United Church of Christ to vote on divinity of Christ

northjersey.com ^ | 16 jun 2005 | John Chadwick

[Lee N. Field]

A venerable Protestant denomination - at the behest of some of its conservative members - is preparing to vote next month on a measure declaring that Jesus Christ is the Lord, and making it mandatory for clergy to accept his divinity.

It may seem like a slam dunk, but delegates for the 1.3 million-member United Church of Christ may reject the resolution. Several Bergen County pastors, who aren't delegates to the convention, said they expect the measure to fail.

"Religiously speaking, it sounds like apple pie," said the Rev. Raymond Kostulias of the First Congregational Church of Park Ridge. "But there is a judgmental quality to it that implies very strongly that those who do not agree with us are condemned or damned or hopeless - and that's exactly the thing that UCC is against."

[Lee N. Field]

Linked from Woldnetdaily today.

Click through and read the whole thing.

[ConservativeMind]

That "denomination" hasn't been "conservative" for I don't know how long.

It is something just this side of the Unitarians...

[sirchtruth]

It may seem like a slam dunk, but delegates for the 1.3 million-member United Church of Christ may reject the resolution.

Ok, you name your church after the messiah, and then claim he's not?

[bmwcyle]

This is the church I grew up in and it has been hijacked by liberals.

[alnick]

The United Church of Christ is apparently misnamed. A more appropriate title would be the United Church of Whatever.

[Conservative til I die]

"But there is a judgmental quality to it that implies very strongly that those who do not agree with us are condemned or damned or hopeless - and that's exactly the thing that UCC is against."

Would this be an example of "If you stand for everything you'll end up standing for nothing?" Tolerance and diversity at all costs, I guess.

[Tax-chick]

We were UCC for years, too, but my father put his foot down around 1972, after his second tour in Vietnam, because the minister was outrageously anti-military.

[G Larry]

Gee, I hope He makes it!

The lame stream media would have you believe that popular opinion is so deterministic that if Isac Newton lost a poll, the damn apple would jump back up into the tree.

[TNCMAXQ]

If Christ is not divine, then what is the point of even having a church?

[HarleyD]

"But there is a judgmental quality to it that implies very strongly that those who do not agree with us are condemned or damned or hopeless...

I don't need to read anymore. Heaven forbid that we should say those who don't believe in our Lord Jesus are condemned. Or maybe heaven doesn't forbid it.

[jocon307]

"It is something just this side of the Unitarians..."

Well, at least Unitarians are still allowed to believe in the divinity of Christ, if they want to!

[Tax-chick]

Money.

[P-Marlowe]

I think this is the kind of resolution that should be put before the boards of all denominations. If the resolution is rejected, then Christians within those denominations will know whether or not they ought to stay in that denomination.

Fish ( <>< ) or Cut Bait.

[MinuteGal]

Words fail me that any Christian denomination has sunk this low....although I never thought the Inited Church of Christ was anything more than a social gospel/social welfare agency of sorts.

Please ping me if you get the results of this vote. However, I probably will view the results with the same skeptical eye I view CNN polls. Funny thing is, I don't know on what side they would skew the vote for the denomination's own benefit. Interesting.

Leni

[Revelation 911]

IMO - at face value it seems like were reaffirming what we already know - but youre right, - given the wackiness that has infected the body, this would be a good excersize in identifying problem areas

[hlmencken3]

LOL, at least the UCC is being consistent:

"In June 1988, the United Church of Christ’s general synod passed a resolution stating that the Jews have an abiding covenant with God and that they do not need to believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/jewsnolonger-obj-evang.html

[January24th]

When reached for comment, Jesus said he would not be attending the reading of the verdict.

[redgolum]

This is sad. The fact that they have to field a vote on the Divinity of Our Lord means that it is time for Christians to leave the UCC.