Report from
General Synod 30
Cleveland, OH
June 26-30, 2015
Dear Friends in Christ,
I have just returned from a wonderful week in Cleveland, OH attending the United Church of Christ's General Synod 30 from June 26-30, 2015. The theme was "Unexpected Places." Together with more than 3,000 people, we reflected on where we have encountered God in unexpected places, as well as the unexpected places God is calling us, people of faith, to go.
General
Synod is a national gathering of the church held every two years in a different
city around the country. This year it was held in Cleveland, home to the
national headquarters of the denomination. In addition to doing the business of
the church by passing resolutions, there is also wonderful worship, workshops,
and events. This was the sixth General Synod I have attended. In the past I
have been a delegate or visitor. This time I went as a visitor and volunteer, ushering
at worship on Friday, Sunday and Monday. Though I could not speak or vote on
resolutions like delegates, I was able to attend all of the meetings and events
and watch business unfold on the plenary floor. The full text of all resolutions passed at General Synod is available here:
http://synod.uccpages.org/resolutions/index.html I am also thankful for Madeline Cook's blog about Synod https://uccsynod2015vt.wordpress.com The results of all of the resolution votes listed are her recounting as a General Synod delegate for the Champlain Association, Vermont Conference UCC.
THURSDAY,
JUNE 25
Before
Synod officially started, I attended a daylong event on Thursday, June 25 with
UCC clergy in their twenties and thirties. Bishop Yvette Flunder of City of Refuge UCC in
San Francisco led us in
worship. It was great way to start off Synod experience by reuniting with
friends who are serving churches around the country. I purchased a new hot pink
T-shirt from the group that says, “This is what Clergy look like.” I wore it
proudly the next day.
 |
| UCC 20/30 Clergy Network |
On Thursday
night, I attended “Is it Well?” a worship service in the Amistad Chapel at the UCC
Church House with Rev. Tracey Blackmon of Christ
the King UCC in Ferguson, MO preaching.
The chapel overflowed with people as Rev.
Blackmon shared her story of ministering in Ferguson. She challenged us to look
around and acknowledge that all is not well for our black sisters and brothers.
She lamented the black lives lost, both in her community and in Charleston, SC
at Mother Emanuel AME church. Though all is not well, Blackmon said that “it is
well” because we are together as the body of Christ, and that even though all
is not well in our world, God is with us and God is calling us to work for a
world where it is well for all. Following her sermon, we anointed each other
with oil. The UCC National Staff led us in sharing communion. The UCC’s GLBTQ
Coalition Choir offered music including a great rendition of “Spirit of the
Living God.”
FRIDAY,
JUNE 26
 |
| Cleveland City Hall Marriage Equality Rally |
Synod
officially began on Friday. On Friday at noon I joined several UCCers at a
rally on the steps of Cleveland City Hall celebrating the Supreme Court’s
ruling on marriage equality. Later that afternoon, UCC clergy set up a tent and
offered their services as marriage officiants at the park across the street
from the Convention Center. That evening, Rev. Molly Baskette, author of “Real Good
Church” preached during worship. Baskette pastors the UCC church in Somerfield,
MA. She told the story of her church going through a building renovation. The
stage in the fellowship hall blocked the windows and created a dim space for
coffee hour. It no longer fit the needs of the current congregation, except for
a space for kids to run around during coffee hour. When they began construction
they discovered a stage, under a smaller stage, under an even smaller stage.
Baskette’s
congregation found the layers built on layers of a building that no longer
served their needs as a congregation. But when they opened this space up, the
new windows allowed people to look out onto the street, and look in. They let
more of God’s light in and created a worship and fellowship space that would
meet the needs of their current congregation. Looking around our parlor and the
opaque glass, I wonder if there might be a lesson here for us at RCC about
letting in more of God’s light! Baskette ended her sermon with a challenge to
“be brave” and to not be tied to the way we have always been, or the way we
always done church. Baskette shared her congregations love to dance, and we
ended worship by dancing to Sara Bareilles’ song “Brave.”
SATURDAY,
JUNE 27
Saturday
morning, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Connie Schultz addressed the Synod
and joined with the UCC in celebrating Marriage Equality. Schulz’s husband,
Sen. Sharon Brown, was in the audience and she cited his important work on
consistently advocating for GLBTQ brothers and sisters.
Saturday
afternoon I planned to attend Cleveland Pride Parade with other UCCers.
Unfortunately the parade was cancelled due to torrential rain. In lieu of the
parade, I took a much needed afternoon nap.
SUNDAY,
JUNE 28
 |
| Neal & Carolyn Sadler, Nathan's parents |
On
Sunday morning Synod delegates attended committee meetings for the resolutions.
Each delegate is randomly assigned to a committee, and the committees
deliberate on the resolution or group of resolutions, make any changes or
amendments and report back their recommendations to General Synod. As I did not
have any responsibilities, I attended worship at First Congregational Church
UCC in Medina, OH where Nathan’s dad, Neal Sadler is the Senior Minister. In
the afternoon, Nathan’s parents joined me for the Synod’s community wide
worship service.
Preaching about passing the mantle of leadership from Elijah
to Elisha, Bishop Dwayne Royster, a pastor and community organizer in Philadelphia,
titled his sermon “Change the Damn World.”
To pick up Elijah’s mantle and go forward as a relevant
church, Royster exhorted the crowd to do four things:
1. Consecration:
“We need to strip away all those things that keep dragging us back into the
world so we can hear the voice of the still-speaking God.”
2. Worship:
“We need to worship where we are allowed to have a holy imagination of a better
world, a changed world.”
3. Miracles:
“We need to go to a place where we believe God still does miracles. That takes
prayer and passion like Bree Ann Newsome, who climbed up the Statehouse in
South Carolina and took down the Confederate flag. She said, ‘I’m taking down
this flag in the name of God.’ And she did.”
4. Resurrection:
“Only when we are willing to risk death can we find life. Do you believe that
God is really God? We can’t do the will of God until we are willing to risk it
all to transform the world.” (To quote from the
UCC news story -http://www.ucc.org/news_general_synod_its_within_our_power_to_change_the_damn_world_06282015)
Royster said
that the General Minister and President-elect of the UCC, Rev. John C.
Dorhouer, will, like Elisha, need a double-portion of God’s spirit to do the
work that needs to be done. Following Royster’s
sermon, Rev. Geoffrey Black( retiring General Minister and President),
Rev.
Linda Jaramillo (retiring Executive Minister for Justice and Witness
Ministries), Rev. James Moos (Executive Minister for Global Church Ministries),
and Rev. J. Bennett Guess (Executive Minister for Local Church Ministries) led
us in communion. I was one of 60 volunteers who helped serve communion to the
worshippers.
 |
| Rev. Geoffrey Black |
On
Sunday night a hearing on proposed changes to the UCC by-laws and governance
structure was so crowded that they had to relocate to a larger room. While I
did not attend, my colleagues reported that the debate was heated as people
expressed their frustration with a proposed governance structure which would
eliminate the UCC’s shared leadership model of the Collegium and strengthen the
office of the General Minister and President. With Geoffrey Black and Linda
Jaramillo’s retirement, many people also felt that they would no longer have
their perspective represented as a racial minority or as a female in the UCC’s
national leadership.
 |
| Exhibit Hall at General Synod |
MONDAY,
JUNE 29
On
Monday morning, I joined the Vermont Conference’s delegates for breakfast at
6:30 AM, where delegates reported about the resolutions and committees they had
been assigned to. During the morning plenary, Walter Rauschenbush of the
Huffington Post addressed Synod with the topic, “The struggle for the soul of
the church.” In addition to improving our presence on college campuses, where
the voice of progressive Christianity often goes unheard, he urged the church
to develop our online presence and invited everyone to join twitter. His basic
point was that we need to use 21st century methods to communicate. Rauschenbusch
said that there are places and people in the world who desperately need to hear
God’s loving word from progressive Christians. Citing his own experience as a
recovering addict and a gay man, Rauschenbush found welcome at Judson Memorial
Church, a UCC/ABC church in New York city. http://www.ucc.org/news_general_synod_a_struggle_for_the_soul_of_the_church_06292015
Following
Rauschenbush’s speech the Synod took up several resolutions during Monday’s morning
and afternoon plenary session including:
·
Resolution on Full Communion Relationship
Between the United Church of Christ and the United Church of Canada: Unanimous YES.
·
Commemorating
100 Years Since the Armenian Genocide: Unanimous YES.
·
Resolution
Urging Socially Responsible Investment Practices: YES.
·
Resolution to
Change to Racially Demeaning Name, Mascot, and Imagery of the Washington
National Football League: YES.
·
Resolution Marking the Thirtieth Anniversary of
the Just Peace Pronouncement by Recommitting Ourselves to be a Just Peace
Church: Unanimous YES.
·
Developing Welcoming, Inclusive, Supportive, and
Engaged Congregations for Mental Health: YES (almost
unanimous).
·
Re-election of
Rev. James Moos (Executive Minister of OCWM): YES.
·
Urging Socially Responsible Investment
Practices: YES.
·
Peace and Reconciliation in the Korean
Peninsula: YES. http://www.ucc.org/news_general_synod_votes_to_support_korean_unification_06302015
·
Resolution to Lament
shooting in Charleston, SC: YES.
o The resolution
reads: "Our hearts are broken and our resolve is strong." We will
stand in witness to the faith, courage of all affected, and pray as the
psalmist does that ‘Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation
or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation and
your gates Praise’ (Psalm 60:18). We will stand, we will rise and we will act."
·
Dismantling Systems
of Mass Incarceration: Unanimous YES.
·
Dismantling the New
Jim Crow: Almost unanimous YES.
·
The Election
of the New General Minister and President Rev. John C. Dorhauer: YES (Yes: 621
No:77 Abstain:33)
·
A Call for the
United Church of Christ to Take Actions Toward a Just-Peace in the
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: YES.
 |
| Seminary colleague Rev. Marilyn Kendrix, Associate Pastor at Church of Redeemer, New Haven, CT |
During lunch on Monday, I attended
a meal with other alumni from Yale Divinity School. While it was good to hear
about updates around the seminary, the best part was reconnecting with one of
my seminary colleagues who now speaks about Mass Incarceration and leads book
discussions on Michelle Alexander’s book “The New Jim Crow.”
This conversation
planted a seed. I hope that we can read this book as a congregation and perhaps
invite Marilyn up to speak with us in Vermont.
After
a long and tiring day, Monday night closed with a beautiful Vespers service
accompanied by violin and piano. Rev. Mitri Raheb of the Evangelical Lutheran
Christmas Church in Bethlehem preached about living in Bethlehem, which is now
surrounded by 25 foot concrete walls. Raheb spoke of the challenges of Palestinians
who must wait in line at check points to go in and out of the city on their way
to work, to get medical attention, etc. Raheb urged us to work for peace in the
Holy Land. http://www.ucc.org/news_general_synod_mitri_raheb_06302015
TUESDAY, JUNE 30
On Tuesday morning, the delegates
took up debate on the approved by-law and constitutional changes of the United
Church of Christ, which would move from a four person collegium model to one
General Minister and President. http://www.ucc.org/news_general_synod_votes_to_retain_current_leadership_structure_07012015 The debate was heated, and many speakers took umbridge with the process
and how there was not enough time to discuss the proposed changes on a local
and conference wide level before making such a big decision. Supporters of the
changes argued that for efficiency and budgetary reasons, the church needed to
streamline. Ultimately the by-law changes were not approved by the delegates.
This leaves the current collegial structure in place until the next General
Synod in 2017. With Linda Jaramillo’s retirement, and no proposed candidate to
fill her position as Executive Minister for Justice and Witness Ministries, the
UCC Board will have to fill this spot.
On Tuesday, the delegates also
took up the following resolutions:
·
Recommitting
Ourselves to Full Equality for LGBT Persons: YES.
·
Resolution to
Support Legislation Regarding Labeling of Genetically Engineered Foods on Food
Packaging: NO.
·
Calling on the
United Church of Christ to Recognize the Actions Against the Palestinians as
Apartheid: NO.
·
Responsible
Stewardship of the Outer Space Environment: YES.
·
Transition
from Fossil Fuels to Renewable Energy: YES.
 |
| VT UCC Clergy Rev. Jared Hamilton, myself and Rev. Ryan Gackenheimer. |
General
Synod closed on Tuesday night with Rev. Sharon Watkins, leader of the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ preaching. The UCC and Disciples of Christ share
our Global Ministries together and have been in partnership for the past 25
years. At the end of the service, outgoing UCC General Minister and President
Geoffrey Black gave incoming General Minister and President John Dorhauer a new
stole, a sign of passing on the mantle of leadership. It was a fitting end to
such a full and challenging General Synod.
 |
| General Synod 31 will be held June 2017 in Baltimore, MD. |
COMING
HOME
 |
| Sunset over Lake Champlain near the Crown Point Bridge |
It
was good to be away, but it was also good to come home. I drove back from
Cleveland in one day, even though I took two days to drive out. After such a
full week, I was ready to get back to my own bed. Reflecting on what has
transpired in the past week, I can’t help but wonder about what work God is
calling us to do in the most unexpected places. It is part of our polity, the
way our church is governed, that decisions made at each level of the church
speak to, but not for, the church. So it is up to us to discuss and decide if
and how the resolutions passed by General Synod 30 will impact our life as a
congregation and guide us in new ways of being the church.
The
most relevant question that emerges for me after Synod is wondering how, as a
person of faith, and as a white person, do I not only talk about racism, but
also work for a more just society. This is no small task.
I
also wonder -
·
How do we respond to the shooting in Charleston and the black
churches that are burning in the South?
·
Will we look at our endowment funds and divest from
corporations that profit from occupied Palestinian territories?
·
Will we renew our commitment to being Open and Affirming?
·
Will we seek to build a ministry for people struggling with
mental illness?
Friends,
what and how is God calling us to respond in this unexpected time and in this
unexpected place?
May
God be with us as we discern together.
With
Peace,
Rev.
Katelyn Macrae
 |
| Back in the office at Richmond Congregational Church |
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