General Synod 34 Highlights
The United Church of Christ’s 34th General Synod had it all.
A new leader and a historic vote. A change from biennial to triennial. And giving witness to some of the most urgent issues — trans dignity, reproductive rights, racial justice, creation care and much more — through resolutions, special speakers, prayer and action.
Indianapolis and the Indiana-Kentucky Conference played hosts from June 30-July 4. It was the UCC’s first in-person national gathering since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides the business side of this “family reunion,” delegates and visitors came together to worship, break bread, embrace and shed tears of joy.
Read the full coverage below.
Business highlights
- Karen Georgia Thompson becomes first woman to lead UCC in historic vote
- General Synod frequency to change to every three years as Bylaw changes pass by a single vote
- Following SCOTUS ruling, statement supporting affirmative action endorsed by General Synod
- Envisioning a future from the past, Dorhauer delivers final State of the Church address
- From Synod stage, Dorhauer apologizes to Afro-Christian Convention for ‘rewriting of our history’
Resolutions and results
- Committee 1: Abortion is healthcare, General Synod says
- Committee 2: Delegates vote to pursue reparative acts for Native Boarding Schools
- Committee 3: Synod takes stand for digital justice, calls for increased accessibility
- Committee 4: Synod delegates pass resolution of witness on electrification
- Committee 5: Delegates call on churches to commit to harm reduction advocacy
- Committee 6: ‘Hope is a verb’: Synod calls for turning ‘Guns to Gardens’
- Committee 7: In narrow vote, Synod supports reparation efforts for Hawaiian language revitalization
- Committee 8: Delegates reject resolution on plant-based living
- Committee 9: Synod delegates call for reduction in single-use plastics and overall plastic pollution
- Committee 10: Synod takes stand for public school educators, academic freedom and equity efforts in schools
- Committee 11: Delegates call for study, developing reparations for African Americans
- Committee 12: After debate about wording, Synod declares ‘prolonged solitary confinement’ as torture
- Committee 13: Synod overwhelmingly affirms dignity of trans and nonbinary persons
- Committee 14: Synod delegates call on congregations to declare and create ‘white supremacy free zones’
- New website for UCC resolutions archive launches
Speakers
- Comfort, not keynote: Nadia Bolz-Weber speaks to General Synod about hope amid ‘fear, anxiety, worry and regret’
- Ibram Kendi at General Synod: ‘We cannot face racism with tunnel vision’
- Bryan Stevenson urges luncheon attendees to do justice, get close to those suffering
- Advocates share ways to fight for reproductive rights during town hall at Synod
- Panelists at Synod event celebrate intersectionality, uplift justice work in ‘making all things new’
Public witness
- Prayer walkers bear witness to harmful laws in Indiana and beyond
- Faith in action: Watch the General Synod 34 prayer walk
- UCC immigration advocates hold welcoming vigil at ICE office during Synod
Worship
- An exuberant opening worship focuses on ‘making all things new’ at General Synod
- Sunday worship at Synod uplifts prophetic visions to resist the status quo, act in love
- In Synod’s finale, closing preacher calls for revolution of interdependence
- ‘Garden of Creation’ found on General Synod stage
- Synod offerings collect thousands to support UCC initiatives
Youth @ Synod
- General Synod youth get their game on
- Youth @ Synod focuses on homelessness
- What brings young people to the UCC?
Other highlights
- Welcome to General Synod 34 notes event’s ‘deep significance’
- ‘People are still dying’: Quilts at Synod honor lives lost to AIDS
- UCC flair begins arriving in Indianapolis with Synod setup
- ‘We are the dawn’: Thompson shares UCC vision in nomination speech
- Synod ‘Meet the Candidate’ gathering draws standing room only crowd
- Trailblazers uplifted by Thompson reflect on her election
- At Synod, colleagues bid farewell to outgoing UCC president
- Afro-Christian tradition helps define UCC, says Delk during Synod luncheon
- ‘No greater evangelist than you’: Nominees needed for General Synod moderators, UCC Board
- Six UCC women honored as ‘Movement Makers’
- General Synod participants assemble thousands of hygiene kits to combat period poverty
- With climate crisis threatening island nations, Pacific Basin Initiative launches at General Synod
- Climate Hope Cards turn General Synod resolutions into action
- Synod participants give blood, give hope
- ABS awards at Synod honor clergy who create ‘ripples of transformation’
- Former church leaders, ecumenical guests, international partners welcomed by General Synod delegates
- Sacred quilts help continue conversations around race at Synod
- Watch: Velda Love invites Church to Join the Movement
- Ecumenical Awards ceremony highlights interconnection, call to mend the world
- New faces added to UCC Board
- General Synod approves budget allocations for next biennium
- Task force making progress toward antiracism roadmap
- Video: Synod furniture will go to refugees after gathering
- For next General Synod, Kansas City will welcome UCC in 2025
- UCC Synod photo gallery