Check out this list of notable people raised in or are current members of United Church of Christ

[Oilwellian]

Are we going to attack them as well for being members of the same church Barack is associated with?

This section lists notable people known to have been raised in or current members of the United Church of Christ or its predecessor denominations.

* Daniel Akaka — U.S. Senator from Hawaii (Democrat)
* Max Baucus — U.S. Senator from Montana (Democrat)
* Julian Bond — Chair NAACP (2004–present)
* Walter Brueggemann — contemporary theologian, poet, and UCC minister, retired professor at Columbia Theological Seminary
* William Sloane Coffin — Late Presbyterian/UCC minister and activist; 'pastor, prophet, poet'; former Chaplain at Yale University and Senior Pastor of Riverside Church, New York City
* Common — Rapper, recording artist, member of Trinity UCC in Chicago
* Jon Corzine — Governor of New Jersey (Democrat)
* Howard Dean — Former Governor of Vermont (Democrat)
* Mark Fernald — Former New Hampshire State senator pg 10
* Donald Hall — United States US Poet Laureate <42>
* Mills Godwin — Former Governor of Virginia
* Bob Graham — Former U.S. Senator from Florida (Democrat)
* Judd Gregg — U.S. Senator from New Hampshire (Republican)
* Jim Jeffords — Former U.S. Senator from Vermont (Independent)
* Dean Koontz — American writer and author. Raised UCC, now is Catholic. <43>
* John Williamson Nevin — notable 19th-century theologian <44>
* Barack Obama — U.S. Senator, 2008 presidential candidate
* Robert Orr — Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations <45>
* H. Richard Niebuhr — notable 20th-century theologian
* Reinhold Niebuhr — notable 20th-century theologian
* Sally Pederson — former Lieutenant Governor of Iowa (Democrat)
* Leonard Pitts — Nationally syndicated Pulitzer prize–winning (2004) columnist
* Marilynne Robinson — Pulitzer prize-winning (2005) author of the novel Gilead
* Philip Schaff — notable 19th-century theologian <46>
* George Smathers — Democratic Senator from Florida <47>
* Max L. Stackhouse — public theologian and professor at Princeton Theological Seminary
* William "Bill" McKinney — President of Pacific School of Religion, since 1996
* Paul Tillich — notable 20th-century theologian
* Andrew Young — Civil rights leader, ordained UCC pastor, and former member of Congress, UN ambassador, and mayor of Atlanta, Georgia

<48>

* Jeri Kehn Thompson - wife of Law & Order star and former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Fred Thompson

UCC people notable within the denomination

This section lists theologians and other UCC clergy and laypeople that are notable within the denomination but that may have little name recognition outside the denomination.<54>

Presidents (year order)

* James E. Wagner & Fred Hoskins — UCC co-presidents (1957–1961)<55>
* Ben M. Herbster — UCC president (1961–1969)
* Robert Moss, Jr. — UCC president (1969–1976) and author of the Moss Adaptation of the UCC statement of Faith.<56>
* Joseph H. Evans — UCC president (1976–1977)
* Avery Post — UCC President (1977–1989)
* Paul Sherry — UCC President (1989–1999)
* John H. Thomas — UCC president (1999–present)

Others (alphabetical order)

* Ron Buford — coordinator of The Stillspeaking Initiative and former advertising manager for United Church News.<57>
* Gabriel Fackre — Theologian; president, Confessing Christ; Abbot Professor of Christian Theology Emeritus, Andover Newton Theological School
* J. Bennett Guess — Editor of United Church News, the denominational newspaper
* Edith Guffey — Associate General Minister
* Louis Gunnemann — UCC polity theologian and former dean of United Theological Seminary (Twin Cities)
* Douglas Horton — Ecumenist, Minister and General Secretary of the General Council of Congregational Christian Churches, translator of Karl Barth into English, and early force in the formation of the UCC.<58>
* Rev. William Hulteen — 25-year veteran of the former national "Office for Church Life and Leadership" (OCLL) and spokesman for issues of "ordained and lay leadership, theological reflection and education, clergy placement, worship and spirituality, and congregational life".<59>
* M. Linda Jaramillo — Executive Minister for Justice and Witness Ministries (JWM)
* Josι Malayang — Executive Minister for Local Church Ministries (LCM)
* Rev. Otis Moss III — Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago
* Elizabeth Nordbeck — Professor of Ecclesiastical History and 11-year dean at Andover Newton Theological School. co-editor of Prism, a UCC denominational journal.<60><61>
* Charles Shelby Rooks — influential UCC pastor and scholar who, as president of Chicago Theological Seminary from 1974 to 1984, was the first African American to lead a predominantly Euro-American theological school.<62>
* David Runnion-Bareford — Executive Director of Biblical Witness Fellowship since 1994; pastor, Congregational Church, Candia, New Hampshire
* Reuben Sheares, pastor and former executive director of the national Office for Church Life and Leadership for the UCC.<63>
* Nancy S. Taylor — frequent denominational commentator, former Massachusetts Conference minister, and presently pastor of the historic Old South Church in Boston<64><65>
* Susan Thistlethwaite — President and Professor of Theology, Chicago Theological Seminary<66>
* Rev. Bob Thompson, president of Faithful and Welcoming Churches;<67> pastor, Corinth Reformed Church, Hickory, North Carolina
* Frederick R. Trost — founding convenor of Confessing Christ; former Conference Minister, Wisconsin Conference<68>
* Cally Rogers-Witte — Executive Minister for Wider Church Ministries (WCM)
* Rev. Jeremiah Wright — Senior Pastor of the 10000-plus-member Trinity United Church of Christ, a predominantly African American Chicago congregation.
* Barbara Brown Zikmund — church historian (Hidden Histories) and President of Hartford Seminary; unsuccessful candidate for General Minister position in 1999.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Church_of_Christ

[Nitrogenica]

1. Thank you.

[SoxFan]

2. Kick!

For Mark Fernald, who's on the list. Mark is a friend of mine and I supported him when he ran for governotr (I just wish more people had done so!)

[thunder rising]

3. Well if Howard Dean is there, you know it's suspect!

[Swamp Rat]

4. k&r

[Umbram]

5. Oh Noes! Hide me from the scary people! (nt)

[Oilwellian]

6. According to Wiki...

There are over a million Americans who are members of this church nationwide. Do they ALL hate America? :rofl:

[Critters2]

9. Yeah, we do. It's in our Confirmation vows.

Do you renounce all evil and/or the United States of America?

[Critters2]

7. And me!

Maybe not notable, but UCC.

[PatGund]

26. Not the only one

My fiance / primary partner is also UCC.

[Critters2]

34. There's a bunch of us here. No surprise, really.

Hi!

[TheZug]

8. They are all dead to me, just like Olbermann!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Oilwellian]

13. ROFL

OK, you just made me laugh out loud. Thanks! :D

[alteredstate]

10. K & R

[thevoiceofreason]

11. And me! Don't forget that great blogger thevoiceofreason

[Critters2]

12. You're UCC?!

There's quite a group of us hereabouts!

[thevoiceofreason]

14. Yep. The biggest UCC in Houston, Texas

First Congregational Church. It's interesting to hear a Connecticut accent in a Houston church!!

[Critters2]

17. I'm at a First Congegrational UCC, too.

Went to seminary in New England, and I'm always amazed at how often I hear New England accents at Midwestern UCC events!

TAMBO!

[thevoiceofreason]

25. Glad to meet you

Our church was formed in 1955 as many New England oilfield executives began to be transferred to Houston (as it became the center of gravity for the oil and gas industry in the US). They went to the local churches but were turned off by the open embracing of segregation and discrimination. They gradually met and decided to form a congregational church. They sent a guy to New England who saw a quaint church in Massachusetts, got the plans, and brought them back. They built the church and it is still here. About half of our members are from New England originally. Needless to say, we don't meet the standard demographic of a west Houston church.

[Critters2]

30. My church was founded when the local Presynterian church refused to take a stand

against slavery in the 1830's. This area was a hotbed of abolitionist activity, most of it led by Congregationalists.

Myself, I was raised in a German Evangelical UCC, which is why I can recite the Apostles' Creed in German--but that's all the German I know.

[frogbison]

24. Me too!

Proud to be UCC

[Critters2]

31. Welcome, frogbison!

I like your username!

[anamandujano]

15. Did any of them attend Wright's ministry?

My guess is no.

[thevoiceofreason]

16. Just like democrats - we UCC folks aren't monolithic

[Ravy]

18. I am sure one of them did. nt

[tokenlib]

19. And I recall Rev. Thomas (UCC pres.)at one of the major DC protests against the Iraq war...

...and believe me..a lot of other denominations would be afraid to have their leaders do that.

[Critters2]

21. He and Linda Jaramillo were arrested trying to deliver anti-war petitions

to the White House in January.

[Upton]

20. Great find, puts things into their proper perspective

[Auntie Bush]

22. They were all just members of the church. He was Obama's personal mentor.

Obama knew exactly what he stood for. Hang out with dogs and you get fleas and apples don 't fall far from trees. Rezsco is another example of poor judgment...just like Bush used when he befriended Ken Lay. Clinton had his share of nasty friends too! But he was severely criticized and Obama isn't! That's the hypocrisy! That's what's upsetting!

Obama supporters can drag out any criticism they want about Clinton...but they are incensed if anyone says anything negative about Obama. However, Hillary would never be able to comment on Wright or she'd be called racist and KO would give her another misogynist public spanking.

Obama isn't bad in my book and I'll vote for him if he gets the nomination but I have serious misgivings about many of his supporters on the internets who deliberately put the worst spin about the Clintons and don't give them the least bit benefit of the doubt on ANYTHING!

[Straight Shooter]

23. Same congregation?

Just wondering who Obama's political allies are that attend Jeremy Wright's church.

Being Catholic, I don't consider myself to attend the "same church" as John Kerry; I merely am a member of the same denomination.

[Critters2]

27. The only one in that list associated with Trinity, AFAIK,

is Otis Moss III, the current pastor. Reuben Sheares may have attended it, but I'm not sure. The others all belong/ed to other congregations.

[SaveOurDemocracy]

32. Uhhhh ... I think they were hoping no one would ...

catch that little distinction. :spank:

[anamandujano]

33. The important point is that Obama embraced this rhetoric from Wright,

while the other people on this list are most likely just hearing of Wright this week, like the rest of us.

[thevoiceofreason]

42. Embrace this! That is a top 10 stupid post.

[roguevalley]

49. if one embraces such rhetoric, one lives it. Point to ONE instance

where he lived this. THis man could have made a zillion dollars in corporate law but he chose to help the poor and disenfranchised instead. Is that the rhetoric he is embracing?

[thevoiceofreason]

50. And, he could not be more categorical in saying "wrong" than he has been today.

[grantcart]

28. Reinhold Niebuhr fucking Reinhold Niebuhr thats it I am changing to

Hillary. Thank you- I cannot believe how close I came to make such a tremendous error.


Niebuhr's ethical theology was founded on his understanding of St. Augustine and his influence on the reformation as he detailed in 'The Destiny of Man'

St. Augustine's father was a pagan and he kept a mistress for 15 years, and when he took the study of theology seriously he came under the influence of Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan.


Ambrose was deeply influenced by Didymus the Blind,who taught "in the liberation of all no one remains a captive," and believing that divine punishment is remedial in nature.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didymus_the_Blind


It is now clear to me that Senator Obama does not believe in the internal damnation of unsaved souls so I am now thoroughly convinced I should vote for Senator Clinton. Thank you.







(I should ever be so lucky to be on a list as good as that - Niebuhr should be required reading)

[Critters2]

36. At my seminary he was! Two of my profs studied under him.

They called him "Reinie", which always made me chuckle. The great Reinhold Niebuhr--"Reinie" to his friends! :)

[grantcart]

40. Were you at Union?

A million years ago I studied at Princeton. He was loved there - Of course there were stories about him having some of the same problems Spitzer had - do I remember that right (?)

[Critters2]

41. No. Andover Newton. But nearly all of our faculty were Union

or Harvard grads. So, they studied under one Niebuhr or the other.

[brentspeak]

29. The issue isn't Obama's denomination, but his pastor

Though I don't doubt that the Innanitys and Limblows out there will use this to denigrate the UCC.

[Neshanic]

35. Very much about his pastor of twenty years, not the UCC.

[Oilwellian]

39. I suggest you read up on the denomination

It's the one Obama chose as his personal religion. Wright was the pastor of his local church and worked closely with Obama while he was a community activist. They thought by working in unison with other churches, they could better address the issues of poverty within their own communities. Wow, that sounds like something Jesus would do. There are thousands of people who are members of Obama's congregation...do they all hate America? :rofl:

[laugle]

37. Can you find some

notable's from the TRINITY United Church of Christ, Obama's church? The MSM says they stand alone in there teachings with no affiliation to the others.

[Oilwellian]

43. Got a link? n/t

[JPZenger]

38. 1.2 million members, supporter of gay rights

The United Church of Christ is a mainstream religion with over 1.2 million members in the US. It is also one of the strongest supporters among religious organizations in promoting gay rights.

[Beregond2]

44. UCC

I'm delighted to see that there are so many members of UCC here, a denomination I have the deepest respect for. But where the heck have you all been when I've posted defenses of your church, and Christianity in general, and had abuse heaped on me for it?

Tillich and Niebhur both? Wow; I had no idea they were UCC. You've got some heavy intellectual firepower in your church!

Personally, I am an Episcopalian, but got fed-up with their shilly-shallying about gay issues a couple of years ago, and stopped going; but I miss it. I'd explore UCC, but there aren't any near here. Besides, I'm kind of a "bells and smells" guy...lol.

[Critters2]

45. Actually, there are "smells and bells" UCCs

but they tend to be in the Middle Atlantic area--former German Reformed churches. There's a website that supposed to function as a kind of virtual church/web connection for people not near UCCs. i.ucc.org (maybe iucc.org Can't recall for sure). I have a friend who's very involved in keeping it going, but I must admit I haven't paid much attention to it, so can't say how useful it is.

As for defending Christianity, I got tired of the fights a long time ago. You'll find many of us who feel similarly in the Liberal Christians/Progressive People of Faith group, here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=291

[Beregond2]

47. Group

Thanks a lot. I'll check it out.

[RiverStone]

46. OK folks - lets bookmark this thread and continue to refer back to it....

Until the Wright story fades.

Then again, maybe it is only this big on DU?

K&R!!!

[Scurrilous]

48. K & R

My daughter went to pre-school at the same UCC Bob Graham attends.

Scary place.

:scared: