NEW PHONE NUMBER 517-258-0038 | To care for UCC clergy and churches in Michigan.
NEW PHONE NUMBER 517-258-0038 | To care for UCC clergy and churches in Michigan.
One of the most helpful tools for Committees on Ministry and Members-in-Discernment is the United Church of Christ Manual on Ministry. You can find detailed support for all steps of Authorized Ministry and additional information at https://www.ucc.org/manual-on-ministry/
The Michigan Conference is gathering more supporting documents and resources and will share them here soon.
All Michigan Clergy – active and retired – are required to attend Boundary Training on a regular schedule. Your Association Committee on Ministry or the Conference Office (lisa@michucc.org) can assist you in making sure you know when your next Boundary Training is due.
Rev. Cheryl Burke, Associate Conference Minister of Clergy Care and Formation
continually offers a Full Day Boundary Training for the Conference.
This training is designed around the Ordained Minister’s Code
Dates for Online Boundary Training from the Southern New England Conference for 2026 have been released. Find out additional information HERE
The Current model supports one Committee on Ministry (COM) in each Association (5 committees)
Each one is asked to fulfill the responsibilities in the Manual on Ministry (MOM), with one exception: A Unified Fitness Review Committee was adopted a number of years ago.
In practice, each committee does some of this work very well. And there is not time or expertise to do all of it well. In some Associations, there are 5 or more Members in Discernment and this takes most of the COM’s time. Some Associations have many ministers coming from other denominations and are experienced with Dual Standing and Privilege of Call. Others only see this once every couple of years and need to relearn the process. Some Associations have fewer specific tasks and are able to offer regular support to clergy and churches. Others are not able to get to this.
The issue is not about the amazing people who serve on the Association COM. It is about a structure that makes it very difficult to do all of the work well. Our current structure asks each Association to provide all of the support and accountability needed. That means that 5 different groups are all doing the same thing for their area.
What does the Committee on Ministry (COM) do?
Ordains, grants standing (lay ministerial, ordained ministerial partner, privilege of call, dual), certifies, transfers, and terminates standing, installs, ordains, and verifies that authorized ministers have demonstrated knowledge of and appreciation for the history, polity, and practice of the United Church of Christ.
Why are we considering a new structure?
Over the years, Members-in-Discernment, Committee on Ministry (COM) members, and Conference staff have expressed concerns about the ability of COMs to consistently and effectively fulfill all their responsibilities in the current structure. A gathering of all COM members in March 2025 confirmed that each COM was not doing all the work that they would like to be doing. There was general agreement that working together across associations could be beneficial.
Other Associations/Conferences in the UCC were researched for models of a Unified Committee on Ministry (Associations working together to fulfill their responsibilities). Feedback revealed that a unified structure was particularly helpful in creating consistency and gaining experience and expertise by specializing in a few areas of work.
The newly proposed model for the Unified Committees on Ministry would offer an efficient solution to the strain faced by the 5 Committees on Ministry currently serving the UCC Clergy and congregations of Michigan.
The five Associations of the Michigan Conference of the United Church of Christ will delegate the work of the Committee on Ministry to a Unified Committee on Ministry. The UCoM will be a Committee formed by the Associations of the Michigan Conference, staffed by Conference staff at the direction of the Conference Minister.
The proposed unified structure will focus expertise on a smaller number of tasks. This will result in more consistency and allow the group to develop experience in a specialized area. Bringing COM members from across associations will increase diversity in the committee across contexts. This diversity is important, as authorization for ministry is for the whole UCC, not just a particular Association. Support and accountability processes are also aided by this diversity, increasing resources and reducing conflicts of interest.
Training each team for their particular work will be more effective in providing consistent support and accountability for authorized ministers and churches.
A Coordinating Team will take responsibility for the ongoing training of members of the other four teams.
A Unified Committee on Ministry may make more effective use of staff time. Equipping teams to do their work more effectively with focused training may lessen the need for staff to be the “experts” in the room and/or to carry the work of the committee outside of the team meetings.
A number of UCC Conferences and Associations have moved to a Unified Committee on Ministry model and find that the specialization is particularly helpful.
To learn more, read an FAQ between Associate Conference Minister Cheryl Burke and Pastor Ken Arthur (Southwest Association) as they address responses to commonly asked questions and concerns regarding a Unified COM.
Cheryl Burke, Associate Conference Minister of Clergy Care and Formation, will host two online informational meetings for those desiring to learn more about the proposed Unified Committee on Ministry, its purpose, and applications. To learn more, register for an upcoming informational meeting:
To attend Thursday, Feb 26th, 10:00-11:00 am – Register Here
Future informational meetings will be scheduled based on interest. Please email Cheryl@michucc.org to learn more.
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