St. Paul UCC church at brink of closing over gay-marriage stand (supported)

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/155852495.html ^ | 5/30/12

[dewawi]

The Rev. Oliver White knew not everyone at his St. Paul church was going to agree with his support for gay marriage.

But he never imagined that nearly two-thirds of his (black) congregation would leave.

And now, Grace Community United Church of Christ, the only UCC church in Minnesota with a predominantly black congregation, is in desperate straits. The church has until June 30 to raise $200,000 to pay off a loan, otherwise it likely will be forced to close, White says.

[dewawi]

But but, the Star Tribune left off the condemnation the Star Tribune would be filling the article with if this were WHITES rejecting "gay marriage"!

[rogue yam]

The pastor chose poorly.

[lightman]

In 1997 the UCC became a "full communion partner" of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America through its "Formula of Agreement" with three Reformed denominations.

Therefore:

Lutheran (EL C S*A) Ping!

* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.

Veni, Sanctae Spiritus!

[Lurker]

Dear Pastor,

How many same sex couples did Jesus marry, exactly?

Thanks in advance. And nothing but love for your broke ass “church”.

L

[fwdude]

Stupid congregants. It took THIS long to see what a rotten corpse this “church” was?

[DManA]

UNITED Church of Christ. What a joke.

[reg45]

UNTIED Church of Christ

[lightman]

I've seen it as:

U tterly
C onfused
C hristians

Of coure, to be fair:

E xtremely
L ibertine
C ult of
A ntinomianism

[hinckley buzzard]

UNITED Church of Christ. What a joke.

They may or may not be "United" but the "Christ" part is the real joke.

[upchuck]

Hey Oliver, what a piss poor job you’ve done of leading your flock. Blacks don’t much like queers. Fact. And you come out for queer marriage? Wow! Talk about misreading your congregation.

[sockmonkey]

So with about 110 men, women, and kids splitting that $200,000 debt, he wants about 1818 bucks apiece...or for a family of four, over 7,000 smackeroos.

Good luck with that. Sounds like the 210 who shook the dust off their sandals, don’t like the Gospel Rev. White is preaching.

[Puckster]

“The pastor chose poorly.”

He chose humanism over Christ.
Darkness over Light.
Evil over Righteousness.
Condemnation over Salvation.....of their souls.
There is a death sentence upon the flesh....he’s justifying the lost and trying to make darkness into light.

Socialism....darkness in action.

[sockmonkey]

From the March 27th, 2007 NYT’s:
In St. Paul, the Rev. Oliver White, senior minister of Grace Community Church, lost nearly all his 70 congregants after he voted in 2005 to support the blessing of same-sex unions in his denomination, the United Church of Christ.

It would seem Rev White also has trouble with math..Somehow he thought 70 men, women, and children were actually 320 men, women, and children when he added them up for today’s story, as opposed to what he said in 2007..

Gee, that would be almost 3000 dollars apiece on that $200,000 loan.

[randog]

"...Their [the congregation] fundamental belief was it's wrong for a man and a man to marry or a woman and a woman to marry. A lot of them said if I change, they'd come back. But I told them, it is what it is. I am who I am. And this is what I fight for."

The good pastor just didn't follow protocol. He should pen his "Gospel According to Me", submit it to Rome, who would then recognize his wisdom and command that The Bible be amended to include his divinely-inspired writings, THEN start preaching "the truth". Oh well, opportunity missed.

[MCH]

UNITED Church of Christ. What a joke.

In this case "United" is apparently a synonym for fudge packing.

[chiller]

So sooorrry Rev. Some of us can/have tolerated homosexuality but we won’t promote it’s legitimacy by acknowledging it as marriage

Love whomever you wish, but do not “marry” unless it’s man and woman.
The species depends on it. Capice?

[gigster]

I think, at this time, we need the Simpsons character going “Ha-Ha!”

[pepsionice]

A pastor generally....would have brought this topic up with the deacons. I’m guessing that at least half of the deacons probably were consulted. Several probably had issues and tried to explain what might happen, and the pastor with what deacons supported him....just went the other direction.

The odd thing here is that after they dissolve the church...your deacon status dissolves as well. So when you show up fifteen miles away at the next such church....it might be a decade before you get a deacon position again (if ever).

[publius911]

Tolerate perversion and suffer the consequences. It’s not rocket science. Their number is minuscule; their influence perplexingly out of proportion. But not always, nor under all circumstances.

[Honorary Serb]

I’ve seen UCC as “Unitarians Considering Christ”, which seems to be fitting.

As an Orthodox Christian, I won’t even go into a UCC “church”. That even applied to a community concert, which included my OCA parish’s choir!!!! I highly doubt that my Serbian parish would ever participate in such a thing.