UCC Looks to CHHSM to Fulfill Church’s Vision

The Rev. John C. Dorhauer, general minister and president of the United Church of Christ

The 79th CHHSM Annual Meeting is a chance for CHHSM members across the country to explore their organizations’ missions and develop stronger relationships with each other and the church.

The Rev. John C. Dorhauer, general minister and president of the United Church of Christ, says the partnership between CHHSM members and the church is essential.

“As the United Church lives out its purpose to love neighbor as self and its vision to build a just world for all, we would do well to look to our CHHSM agencies to see how that is done,” he says.

Dorhauer will deliver a keynote address during the annual meeting that explores the critical role CHHSM organizations play in fulfilling the mission of the church.

“Caring for the disabled, feeding the poor, housing the indigent – this and more is love in action,” he says. “CHHSM members are shining examples of what the gospel looks like when taken seriously.”

Dorhauer also looks to CHHSM as a partner in recent church initiatives, such as the launch of the UCC’s resource “White Privilege: Let’s Talk: A Resource for Transformational Dialogue.”

The new curriculum is designed to engage adults in “safe, meaningful, substantive and bold” conversations about race. It offers a series of free webinars with corresponding lesson plans.

“Most whites in America remain remarkably unaware of their complicity with a system of privilege that uses race unfairly to distribute wealth and power,” Dorhauer says. “Until good-hearted people who have long ago rejected racism also commit to deeper understandings of privilege, true racial equity won’t be possible.”

Dorhauer will introduce the curriculum at a breakout session during the annual meeting March 2-4 at the InterContinental Hotel in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

He hopes the program leads to fruitful discussion and advances toward reconciliation. He believes CHHSM members have a large part to play in this process.

“My greatest hope is that the curriculum raises awareness about the impact and manifestation of race privilege afforded to whites and that white communities and leaders are inspired to participate in dismantling those systems of privilege in an effort to create racial equity,” he says.

The deadline to register for the 79th CHHSM Annual Meeting is Feb. 19. To learn more about the CHHSM annual meeting or register to attend, please click here.