Report of the Committee on Congregational Standing and Development

Since our Fall 2005 Conference, this committee has been engaged in the following:

1. Working with Hispanic congregations in a) to reach stated goals; b) bring into affiliation with the UCC and c) bring to closure some old business.
   
   
   • Working closely with the Board of the Metro Association, our committee has sought ways to assist Pilgrim Congregational UCC ( Bronx , NY ) in the development of an Hispanic congregation through the programs provided by the church under the leadership of Rev. Jose Lantigua. Over two years ago, upon the recommendation of this committee, the church received grant monies for the purpose of building a self-empowering, self-determining Hispanic community who would be involved in the decision making process as a sacred body. Although we recognize how effective social outreach has been (GED classes, English as a Second Language sessions, and various academic efforts such as after-school programs), two years into the contract, its purpose has not yet been fulfilled. As a result, it was recommended by the Board, to suspend grant monies until progress was made to move in the direction of materializing the purpose of the grant. It is our hope to continue to present to the Board ways in which to help Pilgrim accomplish this effort and see it to fruition.
     
     
   • RCM Michael Caine informed us that Rev. Luis Suarez and the congregation of Emmanuel Christian Center , a Hispanic congregation in Corona Queens had expressed an interest in affiliating with UCC. Our committee met with Rev. Suarez and Assistant Pastor Henry Garcia, Feb. 2, 2006 . They had heard about UCC through Rev. Winston Pena, Pastor of La Palabra ( Queens ). Emmanuel is a grassroots evangelism ministry begun by Rev. Suarez where he and his wife invited people to come—mostly unchurched, some from other denominational backgrounds, mainly Catholic. They now average 40 worshippers on Sundays with approximately 30 core members. Services are held in Spanish with Hispanics from Columbia , Mexico , Guatemala and the Dominican Republic . About one-third of the congregation can speak English. They currently rent a storefront in Corona which they are rapidly outgrowing. March 7, members of the committee as well as Rev. Caine attended a week night worship service held at the church and had a truly spiritually uplifting time. We then had a Q&A session about what it meant to affiliate with UCC. Following that we sent them a copy of our Committee document: Procedures for Affiliation of Churches With The Metropolitan Association of the New York Conference United Church of Christ. There may be some questions about UCC's stance on marriage equality and issues of liberation surrounding LBGT. We are continuing our dialogue with them at this time.
     
     
   • La Palabra has decided to sell their property and hopes to use the profit of the sale to purchase property elsewhere.
     
     
2. The Committee has begun and will continue to review the cases of churches in decline or those who are inactive in order to maximize our effectiveness in doing ministry in our communities.