29.11.2014 Views

Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches 2010 - Cokesbury

Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches 2010 - Cokesbury

Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches 2010 - Cokesbury

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Officers<br />

Presiding Elder, Elder John W. Graybill<br />

Conf. Sec., Mr. Lee Wenger, 1625 Thompson<br />

Ave., Annville, PA 17003<br />

Conf. Moderator, Elder Gerald Brinser, 2360<br />

Horseshoe Pike, Annville, PA 17003<br />

OTHER ORGANIZATIONS<br />

Mission Board, Pres., Elder John Graybill, 35 Oakwood<br />

Drive, Palmyra, PA 17078 Email: graybilly@aol.com;<br />

Sec., Elder David Heagy, 4129<br />

Oak St., Lebanon, PA 17042; Treas., Mr. Robert<br />

Morgan, 1413 Harding Ave., Hershey, PA 17033<br />

United Church <strong>of</strong> Christ*<br />

The United Church <strong>of</strong> Christ was constituted on<br />

June 25, 1957 by representatives <strong>of</strong> the Congregational<br />

Christian <strong>Churches</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> the Evangelical<br />

<strong>and</strong> Reformed Church, in Clevel<strong>and</strong>, Ohio.<br />

The Preamble to the Constitution states, “The<br />

United Church <strong>of</strong> Christ acknowledges as its sole<br />

head, Jesus Christ . . . It acknowledges as kindred<br />

in Christ all who share in this confession. It looks<br />

to the Word <strong>of</strong> God in the Scriptures, <strong>and</strong> to the<br />

presence <strong>and</strong> power <strong>of</strong> the Holy Spirit . . . It claims<br />

. . . the faith <strong>of</strong> the historic Church expressed in the<br />

ancient creeds <strong>and</strong> reclaimed in the basic insights<br />

<strong>of</strong> the Protestant Reformers. It affirms the responsibility<br />

<strong>of</strong> the Church in each generation to make<br />

this faith its own in . . . worship, in honesty <strong>of</strong><br />

thought <strong>and</strong> expression, <strong>and</strong> in purity <strong>of</strong> heart<br />

before God . . . it recognizes two sacraments,<br />

Baptism <strong>and</strong> the Lord’s Supper.”<br />

The creation <strong>of</strong> the United Church <strong>of</strong> Christ<br />

brought together four unique traditions-<br />

(1) Groundwork for the Congregational Way<br />

was laid by Calvinist Puritans <strong>and</strong> Separatists during<br />

the late 16th-early 17th centuries, then<br />

achieved prominence among English Protestants<br />

during the civil war <strong>of</strong> the 1640s. Opposition to<br />

state control prompted followers to emigrate to the<br />

United States, where they helped colonize New<br />

Engl<strong>and</strong> in the 17th century. Congregationalists<br />

have been self-consciously a denomination from<br />

the mid-19th century.<br />

(2) The Christian <strong>Churches</strong>, an 18th-century<br />

<strong>American</strong> restorationist movement emphasized<br />

Christ as the only head <strong>of</strong> the church, the New<br />

Testament as their only rule <strong>of</strong> faith, <strong>and</strong> “Christian”<br />

as their sole name. This loosely organized denomination<br />

found in the Congregational <strong>Churches</strong> a like<br />

disposition. In 1931, the two bodies formally united<br />

as the Congregational Christian <strong>Churches</strong>.<br />

(3) The German Reformed Church comprised<br />

an irenic aspect <strong>of</strong> the Protestant Reformation, as a<br />

second generation <strong>of</strong> Reformers drew on the<br />

insights <strong>of</strong> Zwingli, Luther <strong>and</strong> Calvin to formulate<br />

the Heidelberg Catechism <strong>of</strong> 1563. People <strong>of</strong> the<br />

German Reformed Church began immigrating to<br />

the New World early in the 18th century, the heaviest<br />

concentration in Pennsylvania. Formal organization<br />

<strong>of</strong> the <strong>American</strong> denomination was completed<br />

in 1793. The church spread across the country.<br />

In the Mercersburg Movement, a strong<br />

emphasis on evangelical catholicity <strong>and</strong> Christian<br />

unity was developed.<br />

(4) In 19th-century Germany, Enlightenment<br />

criticism <strong>and</strong> Pietist inwardness decreased longst<strong>and</strong>ing<br />

conflicts between religious groups. In<br />

Prussia, a royal proclamation merged Lutheran <strong>and</strong><br />

Reformed people into one United Evangelical<br />

Church (1817). Members <strong>of</strong> this new church way<br />

migrated to America. The Evangelicals settled in<br />

large numbers in Missouri <strong>and</strong> Illinois, emphasizing<br />

pietistic devotion <strong>and</strong> unionism; in 1840 they<br />

formed the German Evangelical Church Society in<br />

the West. After union with other Evangelical<br />

church associations, in 1877 it took the name <strong>of</strong> the<br />

German Evangelical Synod <strong>of</strong> North America.<br />

On June 25, 1934, this Synod <strong>and</strong> the Reformed<br />

Church in the U.S. (formerly the German<br />

Reformed Church) united to form the Evangelical<br />

<strong>and</strong> Reformed Church. They blended the<br />

Reformed tradition’s passion for the unity <strong>of</strong> the<br />

church <strong>and</strong> the Evangelical tradition’s commitment<br />

to the liberty <strong>of</strong> conscience inherent in the gospel.<br />

Headquarters<br />

700 Prospect Avenue, Clevel<strong>and</strong>, OH 44115, Tel.<br />

(216)736-2100 Fax (216)736-2103 Toll-free<br />

866-822-8224 (866-UCC-UCC4)<br />

Media Contact, Rev. J. Bennett Guess, 700<br />

Prospect Ave., Clevel<strong>and</strong>, OH 44115, Tel.<br />

(216)736-2177 Fax (216)736-2223<br />

Email: kellys@ucc.org<br />

Website: www.ucc.org<br />

Officers<br />

Gen. Minister <strong>and</strong> Pres., Rev. Ge<strong>of</strong>frey A. Black<br />

Assoc. Gen. Minister, Ms. Edith A. Guffey<br />

Exec. Minister, Wider Church Ministries, Rev.<br />

Cally Rogers-Witte<br />

Exec. Minister, Justice <strong>and</strong> Witness Ministries,<br />

Rev. M. Linda Jaramillo<br />

Exec. Minister, Local Church Ministries, Rev.<br />

Stephen L. Sterner<br />

ORGANIZATIONS<br />

Office <strong>of</strong> General Ministries, National Office,<br />

700 Prospect Avenue, Clevel<strong>and</strong>, Ohio 44115.,<br />

Tel. (216)736-2100 Fax (216)736-2103,<br />

General Minister <strong>and</strong> President, Rev. John H.<br />

Thomas; Associate General Minister, Ms.<br />

Edith A. Guffey<br />

Justice <strong>and</strong> Witness Ministries, National Offices (as<br />

above), Tel. (216)736-3700 Fax (216)736-3703,<br />

Franklinton Center at Bricks, P.O. Box 220,<br />

Whitakers, NC 27891, Tel. (252)437-1723 Fax<br />

(252)437-1278, Washington Office, 100 Maryl<strong>and</strong><br />

Avenue North East, Suite 330, Washington,<br />

DC. 20002 Tel. (202)543-1517 Fax (202)543-<br />

5994, Centro Romero, 173 W. Hall Ave., San<br />

Ysidro, CA 92173, Tel. (619)428-8700 Fax (619)<br />

428-8705, Executive Minister, Rev. M. Linda<br />

Jaramillo Local Church Ministries, National<br />

Offices, Tel. (216)736-3800 Fax (216)736-3803.<br />

Executive Minister, Rev. Stephen L. Sterner<br />

US RELIGIOUS BODIES<br />

163

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!