Past as Prologue: General Synod Pronouncements
In 1959, when UCC delegates came together at the Second UCC General Synod, the Executive Committee adopted and presented to the Synod a statement on pronouncements. It set forth a new way of thinking about the actions and statements of General Synod and all national, regional and local church bodies in the United Church of Christ. The statement was reaffirmed in 1969. [GS Minutes 1959, p. 79 and 1969, p. 164]
Pronouncements, it declared, speak only for the body that makes them, and as such, although they are morally binding, they are never legally binding on other parts of the church. “Any agency which takes a position on an issue on which views diverge may serve to evoke creative exchange of thought and may, and frequently does, serve the Lord of the Church by stimulating the mind and pricking the conscience of the Church, its individual members, and of those outside the Church as well.” Yet, UCC members are often disturbed about General Synod pronouncements, arguing that no actions should be taken on issues where there is significant disagreement.
Over the years, however, the UCC has persisted in making pronouncements on controversial matters, arguing that the actions of General Synods appropriately should confront and stretch the thinking and theological work of the whole church.
This UCC understanding of church pronouncements is unusual and confusing. It is misunderstood regularly by the media, the general public and even by UCC members and clergy in local congregations. The Synod is not a formal “representative body.” It does not “speak for” the thousands of congregations that make up the UCC. It “speaks to them.” Under the headship of Jesus Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit, it challenges UCC members in local communities of faith to rethink again and again what it means to be the church. It remembers that “many, if not most, of the Church’s finest hours were when it stood for what the multitude denied or decried, and that the continuing symbol of the Church’s faith and witness is a cross.”
A monthly feature about the history of the United Church of Christ. The Rev. Barbara Brown Zikmund is series editor of The Living Heritage of the United Church of Christ.
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