wfn.org | Country Preacher leads move to remove "acting" from UCC Officers'

[George Conklin <gconklin@wfn.org>]

titles

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

by Irwin Smallwood
PROVIDENCE, RI - July 5 1999  - PROVIDENCE, RI -- The 22nd General Synod of the
United Church of Christ experienced what may turn out to be a defining moment
shortly after 8 o'clock Sunday evening when a first-time delegate stepped to a
microphone and turned the gathered crowd on its ear.
        The Rev. John Henry Scott III, protesting that he is "just a country
preacher who doesn't know anybody," moved to strike the prefix "acting" from
the titles of the nominated General Minister and President and Executive
Minister of Local Church Ministries.
        Speaking to his surprise motion from hastily scribbled notes and
with an
eloquence seldom heard in the halls of General Synod, he quickly seized the
delegates' attention and in a matter of minutes had them solidly behind his
notion of urgency to have officers with full portfolios and not with any
temporary baggage.
        So who is this young man? Turns out he's a 39-year-old graduate of
Harvard Divinity School, has a law degree from Hofstra University and is pastor
of Dixwell Avenue Congregational UCC in New Haven, Conn., a church founded
about 1820 by Simeon Jocelyn and 24 former slaves.  The church was one of the
leaders in the historic Amistad movement of 1839.
        But he is an authentic outsider as far as General Synod business is
concerned. He got here as a last-minute replacement for another delegate,
though once here, it did not take him long to get immersed in its inner
workings. "I read all my materials and have been here since the beginning of
Synod," he said outside the plenary hall, accepting congratulations in a steady
stream. Early on, he attended a session in which the Rev. John Thomas, the
nominee for General Minister and President, spoke, and it acted to intensify
his concerns.
        "I was very saddened by the hurt feelings and the expressions of
distrust," he said. "A lot of things began to come together in my mind as I sat
there and listened as (author) Jonathan Kozol said what a wonderful church we
are. I said to myself, 'Uh-oh, there's something wrong here.' I said, ‘This is
not what we originally planned and it is not good to start off this way.’"
        Soon thereafter, Scott said, "the spirit just hit me" and he knew
he had
to do something about it. He went up to the  parlimentarian and asked how to
make a motion, filled in all the blanks, quickly whipped his ideas into form,
"prayed on it a little, talked to some of my people about how the Lord was
leading me, and they urged me to do it if the spirit was leading me."
        Next thing he knew, he was in the front of the microphone laying on the
gathered delegates what was on his heart, and it struck a chord that was still
reverberating from the rafters long after his motion had passed overwhelmingly.
        Afterwards, he was beseiged with people thanking him and praising him
for his actions, which were of the kind that future leaders spring from. "Was
that Dr. King up there?" asked a stately African-American woman, only a little
in jest. Scott, enjoying the moment but obviously more than a little
embarrassed by all the attention, said he was just happy to be part of the
United Church of Christ.
        "What other church is there where blacks and whites can come
together to
faithfully build the body of Christ?" he asked rhetorically. "We are the church
of the Amistad.  We worked to end slavery."
        Scott, himself an African American, was ordained in the Baptist church
in 1981 and still has standing there as well as in the UCC. He said it was the
UCC's work for justice, its record for helping people and its pro-active stance
on important social issues that attracted him to the denomination.
        "I'm just a nobody, an ordinary delegate," he kept protesting.
        Not any more.