A Union 50-Plus Years in the Making

On May 7, during its annual spring meeting in Westchester, the Chicago Metropolitan Association of the United Church of Christ will welcome a new congregation into the fold: The First Congregational Church of Evanston.

What a difference a half century can make.

The UCC, a denomination with more than 5,000 congregations and about 1.1 million followers, came into existence in June of 1957 in Cleveland when the Evangelical and Reformed Church united with the Congregational Christian Church.

Helping to lead the opposition against such a merger: The First Congregational Church of Evanston.

“We’ve always been an individual lot,” said Joe Page, who was part of the taskforce that led to the FCCE’s decision to join the UCC. “We’re directly descendant from the Pilgrims of New England, so we’re independent, free thinking. We didn’t want to join anyone.”

Worried that the formation of the UCC would infringe upon the autonomy of each individual church – a cornerstone of the Congregational tradition – the FCCE was among those congregations that objected to the union and instead formed the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches.

However, in the 54 years since the UCC formed, circumstances have changed.

“Our numbers are down, like all other mainline Protestant denominations,” Page said.

The reality of a shrinking congregation and the stress that put on the FCCE’s already limited resources forced the church to think about steps it could take to ensure its livelihood.

And that process has led it to the UCC.

A couple of years ago, the FCCE initiated a two-year process called a “covenanted exploration” with the UCC. During the first year, Page said the FCCE prayerfully considered what it wanted while “doing its homework” on other denominations.

In the second year of the exploration, the FCCE connected with the UCC in order to ask UCC members questions and get a taste for what UCC membership is like.

Specifically, Rev. Jonathan Knight, association conference minister of the Chicago Metropolitan Association, was assigned to help provide the FCCE with any information and resources it needed.

“It’s a bit of a courting process, definitely,” Knight said. “We research the church to get a sense and a flavor of who they are.”

He also had to answer perhaps the most pressing question on the minds of an FCCE congregation proud of its 140-plus years of autonomy: What independence would the congregation lose by becoming a UCC-affiliated church?

Knight’s answer: None.

“UCC members retain their congregational polity,” Knight said. “Each congregation has its own autonomy and chooses to worship and use resources on their own.”

Knight also connected the FCCE with Trinity UCC in Deerfield, which became the FCCE’s sister church. The two congregations worshipped together throughout the year and organized other joint activities.

Most importantly, though, according to Rev. Susan Chamberlin Smith, who has served as Trinity’s pastor since 1992, the partnership gave FCCE members the opportunity to meet and converse with non-leadership members of the UCC.

“It was people in the pews talking to people in the pews,” Chamberlin Smith said.

On the FCCE’s end, the exploratory period alleviated any fears they had over becoming part of a larger denomination. At its annual meeting in January, the congregation voted on its future.

Of the 129 votes cast, 119 were in favor of joining the UCC.

“It’s a win-win situation,” Page said. “We don’t lose any independence and we gain access to UCC resources.”

And after spending a year with the FCCE, both Knight and Chamberlin Smith have little doubt the Evanston congregation will fit right in with the UCC.

“They were in the UCC before they knew it,” Knight concluded. “There’s a spirit there of hospitality and acceptance of one another. There’s an understanding that the church is not just within a certain set of walls. You need to reach beyond the walls of the building to those in need.”

“It’s like we’ve been partying by ourselves all these years,” Page said. “And now we’ve just discovered an even bigger party.”