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UCC sees donation
gain after supporting
same-sex marriage
by Heather Tirado
Gilligan, from the Web, April 3, 2008
Donations to the connectional
ministries of the United Church of Christ increased by over a million dollars in
2007 following its endorsement of same-sex marriage in 2005.
UCC's controversial decision a few years ago was a move that some said would
lead to financial ruin for the national church. But instead, the opposite
has happened, national church leaders said. During 2007, voluntary
contributions to Our Church's Wider Mission, the denomination's shared fund for
connectional ministries, totaled $29,637,048, up from $28,409,202 during the
previous year, according to year-end financial reports.
The UCC General Synod approved a nonbinding resolution in support of same-sex
marriage by an overwhelming margin in 2005, with the support of 80 percent of
elected church representatives. The resolution called on UCC churches to
study and support the need for equal liturgical rites and civil marriage laws
for same-sex couples.
When the resolution passed, the UCC became the first mainline Christian
denomination to call for the legalization of same-sex marriage. That
decision led to more than 200 of UCC's 5,900 congregations leaving the
denomination, according to the national UCC. Eighty-five other
congregations, however, took steps to join UCC.
"There had been speculation by some that this would spell financial disaster for
the national church. We didn't see the significant decline that many were
predicting," said the Reverend J. Bennett Guess, director of communications for
UCC.
Instead, 2007, which was also the 50th anniversary of UCC, was "a year of
significant celebration," according to Guess. The modern denomination
formed in 1957, but has existed in various forms in the U.S. since the colonial
period.
Guess said that the church experienced rejuvenation rather than decline last
year, which he described as a time of "good feelings, [and] a sense of unity and
support for the denomination."
"Giving to the national ministries in historical mainline denominations has been
decreasing steadily since 1960s," Guess said. "Anytime we see a reversal
in that trend," such as the 1.2 million increase in donations in 2007, "it's
something we note as significant."
Guess dated UCC's support for same-sex marriage to the mid-1990s. UCC's
efforts on behalf of the LGBT community began in 1985, when the Synod approved a
resolution making UCC open and affirming to gays and lesbians.
Guess placed UCC's endorsement of same-sex marriage squarely within the
denomination's history of advocating for social justice. "We see ourselves
as a justice church and we wrestle with the issues of the day," Guess said.
This view was echoed by the Reverend Dr. Wilfried Glabach, pastor of the First
Congregational Church of San Francisco, United Church of Christ, who emphasized
that "church is not just for straight people."
"The United Church of Christ is focused on a lot of social issue questions,"
Glabach said. He added that UCC is "very concerned about things that are
not in the right perspective, where people are marginalized for their race,
gender, sexual orientation or abilities."
Glabach said that UCC has been "very interested in helping gay, lesbian,
transgender people in the last century." His congregation welcomes
same-sex couples. "We hope that same sex-couples will be coming to get
their relationships blessed by us. This is something that we would like to
do, and I would like to do, in our church," Glabach said.
"It doesn't make life easier for our church," Glabach said of the denomination�s
support of progressive causes.
Guess noted, "The trajectory that the UCC claims encourages us and inspires us
to take steps that may be difficult but feel necessary." He cited among
the church's historical milestones ordaining the first African American and
first woman pastor in the 1850s.
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