Pastor’s Corner: Off to Synod

June 19, 2019

By the time you read this, I will be winging my way (or rather, an airplane will be winging me on my way) to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the thirty-second General Synod of the United Church of Christ.

Unlike Sue Smith and John Narruhn, who will be voting delegates who actually have to consider things and make decisions about them, I will be a reporter and a photographer. This will be my eighth General Synod in that role, dating back to when communications was my primary ministry. As I did two years ago, I’ll be writing both for the news outlets of the national UCC and for the Hawai’i Conference.

In our system, with its deliberate diffusion of authority, it can be hard to see the significance of General Synod. Those who engage in ministries through the UCC’s national agencies or international missions have a better sense, because Synod votes guide their activities. The denomination’s governing documents are in Synod’s charge, including defining the ways in which we authorize people for ministry in the UCC.

This year, Synod will elect two people to office in the national church. The Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer has been nominated for re-election at General Minister and President, and the Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson (who preached at Church of the Holy Cross three years ago) will stand for a first term as Associate General Minister with responsibilities for Wider Church Ministries.

The voices of our national leadership make a profound difference.

I invite you to pray for Sue, John, and all the delegates who will decide the questions placed before them. Pray for their safety in travel and for their discernment. Please pray for me as well as I seek to share their stories faithfully and truthfully.

And to follow along, visit:

www.synod2019.org

www.ucc.org/news

www.hcucc.org

With aloha,

Pastor Eric