Defining a denomination

By Colette M. Jenkins - Akron Beacon Journal
Monday, May 12, 2008 - Web Link
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May 10, 2008

The Cleveland, Ohio-based United Church of Christ has found itself in an uncomfortable spotlight because one of its 1.2 million members, Sen. Barack Obama, is running for president. At issue are video clips of fiery rhetoric from Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, that have been airing for the past month.

Those clips are getting more attention, following Wright's PBS interview with fellow UCC member Bill Moyers, and again after Wright spoke before reporters and supporters at the National Press Club.

For the 5,700-church denomination, the challenge is protecting its identity as a home to modern and inclusive theology, a historically white denomination with some pastors who favor black liberation theology.

"In some respects, the denomination has the same struggle that Obama has," said John Green, director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute at the University of Akron and an expert on religion in politics. "Obama's appeal is that he is a new figure with new ideas, but the downside is that people don't know a lot about him and some of what they are learning seems strange and unappealing.

"The UCC also offers a religious perspective that is new to most Americans, but some of what people learn about the UCC seems strange and unappealing."

Rather than allow media coverage to define the denomination, the UCC is stepping up its advertising.

"We're being defined as a denomination in very narrow and distorted ways, but we're looking at this as a time to give accurate information about who we are," said the Rev. J. Bennett Guess, the denomination's director of communications.".. We see this as a time when we seize the moment or accept the mischaracterization."

Last month, the denomination placed a full-page ad in the New York Times insisting the UCC does not require uniformity of belief from its congregations. In less than a week, an online campaign netted more than the $120,000 it cost. Another ad appeared in USA Today.