UCC Series: We’re a Creative Bunch
Read the first installment of this series.
One of the things that I love about the UCC, and that I think we do exceptionally well in comparison to the other mainline denominations, is we’re creative. Now before the Lutherans start litigating about their creative forces, and the Presbyterians start pontificating about their artistic following, let me remind you I’m not here to start a war. This isn’t an all-or-nothing summarization. But you’ve got to admit, the UCC is creative.
Our structure breeds creativity. Worship is not standardized among the congregations in our church; you’re free to use (or avoid) the UCC Book of Worship… or the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, or the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship, or the Evangelical Lutheran Worship, or Joe’s Book of Pub Rules, or Sally’s Order for School Playgrounds.
Furthermore, Christian Education is equally diverse. And there’s a growing movement for bringing in the visul arts — probably because after centuries of whitewashed walls, we’re ready for some living color. And then there’s our national structure itself. Describing it as *creative* would be an understatement!
We’re a denomination leading the way for the use of technology in evangelism, mobilization and advocacy. Church House is twittering, facebooking and blogging. And for heaven’s sake, we’ve successfully replaced an image of suffering and death (the cross) as our church icon with a comma. A comma! It signifies not the end, but a continuation; not resolution, but open-ended freedom.
As a denomination committed to social justice, it makes sense that we breed creativity. Tough decisions require creative solutions. The UCC is definitely a place where the right brain need not check itself at the door.
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Daniel Ross-Jones serves as Minister for Youth & Young Adults at First Congregational Church of Palo Alto, United Church of Christ. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area for a time still measured in months, he is frequently getting lost and discovering treasures of a landscape very different from his Upper Midwestern roots. Green Jello Hotdish is a blog exploring the intersections of his days. 
