UCC Ministers Serving Ecumenically – December 2025 Featured COMma Article

UCC Ministers Serving Ecumenically

A UCC minister serving a Presbyterian church has contacted the Committee on Ministry Chair to ask if they need to do anything to retain their ministerial standing. They have been granted Dual Standing for the purposes of serving where they are but have not heard much from the COM since that process was completed.

Ministers with Ordained Ministerial Standing (OMS) in the United Church of Christ have a variety of options to serve in the settings of other denominations. They may accept such a call for a number of reasons such as limited options within the UCC in their geographical area, or someone from that setting reaching out to them to gauge their interest.

Our agreements with some ecumenical partners outline the process of how we are able to receive ministers for such service, but UCC ministers are not necessarily limited to these denominations. These agreements are detailed in Section 2:2 of the Manual on Ministry, and include:

1. Separate but similar Full Communion agreements with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Canada that grant Ordained Ministerial Partner Standing (OMPS) to one another’s ministers;
2. The Formula of Agreement between the UCC, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Reformed Church of America, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America that allows orderly exchange of ministers due to mutual recognition of ordination.

Once a UCC minister receives a call to a church in a non-UCC tradition, they may go through the OMPS or Dual Standing process in order to both maintain their authorized standing in the UCC and receive temporary recognized standing in the receiving denomination.

At this point, both the UCC minister and the sending Committee on Ministry each will be responsible for helping to maintain the covenantal relationship. This will be most clearly delineated in a Four-Way Covenant between the minister, the sending Association or Conference, the ecumenical church to which the minister has been called, and the UCC church in which the minister has UCC standing. In the case of OMPS, the minister will have a Five-Way Covenant that also includes the regional body of the receiving denomination.

For the Association or Conference, this Four- or Five-Way Covenant should include:

1. Responsibility for oversight of the minister, including communicating any ongoing requirements to maintain their authorized standing such as boundary awareness training or anti-racism training;
2. Regular check-ins with the minister such as invitations to meet with the COM, or intentional communications from the Chair or a designated sub-committee;
3. Invitations to the minister to participate in Association or Conference events such as annual meetings;
4. Other acts of regular support, hospitality, and relationship-building as developed by the COM;
5. Any necessary communication between the COM and the appropriate representative(s) in the receiving denomination.

A UCC minister serving in an ecumenical setting is an opportunity to strengthen denominational relationships. The COM has an important role to play in this through ongoing support of the minister who has been called to serve in this way.

Questions for Further Reflection:

1. Does your COM currently support any UCC ministers serving in other denominations? How do you maintain these relationships?
2. Has your COM ever discussed the UCC’s denominational agreements?
3. How would you begin a conversation with the minister in the case study above? What do you think would be most important to share with them?