UCC Polity

Instructor: Rev. Sara Rosenau, MDiv, MSW, PhD

E-mail:  Please email me at sara.rosenau@gmail.com.  My srosenau@iliff.edu account is a second, but slower option.

Office Hours: email to set up a time for zoom conversation

Email Policy:

I will get back to you within 24 hours.  If you would like to have an extended conversation, please email to set up a time.

Course Synopsis:

This course provides an introduction to the faith, polity, practice and identity of the United Church of Christ: its organization and understanding of its ministry, mission, and ecclesiology. The themes of identity, covenant, and change will frame our engagement with the material as we attempt to critically answer the question of who we are and who we are becoming as the United Church of Christ.

Books for the Course

*Required, please purchase:

1. *Randi Jones Walker. The Evolution of a UCC Style: Essays in the History, Ecclesiology, and Culture of the United Church of Christ. Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim Press, 2005. (ISBN 0-8298-1493-0)
2. *Fowler, Sidney: What Matters to You Matters to Us: Engaging Six Vital Themes of Our Faith . Pilgrim Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8298-1800-0
3. UCC Book of Worship (recommended for purchase if considering ordination, or borrow if your local church has an extra copy)

Choose one:

Glorify: Reclaiming the Heart of Progressive Christianity, Emily Heath

Beyond Resistance: The Institutional Church Meets the Postmodern World, John Dorhauer

Real Good Church: How Our Church Came Back from the Dead, and Yours Can Too, Molly Phinney Baskette

Other Required Readings:

Additional readings required for the course will be posted on canvas.  Many will be pulled from: http://www.ucc.org/education/polity/ Please feel free to browse this resource as well as the http://www.ucc.org/ministers_manual (MOM) before the start of class.

Paper Version of Syllabus: UCC Polity.Iliff.2019.syllabus.pdf

Course Overview

This course provides an introduction to the faith, polity, practice and identity of the United Church of Christ: its organization and understanding of its ministry, mission, and ecclesiology. The themes of identity, covenant, and change will frame our engagement with the material as we attempt to critically answer the question of who we are and who we are becoming as the UCC.  

Course Objectives

1.Students will have a working knowledge of the United Church of Christ – terms, settings, and procedures – and will be able to identify and describe the organizational structure of the UCC in the settings of local church, conferences and associations, national setting, and General Synod.  

2.Students will be able to describe the tension between covenant and autonomy in the UCC, and describe patterns of accountability and autonomy in various settings.

3.Students will be able to evaluate how the polity of the UCC has evolved over the 50+ years since the birth of the denomination.

4. Students will be able to articulate a sense of the UCC ethos and core values of the denomination, as well as ecumenical commitments and partnerships.

5.Students will be knowledgeable about resources enabling them to pursue further study as well as provide resources to others.

6. Students will be able to articulate various forms of authorized ministry in the UCC, patterns of accountability and ethics.  Students will situate their own ministry goals within this structure and articulate how they plan to demonstrate the marks of faithful and effective ministry to their communities.

Course Overview

This course provides an introduction to the faith, polity, practice and identity of the United Church of Christ: its organization and understanding of its ministry, mission, and ecclesiology. The themes of identity, covenant, and change will frame our engagement with the material as we attempt to critically answer the question of who we are and who we are becoming as the UCC.  

Course Objectives

1.Students will have a working knowledge of the United Church of Christ – terms, settings, and procedures – and will be able to identify and describe the organizational structure of the UCC in the settings of local church, conferences and associations, national setting, and General Synod.  

2.Students will be able to describe the tension between covenant and autonomy in the UCC, and describe patterns of accountability and autonomy in various settings.

3.Students will be able to evaluate how the polity of the UCC has evolved over the 50+ years since the birth of the denomination.

4. Students will be able to articulate a sense of the UCC ethos and core values of the denomination, as well as ecumenical commitments and partnerships.

5.Students will be knowledgeable about resources enabling them to pursue further study as well as provide resources to others.

6. Students will be able to articulate various forms of authorized ministry in the UCC, patterns of accountability and ethics.  Students will situate their own ministry goals within this structure and articulate how they plan to demonstrate the marks of faithful and effective ministry to their communities.

Degree Learning Goals: Please take some time to look over the Professional Degree Learning Goals (MDiv, MASC, MAPSC) and the Academic Degree Learning Goals (MTS, MA).

Incompletes:  If incompletes are allowed in this course, see the Master's Student Handbook for Policies and Procedures.

Pass/Fail:  Masters students wishing to take the class pass/fail should discuss this with the instructor by the second class session.

Academic Integrity and Community Covenant:  All students are expected to abide by Iliff’s statement on Academic Integrity, as published in the Masters Student Handbook, or the Joint PhD Statement on Academic Honesty, as published in the Joint PhD Student Handbook, as appropriate.  All participants in this class are expected to be familiar with Iliff’s Community Covenant.

Core Values: As a community, Iliff strives to live by this set of Core Values.

Accommodations:  Iliff engages in a collaborative effort with students with disabilities to reasonably accommodate student needs.   Students are encouraged to contact their assigned advisor to initiate the process of requesting accommodations.  The advising center can be contacted at advising@iliff.edu or by phone at 303-765-1146. 

Writing Lab:  Grammar and organization are important for all written assignments.  Additional help is available from the Iliff Writing Lab, which is available for students of any level who need help beginning an assignment, organizing thoughts, or reviewing a final draft. 

Inclusive Language:  It is expected that all course participants will use inclusive language in speaking and writing, and will use terms that do not create barriers to classroom community. 

Learning Agreement and Final Self Evaluation:

I will provide each student written feedback on assignments, but all students will evaluate their own work in the course and assign themselves a grade. This will be achieved by turning in a Learning Agreement Contract by week 2 and a Final Self Evaluation by week 10.

Learning Agreement Contract:  DUE Week 2

By the end of the second week you should have a clearer picture of the expectations of this course. Use the Learning Agreement Guidelines & Tool.Polity.docx to write your contract. Review the guidelines and the tool, and then write a narrative description of your intentions for fulfilling all of the course requirements as they are delineated in the syllabus as well as a goal for your final grade.

The learning agreement will serve as a learning contract between you and me, and with yourself. This learning agreement can be as long or as short as you wish in order to communicate your intentions. You may not be completely sure of how you will approach each project, but you can indicate what you want to be leaning. At the end of the tool, please tell me what grade you intend to achieve. Your agreement is not complete unless you indicate the grade you intend to achieve.

Final Self Evaluation:

Making reference to your learning agreement, evaluate in how you think did in achieving your stated intentions and goals throughout the quarter, and whether or not you achieved the grade you anticipated.

There is no page requirement for this reflection. Although I intend to honor the grade you give yourself, ultimately I am responsible for assigning your grades and may negotiate with you in cases of wild over-or-under-estimation of your achievements.

At the end of this evaluation, you must give yourself a final grade.