[Dialogue] {Disarmed} Spong and the UCC

[KroegerD at aol.com]

July 11 2007 
In Praise of the United Church  of Christ  

Throughout the course of my professional career I have always been impressed  
by that faith community which calls itself the United Church of Christ or the 
 Congregational Church. It came into being in its present incarnation 1957 
with a  merger between the Evangelical and Reformed Churches and the 
Congregational  Christian Churches. On the Evangelical and Reformed side, this church is 
the  heir of the German Reformed tradition initiated by Martin Luther but 
carried  even further by Ulrich Zwingli. The Congregational Christian Church goes 
back  even further to the Pilgrims. Some of the greatest theologians of the 
last  century, including Paul Tillich and the Niebuhrs, both H. Richard and 
Reinhold,  were part of this tradition.  
Today, Barack Obama, a member of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago  
is the first presidential candidate to claim membership in this Church since 
its  1957 merger. In the past both John Adams and John Quincy Adams were 
products of  New England Congregationalism.  
The United Church of Christ has always defined itself as open theologically  
and progressive on all social issues. This Church, above all other  
denominations, seems willing to allow its understanding of Christianity to  engage 
contemporary knowledge. That is a remarkably rare reality in church life  since for 
most people religion seems to be more a search for security than a  search 
for truth. In my experience it takes enormous spiritual maturity for  religious 
people to be able to discuss, debate and reformulate their deepest  beliefs in 
the light of new insights, since that involves changes both in the  way we 
understand ourselves and the way we understand God. I, for example,  cannot 
imagine members of this Church joining in with the condemnation of  Galileo or in 
the endless resistance to the breakthrough insights into the  origins of life 
that emerged from the work of Charles Darwin. With so many parts  of the 
Christian Church hiding in anti-intellectual stands, the United Church of  Christ 
stands out in clear relief.  
When we analyze this Church's role in battling public discriminatory  
practices we discover that it was active in the Abolitionist movement in the  19th 
century, when slavery was America's defining issue and in the 20th  century's 
Civil Rights movement, when segregation was America's defining issue.  In regard 
to the full equality of women in ministry, this Church opened its  ordained 
ranks to women in 1853! The UCC also ordained its first openly gay  pastor in 
1972. When I began to wrestle personally with the issues surrounding  
homosexuality I discovered that the materials developed by this Church for its  clergy 
and people to study were far more competent and bold than those offered  by 
any other ecclesiastical body. These studies dealt with current scientific  and 
medical understandings that successfully challenged the prejudiced  
definitions of the past. They also dealt with the biblical material that had  
traditionally been used to undergird cultural homophobia. Finally these  materials were 
designed to give members of the UCC a thorough knowledge of the  history of 
Christian persecution of gay and lesbian people. When I began to  engage this 
issue publicly I found leaders of the UCC to be far more supportive  of me than 
were the leaders of my own Episcopal Church. I was deeply  appreciative of 
their stance and said so on many public occasions.  
In the course of my writing and lecturing career, I have received invitations 
 to speak at vital UCC Churches in places as diverse as Ames, Iowa, and Fort  
Wayne, Indiana, in the Mid-West to Berkeley, California, on the West Coast 
and  Clearwater, Florida, in the South. Every UCC Church I have ever visited 
seemed  to be to be both alive and engaged.  
In recent weeks, it has been my pleasure to add two more UCC Churches to that 
 long list, both of which impressed me tremendously. These two churches had a 
 great deal in common. Both of them were carrying out their ministry in very  
conservative "Bible Belt" communities. Both had faced, or were in the process 
of  facing, the transition that comes when their long term and obviously 
creative  senior pastors reached retirement age. Both had established an endowed 
annual  lectureship, deliberately designed to stimulate creative, challenging  
theological dialogue in their communities. Both were growing congregations 
that  seemed to me to be a central force in the lives of their members, who 
seemed to  be not just deeply involved but eager to claim responsibility in their 
church  home. Both had attracted to their congregations a number of retired 
pastors from  various denominations, who wanted to be part of the life these 
churches were  creating. Both churches would attract me as a potential member if I 
lived in  their towns.  
The first of these was the Congregational-UCC Church in the heart of Colorado 
 Springs, a city whose religious climate is shaped by the presence of James  
Dobson and his right wing "Focus on the Family" ministry and is home to the  
14,000 member New Life Church, a gay-hating fundamentalist institution, served  
until recently by The Rev. Ted Haggard. Recall that Haggard resigned after 
his  lengthy liaison with a gay, male prostitute was revealed, but then made a  
remarkable "recovery" to "heterosexual normalcy" in about five short weeks. 
The  healing "therapy" that brought about this "cure" involved prayers, 
counseling  and a "Pavlovian reformulation" of his sexual orientation. Late night 
comedians  had a field day with that!  
In the midst of this bizarre religious atmosphere, the Rev. James White made  
his UCC Church in downtown Colorado Springs a beacon of light and a place  
dedicated to both truth and spiritual growth. Building on a relationship with  
Colorado College, a small outstanding Liberal Arts school with historic roots 
in  the United Church of Christ and headed by a visionary president named 
Richard  Celeste, the former governor of Ohio, Jim White and his congregation 
refused to  let that city be overwhelmed with the kind of religious literalism that 
seems to  mark our time. He attracted to his congregation many of Colorado 
College's  faculty and other professional leaders of the town. It was fitting 
that this  congregation decided to honor him upon his retirement by establishing 
the James  White Annual Lectureship dedicated to scholarly and progressive 
religious  thought. Building on their history this lectureship was to be 
conducted both at  Colorado College and in the First United Church of Christ. I was 
enormously  pleased to have been invited to inaugurate the James White 
Lectures. This  congregation has already chosen James White's successor, a very 
bright,  competent, Harvard-trained pastor named Ben Broadbent, who is building on 
his  predecessor's great foundation and adding the insights that every new 
generation  brings to the unfolding drama of Christianity.  
The second of these UCC congregations is located in Hendersonville, in the  
beautiful mountains near Asheville North Carolina. Historically, the primary  
religious expression in these mountains was strict fundamentalism. One drives  
into Hendersonville from the airports in either Ashville or Greenville, South  
Carolina, only to see large crosses along the road bearing religious 
messages,  urging drivers and pedestrians to remember that Jesus died for their sins 
or to  be prepared to meet their God. On one church, the sign warned that no 
one should  postpone coming to church until they are carried in by "six strong 
men."  
Fifteen years ago, the Rev. David Kelly, accompanied by his musician wife  
Jan, arrived in Hendersonville to be the pastor of the 1st UCC-Congregational  
Church. Since then this quietly competent man has transformed this church. 
Among  the newcomers who joined were two unique people, Walter and Jo Ann Ashley, 
he a  classics scholar from Oxford, she a lawyer from Memphis. Their marriage 
and  successful careers had taken them first to New York City and Tarrytown, 
New  York, and then in retirement to the mountains near Hendersonville, North  
Carolina. For years Walter taught the adult forum in this church, while David  
Kelly not only opened his congregation to new ideas and new possibilities but 
 also offered them his sensitive pastoral gifts. The church thrived and grew, 
 making its unique witness and ministry felt in that very conservative 
region. As  a popular retirement community for those whose careers have mostly been 
lived  out in the Deep South from South Carolina through Florida to 
Mississippi, the  area grew and this church offered challenges and opportunities for 
continued  service to these retired people who were, by and large, put off by the 
rampant,  local fundamentalism.  
Walter Ashley died a year ago in his mid-eighties as David Kelly was  
preparing to retire. Walter's widow Jo Ann and David Kelly then decided to  create a 
memorial lectureship dedicated to progressive religious thinking and to  
invite nationally known figures to this small southern town to deliver "The  Walter 
Ashley Lectures." I was also privileged to be the inaugural lecturer.  
The Ashley Lectures was held the weekend after David Kelly's retirement.  
Every seat in the church was filled. People came from all over that region and  
even from as far away as Raleigh to attend. This church was now overtly and  
publicly identifying itself as open and willing to think. Jo Ann Ashley  
introduced me at each of my four lectures which were based on my recent book,  "Jesus 
for the Non-Religious." The question periods, lasting one hour after each  
lecture, were animated and exciting. People now asked questions they had been  
taught were inappropriate to ask in their religious past. Theological issues  
were faced, doubts were expressed, growth occurred before our eyes and even  
homophobia and sexism in the church were engaged. I left with enormous  
admiration for the Rev. David Kelly, now fully retired. With both excitement and  envy 
I also began to think about that as yet unidentified United Church of  Christ 
pastor living somewhere today who will soon be called to be the senior  
pastor of this Hendersonville UCC congregation. What a lucky man or woman this  
person will be. What a privilege it will be to succeed David Kelly and to serve  
this incredible congregation.  
I salute The UCC, a church that can claim among its clergy giants like James  
White and David Kelly.  
John Shelby Spong  
_Note  from the Editor: Bishop Spong's new book is available now at 
bookstores  everywhere and by clicking here!_ 
(http://astore.amazon.com/bishopspong-20/detail/0060762071/104-6221748-5882304)   
Question and Answer
With John  Shelby Spong 
Anne from Pennsylvania writes:  
Can you please comment on Communion? I’m a church-going Christian, and I  
don't feel like a sinner or that Jesus died for me. I have read all your books,  
but I’m confused about why I receive "the body and blood" of Jesus. It’s got 
to  be more than remembrance. Can you share your thoughts on it?  
Dear Anne,  
You need first to identify the source of your understanding of Communion. I  
suspect it is not the Eucharist itself, but the inadequate and bizarre 
theology  of the Eucharist that is at the center of your problem.  
Much of traditional Christianity defines human beings as "fallen, victims of  
original sin and therefore evil." I reject that definition as both inept and  
uninformed. The problem with human life in my opinion is not that it has 
fallen,  but that it has not yet evolved into full humanity. I am a post-Darwinian 
 thinker, while the traditional ecclesiastical spokespersons are still 
thinking  in pre-Darwinian terms. That means I do not look to Jesus for either 
rescue or  for saving, as the traditional voices still appear to do, I look to him 
for  empowerment on my road to wholeness.  
So I do not view the Communion service as a re-enactment of the story of the  
cross where Jesus died for us or in place of us to satisfy an angry God, who 
was  intent on punishing someone to satisfy the divine sense of righteousness. 
I  consider this theology to be barbaric at best. It makes God an ogre, Jesus 
a  victim, and you and me guilt laden.  
I prefer to look at the Communion service as a time for the community to  
break bread together in the presence of the Lord. My experience in life is that  
relationships never grow or deepen until people eat together. That is what  
Communion is designed to do and be. The problem with the Eucharist is that a  
simple act has been overlaid with atonement theology and cannibalistic practice. 
 A reformation is badly needed.  
John Shelby Spong 



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