UCC Roots Archives - United Church of Christ

A Woman Who Expanded Her Calling

Chris Gabriel — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 13:00:00 +0000

The growth and development of the United Church of Christ has become more and more diverse. It preserves traditions. It honors various legacies and explores new assumptions. Audrey Miller (1938-2019) began her vocation as a nun. As a Roman Catholic…

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Education By Women, For Women

Chris Gabriel — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Much has been said about the accomplishments of the feminist movement that erupted in the 1970s in the secular world. Less is celebrated, however, about this same feminist energy in theological education and the church. Florence Amanda Fensham (1861-1912) has…

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Dosia Carlson: A Long Life that Made a Difference

Chris Gabriel — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 13:00:00 +0000

She was a young woman born in 1930 who wanted to become a missionary in China. However, after an encounter with Polio, her life unfolded in new ways. She studied at Oberlin College, attended a seminary, was ordained, earned a…

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Black Leadership in the UCC

Chris Gabriel — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Church leaders are shaped in memorable ways. Michael Collin Murphy (1952-2014) attended DePaul University, obtained a counseling degree at Michigan State University, and earned a Masters’ degree and Doctorate from Chicago Theological Seminary. He was ordained in the African Methodist…

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A Leader with a Vision of Church Union

Chris Gabriel — Thu, 01 Jul 2021 13:00:00 +0000

It could rightly be said that the grand experiment that created the United Church of Christ began when clergy from several denominations began meeting informally in St. Louis, Missouri in the 1930s. They were interested in discussing their theological traditions,…

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Anton T. Boisen and Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE)

Chris Gabriel — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 12:40:19 +0000

Pastoral education for American clergy changed dramatically during the 20th century. Theological seminaries had been shaped by Biblical scholars and liturgical traditions focused on scholarship. However, the most important changes in theological education were shaped by a man named Anton…

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The First Female Executive in the United Church of Christ

Chris Gabriel — Sat, 01 May 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Church history scholars regularly celebrate the stories of church leaders by focusing on ordained men who serve local congregations, manage denominational tasks, shape theology, and define church identity. Although lay women are often more active members in Christian churches, honoring…

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Martyn Summerbell: Educator and Unifier

Staff Reports — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

As immigrants settled in North America in the 1800s, religious zeal and church life changed. Some Christians did not believe that certain doctrines and practices were needed. They refused to be affiliated with any denomination and simply called themselves and…

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Roger Shinn and the UCC Statement of Faith

Staff Reports — Sun, 14 Mar 2021 16:58:36 +0000

Roger Shinn (1917- 2013) was a key member of that team. Born in Germantown, Ohio, and rooted in Evangelical and Reformed history, Shinn studied at Heidelberg College and later at Union Theological Seminary in New York. He served in the…

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Women Often Make a Difference

Staff Reports — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 14:00:00 +0000

During the early twentieth century, the education of girls in Turkey centered on teaching skills that would prepare them to be wives and mothers. “Home Economics” dominated the curriculum. Congregational women in the United States wanted to improve education for…

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Committed to Church and Education

Staff Reports — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Charles Shelby Rooks (1924-2001) was a well-known African American United Church of Christ leader. When he died people celebrated his life in the Amistad Chapel at the UCC “Church House” in Cleveland. As far back as 1879 the Rooks’ family…

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Abner Jones and Our Christian Tradition

Chris Gabriel — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 15:04:23 +0000

Frontier settlers in early America were not impressed with religious institutions. Many of them rejected all formal church practices. They insisted that the Bible was enough, private judgement should prevail, character was an adequate test, Christ was the head of…

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Don West: An Agitator

Chris Gabriel — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 06:01:00 +0000

Jesus was a common man, able to slip through a crowd unseen, and often not recognized by religious authorities. Don West (1906-1992) could as well. The son of Georgia sharecroppers, he was a poet, editor, professor, teacher, coal miner, farmer,…

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Seven Remarkable Women

Chris Gabriel — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 04:29:10 +0000

Introducing “UCC Roots” from the United Church of Christ Historical Council Seven remarkable women, hosted by the UCC Historical Council, came to the 30th General Synod in Cleveland last month. Anne Hutchinson, a Puritan rebel, told us about how she…

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Scott Libbey: A Global Servant for the World-Wide Church

Staff Reports — Tue, 01 Dec 2020 19:00:03 +0000

Most clergy spend the years of their ministry as pastors serving the needs of local congregations. However, there are others who are called to serve in wider church settings, stretching horizons and expanding ministries. Scott S. Libbey (1929-2006) was one…

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Rev. Jonathan Fisher: A Frontier Minister who made a Difference

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 17:00:05 +0000

In 1762, a handful of New Englanders settled in what eventually became Blue Hill, Maine, a harbored spot just east of Penobscot Bay. After the Revolutionary War, the New England frontier moved northward from the Boston area and by the…

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A Theologian Passionate about Civil Rights and Justice

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Wed, 01 May 2019 17:00:03 +0000

Sometimes people think that theology is boring. However, there is a memorable moment in the 1960s when a well-known professor at a major university jumped out of the window (of a first floor classroom) to help his students expand their…

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The First President of the United Church of Christ

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 17:00:02 +0000

The United Church of Christ came into existence in 1957. For its first four years, leaders from the Congregational Christian and Evangelical and Reformed traditions served as Co-Presidents. Finally, in 1961, guided by a new UCC Constitution, the Third General…

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New Insights about Antoinette Brown Blackwell

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 20:00:03 +0000

The United Church of Christ honors the life of Antoinette Brown Blackwell (1825-1921). In 1853 she was the first woman ordained to Christian ministry in a mainstream Protestant denomination in the United States. Blackwell did not study science, but she…

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Lemuel Haynes: Recognized in Vermont in 2018

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Fri, 01 Feb 2019 19:00:02 +0000

He was an illegitimate child in Puritan New England. His mother was a white servant girl and his father was an African slave. A few months after his birth in West Hartford, CT his mother abandoned him and he spent…

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Jonathan Edwards: A Theological Grandparent

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Sat, 05 Jan 2019 19:00:05 +0000

Congregational settlers in colonial New England fled Europe in the 1600s seeking religious freedom. Unfortunately, over time, religious concerns faded. Clergy were honored, but few people were church members and religious beliefs were thin. By the mid 1700s some preachers…

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She became a “Pilgrim Circuit Rider”

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Sat, 01 Dec 2018 10:00:05 +0000

In the 1920s a young high school teacher, born and raised on an Illinois farm, wanted to be a missionary. She spent summers at a Youth camp in Michigan, gaining new insights about the teachings of Jesus. In 1929 she…

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James O’Kelly

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 17:00:03 +0000

Revolution was in the air. Between 1775 and 1783 colonial settlers in America fought a war that created a new nation committed to liberty, freedom, and human rights. They also had new ideas about the church. James O’Kelly (1735–1826) was…

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Mahlon Van Horne

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Mon, 01 Oct 2018 17:00:04 +0000

He was only 26 years old—born in Princeton, New Jersey, and educated at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. In 1866 he became the principal of a 900 student school for African Americans in Charleston, South Carolina. Soon thereafter, in 1869, Mahlon…

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The First Woman Ordained in the Evangelical and Reformed Church

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Sat, 01 Sep 2018 08:00:05 +0000

In 1945, she was only 22, but she had theological questions. She wanted to talk with educated professors and understand scripture. This desire led her to enroll in Lancaster Theological Seminary for one year. In the end she stayed for…

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The Deaconess witness in the German Reformed Church

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 17:00:02 +0000

The deaconess movement, rooted in the early church, was a non-ordained ministry for women. In the 1800s it was very popular among German immigrants arriving in North America and spread among churches in the Midwest. In the United Church of…

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Roger Nathaniel Pohl

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Sun, 01 Jul 2018 08:00:01 +0000

Roger was a very curious child filled with questions. He wanted to understand the world. Fortunately, his church took him seriously and he never forgot what his pastor told him—“taking God seriously meant taking the world seriously.” The familiar scripture,…

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John Williamson Nevin: A Man Unappreciated in His Time

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 08:00:03 +0000

In the early 1800s, revivals and camp meetings became very popular on the American frontier. During this so-called “Second Great Awakening,” popular preachers, such as Charles Grandison Finney, challenged past patterns of worship and theology. He invited people seeking salvation…

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Cultivating Conversation about Race, Gender and Class

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Tue, 01 May 2018 08:00:04 +0000

She had two daughters. She loved the church, she knew education was important, and she was deeply involved in volunteer work. Yet she felt that God was calling her to do more. Marilyn Adams Moore (1933-1991) grew up as a…

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She Expanded our Awareness of Disabilities

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Sun, 01 Apr 2018 17:00:02 +0000

What does it mean to be human? Throughout history people with physical and mental disabilities have been regularly ignored, and even considered less than human. It is common for communities (and even churches) to ignore or pity people with disabilities.…

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He Shared our Past and Shaped our Future

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Wed, 07 Mar 2018 17:19:14 +0000

In 1962, the formation of the United Church of Christ was scarcely five years old when it gave birth to another union. This time two midwestern theological schools rooted in the Evangelical and Reformed tradition and in the educational efforts…

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A Gospel with a Social Conscience

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 10:00:02 +0000

Some of the most memorable people in Church history are those who speak out, saying and doing things that make Christians uncomfortable. In 1905, Washington Gladden, a respected Congregational pastor in Columbus, Ohio, urged that the prestigious American Board of…

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Deaconesses: Pioneer Professional Women

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Fri, 12 Jan 2018 23:00:05 +0000

In March of 1889 a remarkable meeting was held at St. Peter’s Evangelical Church in St. Louis. Seventy people (60 men and 10 women) gathered to charter the Evangelischer Diakonessen-Verein von St. Louis, MO (Evangelical Deaconess Society of St. Louis,…

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The First Woman on the Eden Seminary Faculty

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 10:00:01 +0000

St. Louis’s Lafayette Square, now an affluent neighborhood of restored Victorian homes, was a dilapidated, transient, overcrowded, and impoverished neighborhood in 1936. That year, Anna Astroth became Director of Christian Education at Caroline Mission. Established in 1919 by the Evangelical…

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Jackie Robinson

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 08:00:06 +0000

In the early 1940s United States baseball was segregated–African Americans and whites played in separate leagues. But the president of the Brooklyn Dodgers (Branch Rickey) set out to integrate Major League Baseball (MLB). Rickey knew that the first black player…

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She Named the Village “Uplands”

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 08:00:02 +0000

The American Missionary Association (AMA) is primarily remembered for it’s educational work among African Americans. However, in 1884 the AMA sent a missionary into the Cumberland Plateau in eastern Tennessee to found a school to provide liberal arts education, and…

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Florence Alden Partridge

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Fri, 01 Sep 2017 17:00:03 +0000

She was always an advocate for women, even before many church people recognized the need to give women more visibility and influence. She spoke out with conviction, saying: “It is a time for women to step out of their former…

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When Female Preachers Flourished

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 17:00:01 +0000

Plunging through the icy waters of a New Hampshire river marked Harriet Livermore’s final break with her church. She had grown close to a group of Free-Will Baptists who encouraged her to share her “public testimony for Christ.” But, as a covenanted Congregationalist she had to seek formal dismissal from…

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They were not German Reformed or German Evangelicals

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Sat, 01 Jul 2017 17:00:04 +0000

It was May 31, 1889 when news of a terrible flood interrupted a pastor who was writing his Sunday sermon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Still dressed in his formal clothes, he traveled 70 miles east to do what he could where…

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Our Past Shapes the Present

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Thu, 01 Jun 2017 08:00:01 +0000

Today historic relationships are being renewed. On May 4, 2017 the worshiping communities of the New York Collegiate Reformed Church became part of the NY Conference of the United Church of Christ, embracing dual standing in the UCC and the…

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Abigail Roberts

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Mon, 15 May 2017 17:46:56 +0000

The early 1800’s were a heady time in American religious life. After winning political freedom from Britain, some Christians condemned all denominational structures and authority as well. Lay preachers, many of them women, drew large crowds at camp meetings, with…

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Avoiding Christmas, Defending Liberty

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Mon, 15 May 2017 17:46:54 +0000

In 1659 the Massachusetts Bay General Court officially banned Christmas celebrations; and anyone caught taking the day off or even ‘feasting’ was liable for a fine. Why? The Puritans’ resistance to Christmas was formed in response to the over-the-top holiday…

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A Woman Who Does the Unthinkable

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Mon, 15 May 2017 17:46:52 +0000

It is a dark night in the 1840’s in Hampton, Virginia. A young woman, Mary Peake, finds herself in a cemetery garden. She is wrestling with a call to do the unthinkable—to defy the law of the land; the law…

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A scholar with a passion for justice

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Mon, 15 May 2017 17:46:50 +0000

During the 1960s, issues of race and war and gender were churning. There had been two assassinations, and riots. In 1969 when the United Church of Christ elected a seminary professor from central Pennsylvania to be its new president, people…

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One Uppity Woman

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Mon, 15 May 2017 17:46:49 +0000

As a midwife in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Anne Hutchinson knew the lives of women intimately. She ministered to their medical needs, birthing and raising 16 children herself. She also ministered to their spiritual needs. But trouble was coming. Raised…

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Standing with Native Peoples

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Mon, 15 May 2017 17:46:10 +0000

It was 1832. An attorney named John Sergeant stood before the United States Supreme Court defending the rights of the Cherokee Indians in the State of Georgia. Sergeant was eloquent, “If honor and justice have departed elsewhere from this land,…

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The Challenge of Modern Biblical Scholarship

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Mon, 01 May 2017 17:00:03 +0000

The young professor was less than thirty years old, but in 1870 he was invited to teach biblical theology at Eden Theological Seminary’s predecessor in Marthasville, Missouri. He brought excellent teaching skills and an academic background steeped in the latest…

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A German Reformed Leader with Many Gifts

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Sat, 01 Apr 2017 08:00:03 +0000

As a young man, Henry Harbaugh worked as a carpenter, poet and teacher to earn money for college and seminary. He was largely self-taught, spending only a year in college and two in seminary. He loved learning and continued his…

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The Spiritual Leader of Hawaii

Daniel Hazard — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 01:25:06 +0000

It was Palm Sunday, the Sunday school students processed down the long aisle of the church carrying canned goods to be placed in coconut woven baskets around the altar. The organ played “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna.” As the children neared the…

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A Place to Support and a Person to Remember

Steven (Steve) Liechty — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 19:00:04 +0000

I was an anxious ten-year-old headed for summer church camp at Franklinton Center at Bricks, North Carolina. It was my first overnight trip away from home alone. Fortunately an important church leader understood my feelings. He reassured me that going…

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