I just realized that my last post here was on May 29. Since then I've been writing, just not for this blog. Following the seminars and the reading which accompanied them, I've spent considerable time and energy writing two papers, one concerning the emerging polity of the UCC, and the other on lessons those of us in the church who've come from mostly west- and northern-Eurpoean climes and persons of other ethnic backgrounds.
The first paper traces the development of polity in the UCC from the 1957 merger which formed this denomination, from a polity with a presbyterian-accented congregationalism to a new model--still evolving--of what we've come to call "covenantal congregationalism" or "covenantal polity." Since this is still a work-in-progress, there's much more to be said and done.
The second paper examines some of the "hidden histories" of groups and movements within our predecessor denominations and the racial/ethnic groups with which they came in contact, through missionary activity and by other ways. The prayer which arises here is that we and our children not repeat the same mistakes and that we find better ways to interact with others we perceive as different.
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