General Synod 35 – July 2025 Featured COMma Article

General Synod 35

The MESA Team was at General Synod 35 and celebrated each opportunity to engage with authorized ministers, judicatory staff, church leaders and members, and youth at special meals and events, the exhibit hall space, and in plenary and worship times. Some of the highlights were celebrating the newly selected winners of the Antoinette Brown Society awards – Caela Simmons Wood, Melody Seaton, and Anne Holmes — a pre-Synod gathering of UCC military chaplains, a Search and Call Fair for Conferences and people in search; and special gatherings of MIDs, ministers in specialized settings, African American Women in Ministry, the Polity Teachers Network, Antoinette Brown Society members, those supporting lay-led churches, and COM leaders. MESA Team members led two sessions on UCC Polity with Synod youth in grades 6-12 and our data and profile team were present with computers ready to assist those in need of help with the new Database and Directories and profiles. And in and between it all, there were opportunities for meeting in person to talk about the present and future of authorized ministry in the United Church of Christ. What a rich and wonderful time together!

Some other gleanings from our time in Kansas City that will continue to carry into our work:

1. The landscape of authorized ministers and authorized ministry is changing rapidly, requiring creativity, commitment to one another, and excellent listening for the thriving of the church.
2. Four Pennsylvania Conferences are now officially the Keystone Conference as of January 1, 2026, and this historical moment of unity is perhaps the biggest but certainly not the only conversation about unifying ministry. Many of our Conferences and Associations are imagining new ways to unify the work of COMs to strengthen and enhance ministry, be better positioned to attract skilled COM members well suited to meet the needs of the church, and to address changing demographics.
3. For COMs to meet the moment of emerging leadership in the UCC, there is much opportunity for flexibility in responding to the unique situations of those who come before us, while seeking consistency in our practices throughout the UCC. Inconsistencies in practices from one COM to another are creating unnecessary obstacles and confusion for MIDs and ministers, and for COMs themselves.
4. We are better together! We do our best, most responsive work when we are listening well to one another – MIDs and ministers, local churches, COMs, Associations and Conferences and national ministries, as well as being in dialogue with our ecumenical partners.
5. Speaking of our ecumenical partners, we are excited to live into deeper and fuller relationships with historically connected and now new full communion partners Iglesia Evangélica Unida de Puerto Rico and Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (Germany). We will keep you updated as we learn more about implementation of these new relationships.

Some questions for further reflection:

1. Were any of your Conference/Association staff and/or COM members at General Synod? If so, is there a way to share their learnings and reflections on the experience with the rest of your COM?
2. Are there areas in which your COM’s practices and policies are different from the Manual on Ministry? If so, is everyone on your COM clear about why and how your policies/practices are unique from the MOM?
3. Are there covenantal partners with whom your COM could strengthen dialogue? What might be one step your COM could take in the direction of greater understanding and connection with others?