University of Virginia Library

The Providential Loophole: Union Church

The strategy paper for the development of new congregations passed in 1967 by the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. expressed a clear desire for ecumenical witness.

Joint development of new congregations with other denominations shall be explored as united ministries. When new congregations are

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to be developed cooperatively a clear and acceptable statement of the relationship of the proposed congregation to the sponsoring denominations [shall be stated] so that it can draw on the heritage and resources of [both] the sponsors. [7]

The Presbytery plan for the Congregation for Reconciliation had also encouraged such a united ministry.

This loophole finally allowed the Congregation not to compromise its membership and polity statements, a compromise practically impossible to make. The dilemma was resolved when the United Church of Christ, shopping for a new mission project in Dayton and having been impressed with the social action accomplished by the Congregation in its first year, expressed interest in supporting it as a union church. Even the secularists must have considered this event providential.

Since the procedure for incorporation as a union church permitted the Congregation to pick and choose from the requirements of the participating denominations, they were released from the restrictive requirements of the Presbyterians. Though formally they chose structural elements from both denominations, in reality most of the elements were UCC since their constitutional requirements did not call for a statement of faith and specified that authority should be vested in the, congregation rather than in the elders. As a token gesture toward the Presbyterians, the constitution called for the pastor to be subject to their tenure procedure and for a council to be established as an executive board of elders.

In March of 1970 both denominations approved the constitution, and on May 17 the Congregation for Reconciliation was formally organized. But this was not until a year and a half after its first meeting. Their viability as a social-action group had long since been established.