From the Hartford Courant:<\/p>\n
When more than 10,000 clergy and parishioners from the United Church of Christ converge on Hartford this week for their General Synod, at least half of the dozen resolutions they’ll consider will deal with issues of social justice – a more humane immigration policy, a worldwide ban on depleted uranium weapons, support of physician-assisted suicide.<\/p>\n
In other words, bread and butter issues for a mainline denomination, known by most as the Congregational Church, that has come to be associated with its progressive – some would say liberal – stance on controversial topics like gay marriage and abortion rights.<\/p>\n
But sandwiched between those resolutions is an almost equal number of proposals that illustrate the cost the UCC has paid for its strong social justice component.<\/p>\n
These resolutions, which come from conferences in the Midwest and South, range from calls to “vehemently affirm” that marriage is a God-ordained relationship between a man and a woman to more measured proposals suggesting ways to keep conservative congregations from leaving the UCC.<\/p>\n
Since the last General Synod, in 2005, when more than 80 percent of delegates voted to endorse gay marriage, at least 220 churches have left the denomination, according to Faithful and Welcoming Churches of the United Church of Christ, an organization whose stated goal is keeping estranged churches from bailing out of the UCC.<\/p>\n
The UCC disputes these numbers, and said only 160 churches have left the denomination since 2005, and only 90 of those specifically cited the marriage resolution as their reason for leaving.<\/p>\n
Whatever the number, it doesn’t change the underlying truth that the UCC, much like the Episcopal Church of America, is struggling to keep its family intact as it grapples with questions about its own identity.<\/p>\n