If I can of further help, please write or call me. We have pamphlets and
presentations which might help explain the framework out of which we live in fellowship with each other, and I would be happy to send them to you.Cover, T of C, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Editor’s Note: A reader noted that Democratic Party Presidential candidate Howard Dean had left the Episcopal Church for the Congregational Church over a dispute about the route of a bicycle trail, not the gay bishop’s appointment. He asked whether the NACCC held activist views like Howard Dean’s. Readers also ask about our position on abortion, capital punishment, and gun control.
In response to these questions, the Rev. Dr. Thomas M. Richard, NACCC Executive Secretary, answers that the NACCC is an association of churches, not a hierarchy that issues edicts on issues. Churches and their members decide for themselves.I want to respond to the question of why the NACCC does not take stands on political, social, or theological issues as an association. The reason is quite simple, but can lead to misunderstanding by some. These issues are local church issues, not national ones. It begs the question, however. If the NACCC takes no stands on such issues, what does it stand on? Christ is the head of the church. As far as we are concerned, scripture bears witness to the power of that affirmation in the lives of persons and local churches. It is the gift and responsibility of those local churches to interpret the scriptures in light of Christ’s life.
For example, the majority of members of any NACCC church might be in favor of capital punishment and the majority of your church’s members feel exactly opposite. Does it demean your stand? By no means. The New Testament portrays the church as a covenanted people who dare to follow Christ, and are in fellowship with other local churches who share both that awesome task and their unequivocal allegiance to Christ.
Our congregational structure does not lay claim to institutional authority. We are an “association” of churches and we take that to mean, on the one hand, we are not a judicatory which dictates how your church or any other member-church interprets scripture (other than Christ is the Messiah and head of the church). On the other hand, we are a fellowship of churches committed to work together in missions, Christian education, spiritual development, churches seeking ministers, ministers seeking churches, training candidates for professional and lay ministry, and a myriad of other ways yet to be explored.
Not wanting to give the impression that I am either for or against the recent stand of the Episcopal Church in favor of ordaining a gay bishop, I want to point to them as an example of an episcopacy-form of government, which is totally foreign to our associational structure. They made that decision for the sake of the entire Episcopal CHURCH. Leaders of that denomination spoke (and have spoken for decades) for their local churches. Indeed, for the entire national and international communion of local Episcopal churches. Local churches might disagree, but the decision will, I’m sure, stand. There have already been local congregations which disagree. In our case, we have not, nor will we act, speak, nor decide such things for any other member church. Does it take away from any of our member-congregations who might agree or disagree with the Episcopal Church’s decision? Absolutely not.
We are an association of churches through which counsel may be sought, advice may be given, referrals may be made, and resources may be found, but such decisions will not be made for churches. That is your church’s responsibility and is, I am sure, based on your covenant with each other and with Christ. The advice, counsel, and sharing of resources are the best of what we, and every state and regional association of Congregational Christian Churches, can offer each other. It is the heart and soul of fellowship. There may be debates in local church adult education classes. There may be forums at regional or state association meetings on such issues. Ministers will preach about their interpretation of scripture but all of those are environments of a local church’s choosing. The most the NACCC could hope for in these settings is that individuals speak the truth in love and respect each other’s ability and responsibility to be interpreters of God’s word.
If I can of further help, please write or call me. We have pamphlets and
presentations which might help explain the framework out of which we live in fellowship with each other, and I would be happy to send them to you.
Rev. Dr. Thomas M. Richard, NACCC Executive Secretary
Cover, T of C, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20