Posted on 07/04/2005 1:57:57 PM PDT by neverdem
ATLANTA, Ga., July 4 - With a movement to amend the United States Constitution to ban gay marriage picking up steam, the United Church of Christ became the first mainstream Christian denomination to officially support same-sex marriages today when its general synod passed a resolution affirming "equal marriage rights for couples regardless of gender."
The resolution was both a theological statement and a blow to discrimination, said the Rev. John H. Thomas, the president and general minister of the denomination, which has 6,000 congregations and 1.3 million members.
"On this July 4, the United Church of Christ has courageously acted to declare freedom, affirming marriage equality, affirming the civil rights of gay - of same-gender - couples to have their relationships recognized as marriages by the state, and encouraging our local churches to celebrate those marriages," Mr. Thomas said at a news conference following the vote.
Some churches and at least one conference had said that such a vote could prompt them to leave the denomination, and one group called for Mr. Thomas's resignation when he came out in support of the resolution. One amendment offered on the synod floor, and accepted, added a phrase acknowledging the "pain and struggle" passage of the resolution would engender.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The last sentence is missing.
These people are CINOs (Christian-in-name-only)
I dont see this as bad news.
I see this as a fringe group of "christians".
1.3 million members???? So in other words there are nearly 7x more Jews than members of the United Church of Christ. And Jews aint exactly large in number
Exactly
That's just not right!
It's Adam and Eve!
Not Adam and Steve or Anna and Eve!
Anyway, we have another priority at present: help President Bush and loyal Republicans to appoint a right conservative to the SC. A NOT impossible (but expensive) mission.
Matthew 24
3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
The UCC finally made the news. Most people ignore them. I doubt the numbers posted for them. Picture an old building, a few old people, a big endowment, brochures on social activism, and a newsletter bragging that they have no doctrinal requirements to join. That is the average UCC church. It is one step away from being Unitarian.
The UCC accepts all religious documents from all religions as valid. I think they read from them during the service.
The UCC is made up of the old liberal Congregationalists, the Evangelicals who merged with the Reformed to make the E and R, and perhaps some other liberal and non-confessional groups.
From their web page
Since 1957 other phrases have helped us articulate our distinctive vocation: We are a "united and uniting" church seeking renewal through the vision of Christ's prayer "that they may all be one that the world might believe." We are a "just peace" church committed to overcoming violence and oppression. We are a "multi-racial, multi-cultural church" yearning for the day when our congregations more fully reflect the vision of Pentecost. We are an "open and affirming" church where no one's baptismal identity can be denied because of his or her sexual identity. We are an "accessible" church cherishing the gifts of all regardless of physical or mental abilities. More recently we have been thinking about what it means to call ourselves "the church of the still speaking God," a church that believes God has yet more light and truth to break forth from the Word.
http://www.stillspeaking.com/about/http://www.stillspeaking.com/about/5:08 PM 7/4/2005
Just more proof of the ongoing apostasy. (2 Thessalonians 2:3)
What is wrong with the Churches of today! How can you embrace and encourage sin and call yourself leaders of the Christian faith.
There, that's more like it.
It's barely more than a cult no matter how you look at it, and with this endorsement of same-sex-marriage it may well have crossed the line.
I notice they said their actions were courageous, oh, really? In my view it is more courageous to do the right thing, even when it is hard.
The numbers frequently passed around are in the order of 20 to 30 million such folks.
The US does not do religious censuses so no one really knows.
Bye-bye, UCC!
Jews are about 2-3% of the US population. And yuore right many are non-practicing.
I think there are at most 14m Jews inthe entire world
The Governing Board of the National Council of Churches USA invites you to join them in this call to pursue peace and justice in Iraq. A Call to Speak Out.
July 4, 2005 This year our nation is at war as we observe the 4th of July, a day that honors those founders who spoke out for independence from tyranny. Today in Iraq a cruel dictator has been deposed, yet the suffering of the Iraqi people continues. Mandated elections have been held, yet the future of Iraq remains as uncertain as ever. Day by day the cost of this war for the United States, for Iraq, for peace grows clearer. No weapons of mass destruction have been found; no link to the attacks on September 11, 2001 has been shown. It has become clear that the rationale for invasion was at best a tragic mistake, at worst a clever deception.
As people of faith, we believe in the transcendent sovereignty and love of God for creation, and that the responsibility of human beings is thus to pursue justice and peace for all. We also believe that, as the biblical prophets of old, who in faithfulness to God spoke out to a people and a nation they loved, in humility before God we too are to speak to a land and people we love. As religious leaders we invite others who share our affections and dismay to recognize the time has come to speak out.
The time has come to say: - NO to leaders who have sent many honorable sons and daughters to fight a dishonorable war;
- NO to the violence that has cost over sixteen hundred American lives, left thousands grievously injured, and killed untold numbers of Iraqis whose deaths we are unwilling to acknowledge or count;
- NO to the abuse of prisoners that has shamed our nation and damaged our reputation throughout the world;
- NO to the price tag for this war that has rendered our federal budget incapable of adequately caring for the poorest of our own citizens; and,
- NO to theologies that demonize other nations and religions while arrogantly claiming righteousness for ourselves as if we share no complicity in human evil. The time has come to say:
- YES to foreign policies that seek justice rather than domination, compassion rather than control;
- YES to an early fixed timetable for the withdrawal of United States troops and the establishment of a credible multinational peacekeeping force;
- YES to the honoring of human rights even for our enemies and for a restoration of our reputation as a people committed to the rule of law;
- YES to spending and taxing priorities that put the poor first, providing health care, housing, employment, and quality education for all, not just the few; and,
- YES to a restoration of truth telling in the public square and to "last resort" rather than "first strike" as the criterion for the use of force to restrain evil. On the day we celebrate our freedom, we acknowledge that the freedom promised in the toppling of a dictator has been replaced by the humiliation of occupation and the violence of a civil war. The sacrifice of brave men and women has been used to serve policies that have diminished our nation's prestige and our capacity to be agents of justice in the world.
It is time to speak out that this 4th of July will celebrate the best ideals of our nation for our sake and for the sake of the world.
There is no right without a remedy.
If marriage is now a right, should I not be able to sue the government to provide me a wife?
For a moment, I thought you were talking about the Presbyterian Church USA.
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