Discernment to Affiliate with the United Church of Christ:
This page is for MCC in the Valley Members and Friends. We are exploring affiliating with the United Church of Christ. We will have guest speakers from the UCC and presentations, an opportunity to picnic with several UCC Churches one Sunday and to meet the Southern California / Nevada Conference.
This exploration does not mean we are leaving the MCC movement of churches. We value the legacy and charism of the Founder, Rev. Troy Perry . We are adding an additional affiliation to our commitments as a church.
We will make a decision in prayer at the end of our discernment process. Discernment is a spiritual decision made in prayer. One person styled discernment as “prayer-dreaming.” It can be described as process of attempting to understand God’s desire for us individually or as a community. It is a search in our hearts and souls as we quietly listen to God and to find an answer to a question.
The question is not just simply: Should we add on an affiliation with the United Church of Christ and become an MCC/UCC church? Rather, the question is how best can MCC in the Valley serve Christ and Christ’s people? Can we serve better the people of God by ourselves as MCC churches, or can we better serve the people of God together with UCC, sharing our resources and working together to impact today’s troubled world.
My first recommendation is to go to the United Church of Christ’s website and explore. Learn about its history, resources, vision of justice and spirituality. Check out the section on environmental justice. Bring your questions to the clergy of the congregation and to our guest presenters. Learn, listen, explore, and pray individually and together. God will answer us as we listen to God in our hearts disposed to generous service.
I am always available for conversations about our discernment:
Rev. Bob
Videos Shown On Our First Discernment Sunday
Video Of Our Second Discernment Sunday
Q & A with Rev. William Johnson
