Rock on, United Church of Christ

I LOVE the fact that my United Church of Christ has been so much in the news with the Obama /Trinity UCC thing - and that my boys are rising to the occasion with a NYTimes ad in tomorrow's paper. What a grat opportunity to take it to the streets and deepen the conversation. Rock on... Here is the text:

Much has been said about the United Church of Christ in
recent weeks, much of it hurtful for many in our country,
including members of Trinity UCC in Chicago. That is
why we are eager to share the broad and diverse story of
the United Church of Christ, one that we celebrate.
With all Christians, we rest in God’s amazing grace and
hear God’s voice in the words of Scripture.

Yet, the UCC is unique to some because we do not require uniformity
of belief. We are a church of open ideas, extravagant
welcome and evangelical courage. Our passion for
democracy extends to both government and church, where decision-making rests within each congregation. We support liberty in our pulpits, just as we affirm the individual conscience of our 1.2-million members to agree, disagree and wrestle with life’s biggest questions in a spirit of love.

Our story is this nation’s story. We are the people of the Mayflower. More than 600 of our 5,700 congregations were formed before 1776. Eleven signers of the Declaration of Independence were members of UCC predecessor bodies. As early abolitionists, we came to the aid of the Amistad captives and founded hundreds of schools across the South after the Civil War. We were the first mainline church to ordain an African-American (1785), a woman (1853) and an openly gay pastor (1972). We were also the first to form a foreign mission
society (1810). Our multi-ethnic membership includes persons from every immigrant group, as well as native peoples and descendants of freed slaves.

Our unity is not dependent upon uniform agreement, but in our shared allegiance to Jesus Christ. Ours is a risk-taking church, because ours is a risk-taking God.