wfn.org | UCC Bylaw changes approved by Synod 22 without controversy

[George Conklin <gconklin@wfn.org>]

United Church of Christ
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contact: Barbara Powell
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Bylaws amended without controversy
by W. Evan Golder
PROVIDENCE, RI - July 5 1999 -  “We have just made a momentous decision,”
declared UCC President the Rev. Paul H. Sherry.  “Surely God is with us in
these days.”
        That declaration on Sunday evening, July 4, followed by the singing of
the Doxology, marked the end of a 12year effort to change the Constitution and
Bylaws of the United Church of Christ and restructure the national setting of
the church.  Just minutes earlier, after one hour and 45 minutes of debate and
only three small changes, Synod delegates had voted to adopt the proposed
amendments to the Bylaws — a pivotal step in the changes needed to make
restructure possible.
        General Synod 21 approved the changes to the Constitution in 1997 and
the conferences had ratified those changes in the two years between General
Synods.
        Among the various amendments submitted during debate, only three
passed.  One (to paragraph 190 regarding associate delegates to Synod) would
recognize that some conferences have more than one conference minister and make
plural the references to a conferences’s “principal minister or executive.”   
        A second amendment (to paragraphs 223, 247d, 254  and 272) would
add the
phrase “with a balance of leadership between women and men” to the phrase “the
commitment of the United Church of Christ to be a multiracial and multicultural
church, accessible to all,  reflecting the racial and ethnic diversity of
society.”
        A third amendment (to paragraph 226) added the words “and to local
churches” to the phrase the Executive Council “shall make an annual
informational report to the conferences ...”
        Among the amendments submitted from the floor and defeated, one exposed
the tension between conferences and the new national covenanted ministries over
the issue of the composition of Synod delegates.  It attempted to dictate that
all delegates to future Synods should sit in conference delegations,
irrespective of how they happen to be Synod delegates.   Jacqueline Smith,
President of the Board of Directors of the United Church Board for World
Ministries, opposed the amendment, arguing that it was important that delegates
from the covenanted ministries should sit with those ministries.  Charlotte
Frantz from Minnesota, a resource person for the Bylaw revision process, said
that seating at Synod is determined by the Standing Rules.
        Another amendment, proposed by Tony Robinson from the WashingtonNorth
Idaho Conference, would have had a search committee bring three candidates for
General Minister and President to General Synod rather than only one. 
Supporters argued that this would introduce a variety of visions and make
vigorous debate possible.  Opponents argued that this would politicize a
process already too politicized.
        
“Acting” dropped from titles
        In a surprise move on Sunday evening, delegates voted to remove the
word
“Acting” before the titles of General Minister and President and Executive
Director of Local Church Ministries.  The motion was introduced by the Rev.
John Henry Scott of the Connecticut Conference.  (See related story.)
        “We are birthing a new baby,” he said, “a new structure.  Let all five
officers begin this new structure as equals....Let’s start it right!”
        The vote for the motion was approximately two to one.