When the Cathedral of Hope in Dallas decided to leave their denomination (the Metropolitan Community Churches) for the UCC, did we consider that a conspiracy?

To answer as directly as possible: no. `We' (those of us in the United Church of Christ who write and talk about conspiracy tactics leveled against our churches to remove them from the denomination) do not consider that a conspiracy.

So, what are the differences?

Significant.

Whether we are talking about the Cathedral of Hope in Dallas, or any other number of churches who have recently affiliated with the United Church of Christ, we are talking about congregations who have initiated dialogue with us. We have not recruited them. We have not sent trained activists into their churches to foment dissent. We have not authored pamphlets that we then circulate through trained activists, pamphlets that describe their denomination as, among other things, not believing in the Lordship of Jesus Christ, not believing in the authority of scripture, not believing in the resurrection. We have not circulated among their membership newspapers and newsletters and fund-raising letters that for decades have printed defamatory and inaccurate information about their denomination. We have not gone on recruiting junkets to seminaries looking for `Godly Pastors' who will become a part of a clandestine network of congregational leaders trained to foment dissent in the local church.

The United Church of Christ has produced a handbook for churches considering affiliation with the denomination. We give this handbook to any church that contacts us interested in affiliation. We do not recruit, look for, ask for, or begin conversations with these churches. We respond to requests from congregations interested in exploring a process that may or may not lead to affiliation. The handbook states:

"As deeply and sincerely as the UCC welcomes new local churches, we also recognize the importance of discernment in our lives together. Careful preliminary discussions should reveal God's will for a suitable relationship. Sometimes a local church and an Association of the UCC will continue exploring covenant, at least for the present time. We affirm our solidarity in Christ with all who believe, and celebrate our unity, even if exploration ends at this stage."

At no time do we distribute anything in print that defames their present denomination. At no time do we interfere with their members by introducing damning information meant to cast aspersion on the beliefs of their current denomination. At no time do we ally with a covert operative or agency whose purpose is to train activists to be sent into congregations to spread words of dissent or pass resolutions to be voted on that will divide a congregation.

The handbook goes on to say:

"The Church and the Association developing covenant will remain in this relationship until both are comfortable that ample time and effort have been devoted to discerning God's will."

I have personally been directly involved in four such cases where local churches have explored affiliation with the denomination. Three of the four ended in full standing being granted to already existing congregations. Each of them took years of dialogue and faith exploration to fully execute.
They involved extensive research and commitment on the part of both parties involved.

The United Church of Christ remains a full, loyal, and honored ecumenical partner. It recognizes the right of every faith tradition to both exist, and express itself with theological integrity and clarity. Some, but certainly not all, of our theological assumptions are divergent from many of our ecumenical partners, but we remain staunchly committed to the principle that our essential beliefs are strong enough to unite us in spite of our differences.

For this reason, we never recruit churches that hold their standing in another denomination. We never denigrate another for their personal beliefs - be that `other' an individual, a congregation, or a denomination. And we certainly do not feel called, authorized, or permitted by God to engage in conspiratorial, covert tactics meant to erode a local church's confidence in its leaders, its denominational affiliation, nor it theological integrity.

That is profoundly different from what we encounter in many of our local churches that find themselves torn apart by dissent, and who have for decades now encountered voices from without and within defaming their denomination, circulating misleading information that transforms their understanding of their denomination, and eventually planting the seeds that may just lead to disaffiliation.