Traci Blackmon steps down as Associate General Minister

Following sabbatical and a period of discernment, the Rev. Traci Blackmon has resigned from her position as the United Church of Christ’s Associate General Minister for Justice and Local Church Ministries (JLCM), effective Dec. 14.

Blackmon had been on sabbatical through the fall prior to her resignation. General Minister and President the Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson will make a recommendation to appoint an Acting Associate General Minister, per the UCC bylaws. The Rev. Bentley deBardelaben-Phillips, executive associate and team leader of Education for Faithful Action Ministries, will continue to provide certain leadership duties for JLCM, which he also provided during Rev. Blackmon’s sabbatical. 

Blackmon served in her position for eight years, beginning after she was appointed acting executive minister for the UCC’s Justice and Witness Ministries in 2015 by the UCC Board following the retirement of the Rev. Linda Jaramillo. Blackmon then was elected to a full four-year term by General Synod in 2017, and reelected again by the UCC’s national gathering in 2021. Her term would have concluded at the next General Synod in Kansas City in 2025.

UCC leadership and Rev. Blackmon mutually discerned their visions no longer aligned and parted amicably.  Blackmon “provided leadership for the UCC nationally and internationally in the quest for a just world for all,” said Thompson. “As Rev. Blackmon leaves the National Ministries of the UCC, I invite your prayers with Traci as she lives into where the Spirit is leading.”

---

Content on ucc.org is copyrighted by the National Setting of the United Church of Christ and may be only shared according to the guidelines outlined here.