The obituary for Amy Jensen's father, Dale Sitler, has now appeared online. Mr. Sitler passed away Saturday, April 18.
You will note that the obituary indicates that Dale Sitler was "a lifelong member of Grace Church in Columbiana." The Grace Church website shows the trajectory of Grace Church: Grace Church is a Congregational Christian Church, member of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches, based in Oak Creek, WI. We are a volunteer member of an association of like-minded churches (NACCC) who recognize the right of the individual local church to be autonomous under the headship of Christ. We are also members of the Ohio Assn. of Congregational Christian Churches. In the past, Grace has belonged to the Reformed Church, the Evangelical and Reformed Church, and the United Church of Christ.
This is the same trajectory followed by many rural churches in the American heartland that began as E&R, came into the UCC in the 1950s via merger, and left the UCC within the past 15 years. My first marriage took place in a church that followed a similar trajectory. I mention this as illustration of the fact that when we speak of "those who have left the UCC," we are speaking of our own friends and families.
This is the same trajectory followed by many rural churches in the American heartland that began as E&R, came into the UCC in the 1950s via merger, and left the UCC within the past 15 years. My first marriage took place in a church that followed a similar trajectory. I mention this as illustration of the fact that when we speak of "those who have left the UCC," we are speaking of our own friends and families.
-- Lavon Page