Polity Institute
Date and Time:
June 10, 2011 10:00 am to 3:30 pm
June 11, 2011 all day until the end of the business session
Location:
Central Atlantic Conference UCC Annual Meeting
University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware
Friday sessions in Clayton Hall
Bring a lunch, we will only take a short break for lunch
Please pre-register for the CAC Annual Meeting by going to http://www.cacucc.org Do this before May 1, 2011 to avoid an extra fee.
This Institute is part of a sequence of four Institutes offered each year in History, Polity, Theology and Ministry 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). They will all meet from 10 am to 4 pm on a Saturday, with the exception of the Polity Institute which will meet on Friday from 10 am to 4 pm and require Saturday attendance at the CAC Annual meeting at the University of Delaware, or attendance at another wider church meeting, such as an Association Meeting, or General Synod. The Institute format is designed to serve the needs of persons who cannot enroll in a regular semester length seminary course to cover this material.
Participants may start the cycle of four Institutes at any point in the cycle.
If a person needs formal evaluation in order to gain privilege of call or ordination, s/he is expected to do the reading and other types of assignments before coming to the Institute (resources posted here). There is an Evaluation Fee of $25 for those seeking authorized ministerial standing. Observer participants (those not seeking evaluation) are welcome and strongly encouraged to do the advanced reading and assignments.
ASSIGNMENTS:
All required reading assignments may be downloaded from this website or from other websites available on the worldwide web. Other practical field assignments may be made requiring interviews, site visits, or attendance at meetings. Additional reading related to the topics covered is encouraged, but not required. These UCC Institutes are enrichment opportunities for all members of the UCC who want to learn more about the history, polity, theology and ministry of the UCC.
INSTRUCTORS:
Barbara Brown Zikmund, retired church historian, seminary educator, UCC author beebeezee@verizon.net
Hank Fairman, Pastor for Children, Youth & Families at Rock Spring Congregational UCC in Arlington, VA and recent Moderator of the Potomac Association UCC. hank@rockspringucc.org
Goals for the Polity Institute:
(from the Essentials document)
Participants will obtain knowledge of
* Constituent parts of the United Church of Christ i.e., local church, conferences and associations, national setting, General Synod (Constitution and Bylaws)
* Past and present structure of the United Church of Christ (“covenantal polity”)
* Patterns of accountability and autonomy in the various settings of the church
Pre-Institute Assignments:
1. What is UCC Polity? Read
Edward Long, Patterns of Polity: Varieties of Church Government, “Introduction” pps. 1-9 “Associational Congregationalism” pps. 119-128.
Toward an Understanding of Local Autonomy 1963
2. UCC Polity is based upon the concept of “covenant”. Read
United Church of Christ Manual on the Church (draft, Jan. 2005)
Randi Walker, The Evolution of a UCC Style: History, Ecclesiology, and Culture of the United Church of Christ, Chap. 5 ”Covenant Community: Congregationalism and its Discontents.”
3. The various settings of the UCC Read
Constitution and By Laws of the United Church of Christ
Prism articles on Conferences and the Role of the Conference Minister
Allen M. Comstock “Pastor as Church Member” from the Confessing Christ Newsletter 2005
Peter Schmiechen, “The New Constitution and By Laws,” Prism 2000
“On Pronouncements” General Synod 1959
“Delegates” First Congregtional UCC Washington, DC 1965
(The highlighted articles can be downloaded using Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have this software on your computer, you can download a free version at www.adobe.com.)
4. Visit the websites of three conferences. One from Group A = ILLINOIS, CONNECTICUT, or OHIO and one from Group B = SOUTHWEST, KANSAS OKLAHOMA, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NEVADA. Also go to the website of CENTRAL ATLANTIC. How is group A different from group B and how does CAC differ from other Conferences?
5.. CASE STUDY ON GOVERNANCE CHANGES Go to http://www.ucc.org/governance/ and look at resources there. Read the text of the action taken at the last General Synod “Toward United Governance for the National Setting of the United Church of Christ ” adopted by GS 27 http://www.ucc.org/governance/toward-unified-governance.pdf
Read the text of the Fall 2008 proposal that was brought to General Synod in 2008. Although it was not passed, it is the basis for actions that will be taken in Tampa at General Synod in July 2011. http://www.ucc.org/governance/proposal.pdf
Read the proposal for Unified Governance and the proposed new Constitution and Bylaws that will be brought to General Synod in July 2011 http://www.ucc.org/governance/finalproposal.pdf
Read the texts of the proposed Constitution and Bylaws.
http://www.ucc.org/synod/constitution-and-bylaws.html
6. Read Calling the UCC to become a Multiracial and Multicultural Church 1993
Read Calling the UCC to be an Anti-Racist Church 2003
Read Resolution on American Indian Boarding Schools 2003
Be prepared to report on how your congregation has addressed racism.
7. Plan to attend one of the workshops being offered on Saturday and other parts of the Annual meeting program, or attend the Potomac Association meeting on May 7. On the evaluation phone call be prepared to talk about your experience of UCC polity in action
Summary of Pre-Institute Assignments:
1. Read basic information about polity and what polity is.
2. Read two major essays about “covenant” polity and how it works.
3. Read the current Constitution and By Laws of the UCC and several articles about how the various settings of the UCC relate to each other.
4. Read the websites of three UCC Conferences, including CAC.
5. Read resources at http://ucc.org/governance, We will have a case study on GOVERNANCE and explore the history of governance issues and the proposed new Constitution and Bylaws.
6.. Read materials on racism from 1993 and 2003. Be prepared to discuss the UCC is addressing issues of racism.
7. Plan to attend one of the workshops offered on Saturday, as well as the opening session on Friday at 4 pm. Or plan to attend the Potomac Association Spring meeting on May 7.
