This week’s post is written by the Rev. Dr. Patrick G. Duggan, Executive Director of the United Church of Christ Church Building & Loan Fund. Since 1995, Rev. Dr. Duggan has also served as senior pastor of the Congregational Church of South Hempstead in South Hempstead, New York. The church is not a business. The…
A new post from Rev. David Schoen. Rev. Schoen’s new guide Facing Your Church’s Uncertain Future: Helpful Practices for Courageous Conversations & Faithful Decisions is now available on UCC Resources. To contact Rev. Schoen, email him at dschoen@ucc.org. How does the age of clergy impact their congregations and the church? In 2017, Barna Research released a study on the Aging of…
This week, a new post by the Rev. Stephen Boyd, Minister for Chaplains and Ministers in Specialized Settings, and Ecclesiastical Endorser, a member of the Ministerial Excellence, Support, and Authorization (MESA) Ministry Team in the national setting of the UCC. In these challenging times, the Endorsement Office of the United Church of Christ finds itself…
On a recent Sunday, after leading worship at Groton Community Church (UCC), I sat in on a caregiving committee meeting at one of the most progressive UCC churches in our Association. Before long, the meeting devolved into a discussion about displaying the American flag in the church sanctuary during worship services. Sigh. Later that afternoon,…
What is the future of multiculturalism and American diversity now that Barack Obama is no longer President? And what is the future of the United Church of Christ (UCC) as a multiracial and multicultural church? As I write these words, it has been two-and-a-half years since Donald J. Trump came down that gilded escalator in…
In the nearly 20 years I’ve been in and around the United Church of Christ, no topic I’ve heard discussed has elicited more passion, argument, dissent, delight, and anguish than Outdoor Ministries, especially our camps and conference centers. The discussions I’ve heard have made even the most controversial votes at General Synod feel tame by…
We, the CARD team are in the midst of completing the 2018 annual data collection for the 2019 UCC Yearbook & Directory. I want to thank the wider church for providing updated information to us, from the local church volunteer inputting membership information for their beloved congregation, to conference and association staff updating authorized ministerial…
