I think that one of the issues why people today are becoming more suspicious of the institution of the Church is that there seems to be a problem with communication. Last time I checked I don't recall Jesus saying anything about the need to give people messages through third parties instead of talking directly to a person. We leave messages to be delivered on our behalf's by other people and then wonder why people are frustrated when they don't understand where or why there is this message. Example - this set of papers sounds too much of one thing and not another and that maybe causing you a problem is the message I received lately from a third party. The third party person couldn't tell me what sounded wrong or why. So now I have to track down the author of such comments and try to get them to explain. Why not take the middle person out? Why not just be direct? Don't want to use the phone there's email, letters, social media, etc. Messages and memos get lost in translation and people feel like they're talked about and guess what they have been. What about fostering community comes from this stuff? I'd argue nothing. I know this situation makes me question my affiliations with certain groups, I doubt others would be that far behind me.
For years now, I have heard in preaching and clergy circles about being political in sermons; the good, the bad and those who state that church shouldn’t be political. There are workshops, books, and podcasts talking about politics in the church with a variety of opinions. What do people mean when they make the statement that the church shouldn’t be political? The IRS has the most say about the rules for the separation of church and state/politics. If your church wants to be tax exempt, there are rules: don’t endorse any candidate or party, if you allow one party to use your space, other political parties also must be allowed to use the space, etc. The UCC’s general counsel, Heather Kimmell, has a webinar on this topic if you’d like to hear a more detailed explanation which can be found on the UCC’s YouTube channel. Churches have gotten “creative” in how to get around this, often partnering with another non-profit group to give support to a particular group. The UCC is proud to claim...
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