Should more churches use the "United Church of Christ" name?

In the Aug.-Sept. issue, a frustrated letter-writer took our churches to task for not owning and using the name "United Church of Christ" consistently. So, in periodic 'Soapbox' fashion, United Church News posed the question: How do you feel about the oft-missing 'UCC' from churches' public identities? Well, at least the topic was a good one. Your responses came swiftly and in unprecedented numbers. Here's a sample of what our readers said.

Definitely UCC always! I am a member of Faith UCC in Union, N.J., which is a merger between Emanuel UCC and First Congregational UCC. Emmanuel (the Evangelical and Reformed Church) always used "UCC," while First Congregational usually used it.

We made sure as we renamed the church that it included "UCC" so both congregations are proud to be a part. It was important to have it in our name, and it is important for others to know who we are. Get UCC in your names now!

Marilyn Russell
Faith UCC
Union, N.J.

You bet we should not only add "UCC," but the whole "United Church of Christ" to our church names. Doing so is a wonderful reminder of our rich historical and theological heritage and a reminder of just whose church it really is. It is not a club to which you belong, it is "Christ's church" and it is a united and uniting church!

Pastor Jill Meyer
Christ Congregational United Church of Christ
Clintonville, Wis.

What disturbs me more than churches that do not include an UCC identifier in their names are those churches that do so, but do not mirror or promote Christ-like values such as "justice that moves you to serve others, especially the poor, the immigrant and the homeless."

This core belief is what identifies a UCC church, as well as the name.

Ann Coburn
Cocoa Beach (Fla.) Community UCC

I say "yes." My strong support is for every church including UCC in the name. We can not be fully identifiable and reap the benefits of national advertising or publicity without our individual groups being linked to the national name. It's as simple as how easy do we make it for people to fi nd us when they look in newspaper ads or yellow pages when in a new town, or seeking out a new church.

Marion Durham
Desert Palm UCC
Tempe, Ariz.

I feel very strongly that "UCC" should be part of every one of our church's titles. My wife and I share a background and education with a different Protestant denomination, but once we became more aware of the UCC, we felt this was the denomination for us. I felt strongly enough that when I was the pastor of a "First Congregational Church" I always added "UCC" to letters and news releases. Long live the UCC!

The Rev. Bob Reich
Avon Lake (Ohio) UCC

I refer to my church as Congregational UCC. This gives the historical background of this particular church and identifies it as a member of the United Church of Christ.

DeAnn Paskausky
Fort Worth, Texas

As a member of a former Evangelical and Reformed church, I resent Congregationalists hanging on to their names. Is it so important to be differentiated from the rest of us? It feels as if they need to hold themselves separate and above us. After 50 years, isn't it about time to change? Especially since there is still a "Congregational" denomination that is distinctively not part of the UCC.

Joanne Klug
Zoar UCC
Waldorf, Minn.

My thanks to the editor for having the guts, after 50 years, to point out the refusal of the Congregational side of the UCC to hold in prominence the UCC over and above the name Congregational, while the Evangelical and Reformed congregations almost (I use that word because there is always an exceptions to found) unanimously eliminated [their predecessor names.] I do not personally know of an old E&R congregation that grudgingly tacked UCC under its original name. Maybe this says something about our collective interpretation of "united."

The Rev Arthur R. Stratemeyer
Retired UCC pastor

We need to be the UCC without the incorporation of old identities in the name plate. Who are we when we say we are UCC Congregational or UCC-Evangelical and Reformed? What is it that we are unwilling to relinquish? Would it not be wonderful that all Christians were united under one banner: United Church of Christ?

John and Patricia Love
Immanuel UCC
West Bend, Wis.

I do find the name United Church of Christ problematic. Our denomination is not well known here in Oregon, and people's initial reaction to hearing my church affiliation is surprise, confusion, mystification and the like. They assume it's a right leaning, conservative, fundamentalist denomination, which does not fit with what they know of me, so I need to do a little mini history of who we are.

I do think all our churches should have a consistent identifying name, but I can appreciate people's hesitance given my ongoing experience. So I vote for change and universal usage of a name that is clearer in describing us.

Jacquelyn Dvorak
Ainsworth UCC
Portland, Ore.

I was born into the Evangelical parent body of the UCC and was baptized in 1912 by my father, an ordained immigrant minister from Switzerland. I remained a member every successive year of my life, including the 50th anniversary General Synod celebration. During the term of the UCC's first president, the Rev. Ben Herbster, I was elected to Executive Council.

Our foremost role, as were dispersed annually among the Conferences, was interpretation of this new denomination. In essence our parent bodies were to become our legacy, with reverence and honor relegated to history. The onus now, and long since, rests up the local parishes to "live" their true UCC identity "so that we may all be one."

Louise S. Wallace
Shawnee Mission, Kan.

At the time of the merger in 1957, it was clearly stated that each denomination would be able to maintain its own identity and tradition while still becoming an integral part of the UCC. Many of the Congregationalists clearly understood this, as is indicated on the official signs and letterheads of their churches to this day. It can be said many of the Reformed did not, perhaps in their eagerness to embrace a larger unity beyond their own tradition.

Although there are models of success to be lifted up and celebrated, the results have often been disastrous when Congregational clergy are called to highly liturgical congregations of the Reformed tradition, without a clear understanding of the often very different beliefs and traditions — and vice versa. At times, the Reformed tradition has been, at best, watered down, or at worst, lost altogether.

If Reformed congregations should maintain their [original] name, as many Congregationalists still do, this is clearly for the purposes of maintaining the Reformed faith and tradition, even if it also includes "United Church of Christ" beneath it. What is lost, however, is the full breadth of ecumenical spirit and intention of the name: United Church of Christ, which I think truly exemplifies a Christian Universal or Holy Catholic Church that is beyond denominational labels.

The Rev. Raymond J. Jachowski
Pastor, St. Paul's UCC
Robesoni