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Minister & President speaks on Being a Prophetic Voice
July-August, 2003
In a speech that captivated the 204th Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Conference, Minister & President Nancy S. Taylor addressed those who have questioned her authority to speak out publicly on social issues when her viewpoint may not reflect the view of all the churches.
“The question has been raised… Who am I to speak for you?” Taylor said. “The answer is quite simple: I cannot and do not speak for you or for the 430 churches and 850 clergy of the Massachusetts Conference.”
“But, just because I cannot speak for you, that does not mean I cannot speak,” she added, to thunderous applause.
In support of her statement, Taylor pointed to her job description, in which the definition of her position states that the Minister & President “is the prophetic voice of the Conference for social justice.” In addition, one of the 10 principle job activities of the Minister & President is listed as “Represent the Conference in the public media, giving witness on issues of Christian concern.”
“You have called me to speak prophetically and to speak publicly. It is my job,” Taylor said.
Taylor acknowledged that speaking out on such issues as same-sex marriage, war in Afghanistan and Iraq, homelessness, and sexual abuse of children can be “tricky business.”
“Issues of Christian concern invariably carry us into disputed territory. Just because the territory is disputed, however, does not mean we should not enter it. Indeed, we should and must, for these are often the territories that matter the most,” she said.
Taylor said that each setting of the church – local church, association,
conference and national – “is called on from time to time to speak
and act prophetically
out of the our deepest Christian convictions.”
And, she said, each setting of the church has a responsibility to listen
to the others.
Taylor said Article 18 of the UCC Constitution, which guarantees churches autonomy, is well known, but said other articles are not as familiar.
Article 17 of the Constitution expresses the mutual responsibility each setting of the church has to the well-being of the others, she said, while Article 19 states: “Actions by, or decisions or advice emanating from, the General Synod, a Conference or Association, should be held in highest regard by every Local Church.”
“Therefore, on the one hand, each setting of our church can speak to, but not for, the local church,” Taylor said. “But on the other hand, the local church is obligated to listen and take seriously – to hold in the highest regard – decisions or advice emanating from another setting.”
Taylor said those responsibilities are important to keep in mind when Annual Meeting resolutions – such as the controversial resolution last year which spoke out against expanding the war on terrorism – come before the gathering.
“To take seriously such resolutions – to hold them in the highest regard – even if we disagree with them, is to live up to our covenant with one another as a Conference of churches,” Taylor said. “The important thing is that we all listen to each other, consider and wrestle with the issues, and then make our decisions based on thoughtful, informed and prayerful consideration.”
> See the full text of Being
a Prophetic Voice.