Church Ministries.” Nominees,
however, were approved for the three remaining positions in the new structure:
Associate General Minister of the denomination and Executive Ministers for
Wider Church Ministries and Justice and Witness Ministries.
        The events last March raised a serious potential problem for the
church:
Could the UCC really afford to enter the 21st century without a full-time
President or a leader of the new agency that will be responsible for delivering
services to local congregations?
        The UCC’s Executive Council--a body elected by General Synod—had two
choices. It could approve “interim” candidates for the two posts, but these
would be caretaker officers at a time when the church needs solid leadership.
Or it could organize a search for “acting” officers. The difference? An
“acting” President and local church ministry executive would be eligible to
succeed themselves after two years--provided they were re-elected by the next
General Synod. “Acting” officers would not be short-term caretakers; they would
be leaders with authority who could earn the trust of the church at a critical
moment in its history. 
        Executive Council chose the second option. The result was a second
round
of meetings in June at which the boards of UCC agencies approved two
well-respected candidates: the Rev. John Thomas as nominee for Acting General
Minister and President and the Rev. Jose Malayang for Acting Executive Minister
of Local Church Ministries.
        But not all delegates are happy with this decision. For reasons that
will become clear during the floor debate, they believe it was improper for
Executive Council to approve the nomination of “acting” officers. So during the
introduction of new business Thursday night, some delegates may propose a
resolution to change the word “acting” to “interim”--meaning that the nominees
elected by General Synod for these two posts will be temporary officers
ineligible to continue in office after two years.
        It was not known at press time if either Thomas or Malayang would be
available to serve in a caretaker position if their position is downgraded to
“interim.” Whether these two outstanding pastors will lead the church in the
21st century may very well be decided on the floor of General Synod tonight.
        Elections and reforms are not the only issues on Synod’s agenda this
week. Delegates will be asked to continue a tradition that goes back to the
UCC’s first General Synod in 1957: to comment on a wide range of issues that
concern the church’s relationship with society. On the table are resolutions
concerning third-world debt, the epidemic of suicide among gay and lesbian
teenagers, an apology for atomic testing in the Pacific, the impoverishment of
communities along the U.S.-Mexico border, and the future of marriage. On
Monday, delegates will join local community leaders in Providence in an apology
for the role New England shipowners played in the “Triangle Trade” that
imported slaves from Africa to the Caribbean. 
        At the same time, delegates will enjoy this city with a history that
dates back to the early 17th century. Like all previous General Synods, this
year’s meeting is a family affair with fireworks over the Fourth of July
weekend, a picnic hosted by the Rhode Island Conference and opportunities for 
quiet conversation with friends old and new. Most important, General Synod is a
meeting of the church gathered for prayer: worship will include inspiring
music, vigorous preaching, and the bread and wine of Holy Communion. No matter
how acrimonious committee hearings and floor debates may sometimes become, at a
celebration of the Lord’s Supper delegates and visitors will set aside their
disagreements and experience again for the fulfillment of Jesus’ prayer (and
the motto of our church): “That They May All Be One.”

News Briefs
Coalition forms People of Color Institute
        Lots of mostly-white groups within the UCC talk about racism in their
midst, but at its gathering this week at Brown University, one UCC group
decided to do something about it.
        The People of Color Institute was created after a challenge to the UCC
Coalition for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns that the
Coalition doesn’t readily share power, responsibility and leadership with
people of color, and doesn’t offer partnership in every facet of its structure,
leadership, activities and programs.
        The Coalition’s response?  It added $10,000 to its budget for the
People
of Color Institute and pledged to address racism, both personal and
institutional, every time the Coalition meets.
        Among other activities, the Institute plans a leadership forum for the
year 2000 for all lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender people of color within the
UCC.
        Spokesperson for the People of Color Institute is the Rev. Margarita
Suarez of Pilgrim Congregational UCC in Oak Park, Ill.

Quotable Quotes:

“If anyone comes to the Vermont Conference to tell us what to do, I can assure
you that the Vermont Conference is going to tell them to go fry ice.”

-- The Rev. James Olson, Greater Hartford (Vt.) UCC, in a discussion regarding
choices for a pool of nominees for boards of national agencies -- at the
national gathering of the UCC Coalition for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender Concerns.

“Wow! What a Synod. And I just love that Daehler Hayes ... or is it his
cookies?!?”

-- Miss Piggy, of Muppets fame, holding forth at the joint UCC Office of
Communication and Odyssey/Hallmark/Hensen cable network booth

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