Pastoral Pondering

Written by Rev. Martha Langford, Senior Pastor at Second/First Church of Rockford, IL

The Wonderful World of Polity

As this newsletter makes its way to you, I will have completed classwork with Pathways Seminary on the History and Polity of the United Church of Christ. The work has helped me appreciate the points of similarity and difference between the federated congregations of Second/First Church.
Presbyterians and United Church of Christ both have deep roots in the 16th Century Protestant Reformation when theologians and church
leaders sought to change church practices that didn’t serve the people or the world around it. Many of our predecessors found their way to the “new world” seeking the freedom to practice
their religious convictions—and would come to understand the need for separation of church and state in the days when being on the membership role of the local congregation was required to vote!

Pilgrims came to this country with the admonition not to petrify around the work of those early reformers. In his farewell address to the Pilgrim families, Pastor John Roberts gave his encouragement and the reminder that “There is yet more truth and light to break forth from God’s Holy Word.” The “truth and light” discerned in modern times
includes key practices and principles which the UCC commends to the local church: Just Peace, Open and Affirming, Anti-Racist, Immigrant Welcoming, and Creation Justice among others. These have corresponding practices in the PCUSA particularly through the Matthew 25 initiative in which Second/First takes part.

Both denominations understand that Jesus Christ is the head of the church, that members belong to the “priesthood of all believers.” We believe in ecumenical cooperation and collaboration as a necessary demonstration of the churches unity in Christ. Both denominations belong to the World Council of Churches and the World Council of Reformed Churches. In addition, the UCC is a “United and Uniting Church” seeking to embody that essential unity in response to Jesus’ prayer, “that they all may be one.”

In its 1957 founding, the UCC formed from Congregational, Christian, and Reformed Church in the US, and the Evangelical Synod. It married its Reformed theological heritage with Congregational polity described as “covenantal.” Local Churches are covenant partners in the denomination and make covenant commitments (or not) in response to the discernment work of each General Synod.

Perhaps the deepest difference between the two denominations is the unbreakable autonomy of UCC local churches. UCC congregational leaders must create and maintain operational By-Laws, there is no national “Book of Order.” One of the significant efforts of this congregation’s federation was the drafting of By-Laws that met with the
approval by both the UCC and PCUSA.

I’m excited to share the basics of our federated congregation this Fall through a series of Brown-Bag Lunches that will explore our history, our commitments, and our ministry together. Hope to see you there!

Blessings, Martha