(704) 599-9810 | Worship Sundays @ 10:55 a.m.
(704) 599-9810 | Worship Sundays @ 10:55 a.m.
Jul 14, 2025
This week, Pastor Chris is representing Holy Covenant UCC at General Synod 35, the national gathering of the United Church of Christ taking place in Kansas City, Missouri. We are posting daily updates to this news story so check back daily.
For many in our congregation, the phrase “General Synod” may be unfamiliar. Simply put, General Synod is where the wider UCC gathers every two years to worship, learn, organize, and discern—together. Delegates from UCC churches across the country come to pray, reflect, and vote on resolutions that speak to the moral and spiritual convictions of our denomination. While these resolutions are not binding on local churches (reflecting the autonomy and covenantal polity of the UCC), they serve as important declarations of our shared values and collective witness in the world.
Pastor Chris has shared that one of his hopes in attending Synod is to help Holy Covenant better understand how our local ministry is connected to the wider movement of God’s justice and love in the UCC. Throughout the week, he will be posting daily reflections and photos on his Substack blog that offer a window into Synod life—what he’s seeing, hearing, and experiencing—and how it might shape our life together as a congregation.
We will update this post with his reflections as they arrive. In the meantime, you are invited to follow along through the UCC’s official Facebook page or via the hashtags #GeneralSynod35 and #UCCJustice on social media.
The General Synod is the national decision-making body of the UCC, meeting every three years to provide direction on the denomination’s mission, evangelism, and justice initiatives. While decisions made at Synod are not binding on individual congregations, each UCC church remains autonomous, they carry significant moral and spiritual weight across the wider church…
My day began with the third plenary session, which featured a State of the Church address from our General Minister and President, Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson. In her message, she spoke about the current realities of the United Church of Christ, lifting up both the challenges we face as an denomination and the places where God’s Spirit is still moving powerfully among us…
Today there were dozens of workshops offered to those at General Synod, making it difficult to choose which ones to attend. These workshops covered everything from worship practices to global justice issues, including climate change, LGBTQ+ advocacy, and the intersections of faith and politics…
It had been 11 years since I last set foot on the grounds of Unity Village. The last time I was there, I was a seminary student working for Silent Unity’s telephone prayer ministry. When I left, I walked away not only from the seminary but from the denomination itself. A departure that was shaped by a myriad of reasons, some of them deeply painful. The wounds of which took time to heal…
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