POTOMAC ASSOCIATION
UCC History Institute
April 22, 2006 12:00 pm to 6 pm

Location: Little River United Church of Christ
8410 Little River Turnpike, Annandale, VA 22203-2904
Telephone 703-978-3060.
[Note: At 7:00 pm, there will be a "God is Still Speaking Program" featuring "the bouncers" from the original advertisement at Little River UCC. It is hoped that people will stay for the evening program and have dinner together.  However, for those persons seeking to satisfy the expectations of the Potomac association for authorization in ministry, the only required part is the 12:00 - 6:00 pm Institute.]

Click here for a map to the church.

This Institute is part of a sequence of four Institutes that will be offered each year in History, Theology and Polity of the UCC by the Potomac Association, following the guidelines prepared by History, Theology and Polity teachers on the essentials of a basic one semester course. (see the Essentials list at the end of this Syllabus). The Saturday Institute format is designed to serve the needs of persons who cannot enroll in a regular semester length seminary course to cover this material.

There are two kinds of participants in these Institutes (1) full participants seeking formal evaluation (2) observer participants not seeking evaluation. Observer participants are lay leaders, clergy and the general public interested in knowing more about the UCC. Observer participants may do the advanced reading and assignments, or they may simply come and listen.  Observer participants normally will not do reports during the Institute, or field assignments, or post Institute papers. 

Each Saturday Institute syllabus (like this one) will be available approximately one month prior to each Institute.  Participants who have told the Potomac Association that they are seeking formal evaluation will be sent the Syllabus automatically.  Full participants seeking formal evaluation are expected to be more than observer participants - more before they come, more during the six hours of the Institute, and more after the Institute is over.

Proposed Future Institute Schedule:
History Institute:  April 22, 2006
Polity Institute: June 9-11, 2006 in connection with the CAC Annual Meeting, Delaware. Click here for more information about this meeting.
Theology Institute:  Fall 2006 TBA
Ministry Institute:  Winter 2007 TBA
History Institute: Spring 2007 TBA

Observer participants do not need to pre-register for any Institute.  However, those seeking evaluation need to be sure that they get and do the pre-Institute assignments, attend the Institute, write brief papers following the Institute and participate in a telephone interview/examination after each Institute.

History Institute
Instructors:  Barbara Brown Zikmund, Johnnie Mae Durant

Goals for the Institute:  Participants will obtain knowledge of:
  *Origins, development, significant documents, major events, important persons in the four primary constituent traditions (Congregational, Christian, Evangelical, Reformed)
  * Selected other traditions and/or groups within the United Church of Christ (especially, but not necessarily limited to, African American, American Indian, Pacific Islander/Asian American, Hispanic)
  *Founding of the United Church of Christ
  *Developments in the United Church of Christ from 1957 to the present

Pre-Institute Assignments:

1. All history is local.  The Constitution of the UCC says that the basic unit of the United Church of Christ is the local church. Do some informal or formal "research" about the history of one UCC congregation and come to the Institute prepared to share information. Maybe it's the church where you are a member.  Maybe another one in a nearby neighborhood or town.  See if you can find something written about the history of that church.  Interview a long standing member, or the pastor. Many older congregations have anniversary pamphlets that have good historical information. Bring handouts or pictures or even a 2 minute tape or video to INTRODUCE THIS CONGREGATION TO THE INSTITUTE.  When was it founded? Why? What traditions are part of its past?  What was it before 1957, if it existed before 1957? Where is it located?  Why? Was it always in the same place?  How many members did it have ten years ago, twenty years ago, etc.?  Have its racial or ethnic or socio-economic characteristics changed?  What is the most significant thing that ever happened in the history of this congregation (in your opinion)?  Come to the Institute prepared to give a 10-15 minute presentation to the group about this congregation.

2. Read one chapter from Hidden Histories in the UCC. There are two volumes.  Volume one is at http://www.ucc.org/aboutus/histories/index.html  Choose a chapter that you do not know much about and read it.  Make a one page handout about the story it tells and come to the Institute prepared to share it with the participants.  Email BBZ which chapter you are summarizing she will try to prod others to choose another chapter.  If we can get different people doing different chapters all of us will learn what is in the books without having to read all the chapters ourselves. If you have access to volume two, please choose a chapter from there (some people will not be able to get a copy of volume two)

3. Read a general short history of the groups that came together to form the UCC.  This can be done three different ways:

a. Read chapters 5, 6 and 7 in Louis Gunnemann The Shaping of the United Church of Christ .  Many UCC clergy have a copy of this book.  Borrow it, but read only pps. 111-196. Skip the first 100 pages.  Focus upon Why the UCC came into being? and the various historical groups that are part of the UCC tradition.

b. Read all of the essays in the Short Course in UCC History on the UCC web site
http://www.ucc.org/aboutus/shortcourse/index.html, or

c. Read the small white pamphlet History and Program of the United Church of Christ. Many clergy and churches have copies of this.

At the Institute we will have a game with each other about the names and events etc. that make up UCC history.  Make up at least three questions to ask others in the Institute about UCC history.

4. In order to understand the specific events that led up to the formation of the United Church of Christ in 1957 (the merger or union) read two introductory essays from sections of Volumes VI and Volume VII of The Living Theological Heritage of the United Church of Christ.  Here they are:

Living Theological Heritage Volume VI

Living Theological Heritage Volume VII

If you can get copies of LTH 6 or 7, read vol. 6 pp.503-518 and vol. 7pp.1-7.

5. Spend time at www.ucc.org to get a feel for what the UCC has been doing since 1957.  There are six years of UCNews archived on the web - browse http://www.ucc.org/ucnews/archive.htm.  Look at things under the "Justice" tab.  Read some old General Synod minutes. http://www.ucc.org/synod/  Come to the Institute with a list of five things that you would say if someone asked you "What are the most significant things that the UCC has done since it was founded in 1957?"  Be prepared to explain why you chose those five.

SUMMARY OF PRE-INSTITUTE ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Prepare to present the history of one local congregation to the Institute
2. Prepare to present one "hidden history" to the Institute
3. Read a short general history of the traditions that flow into the UCC, bring questions
4. Read LTH introductory essays about the merger or union in 1957
5. Read materials about the UCC since 1957 and decide on significant things to share

We are looking forward to spending Saturday April 22, 2006 with you.  The day is structured but flexible.  If you have some questions about UCC history that you want to ask, bring them - or better yet send us an email so we can prepare to give you good answers. Click here to contact the course instructors.

Here is a pdf version of this syllabus if you would prefer to print it out in that format. UCC History Institute Syllabus I

Click here if you want to download the latest version of Adobe Reader so that you can view .pdf files.