In a sign of declining staff and resources, one of the original “seven sisters” of mainline Protestantism in the United States is preparing to sell its Cleveland, Ohio denominational headquarters.
The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a once-influential denomination that boasted membership in the millions. It has been in a state of uninterrupted decline since its 1957 founding as a merger of the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches.
The denomination relocated its nationwide organization, known as the National Setting, from New York City to Cleveland in 1990 in an effort to both reduce expenses and locate closer to the bulk of church membership.
The church has listed that nine-story, 120,000-square-foot building for $7 million. Plans are in place to move staff to a single floor of an office building half a mile away, plus basement space for archived materials.
“Making this move saves the National Setting hundreds of thousands of dollars a year by leasing one floor rather than maintaining a nine-story building that once housed 330 employees,” UCC General Minister and President Dorhauer said in an announcement from the denomination’s official mouthpiece. Prior to COVID-19 restrictions, the National Setting had planned to redesign the space to accommodate 117 employees.
UCC officials previously planned to sell the headquarters building in 2015 and lease back space as part of a 20-year agreement with a Georgia-based property management firm. That sale eventually fell through.
The denomination’s reach and influence have been significantly curtailed: the 802,256 person membership has rapidly shrunk in recent years. In 2016 a UCC internal report forecast a further 80 percent decline in the following 30 years, dropping a denomination that once was a spiritual home to in excess of 2.1 million U.S. Christians down to a predicted 200,000 members in 2045.
In 2016, denominational officials announced staffing changes during a UCC Board of Directors meeting. Two-thirds of national staff positions were eliminated in the prior 16 years: a decrease from more than 300 in 2000 to just over 100 in 2016. Dorhauer warned that year of “multiple financial challenges that could impact the well-being of the national setting.”
While the denomination traces its origins to the puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, its spiritual antecedents would likely not recognize it today. The UCC is among the most theologically liberal church bodies, and also embraces political activism on the Left, including anti-Israel causes.
The recent UCC General Synod that met virtually in July adopted resolutions calling upon local churches to “ritualize environmental grief”, advocate for a ban on conversion or reparative therapy, and even pandered to a fringe Hawaiian separatist organization. General Synod has a history of uniquely condemning Israel: in 2015 it voted overwhelmingly to divest from companies conducting business in “Israel-occupied Palestinian territories” and boycott products made in those territories.
Comment by Dan W on September 23, 2021 at 8:10 am
The UCC considered sharing a building with the UMC and TEC. They agreed on a round building, so there would be no right wing. All of the corridors would be one-way, to the left. The problem was no one could locate their offices, because they all thought they were in the center, but actually everyone was on the far left.
Comment by David on September 23, 2021 at 11:34 am
Let us not forget that computers have often reduced the need for office space. Even the FBI found its headquarters obsolete as huge expanses of file cabinets and their clerks were no longer needed. Many banks use only a fraction of their windows assuming they have even retained their banking halls.
Comment by Jeffrey Walton on September 23, 2021 at 12:09 pm
David, yes, this is the move that the UCC should make. But let’s also remember that this isn’t just an issue of efficiency and stewardship of funds, it’s also the result of a staff that is a fraction of the size of what it once was. The UCC is, by the admission of its own 2016 internal report, rapidly shrinking, having shed more than 60% of membership since its formation in 1957. The denomination will cease to exist in less than 25 years. Before you say it, yes, some U.S.-based traditionalist denominations are also in decline. But as Mark Tooley has noted, theological orthodoxy is not in itself sufficient for church growth. It is, however, a prerequisite for it.
Comment by Palamas on September 23, 2021 at 12:37 pm
The UCC is no longer in any meaningful way a Christian denomination (I’m sure there are lots of Christians, and still-Christian churches, within it, but the denomination itself is essentially indistinguishable from Unitarianism). It is a combination of institutionalized anti-Semitism combined with far left politics. It’s a worthless organization that Christians have been abandoning for years, and should exit from forthwith.
Comment by Jeff on September 23, 2021 at 1:46 pm
DanW: ROFL! Perfect UCC press release material!
Comment by John Kenyon on September 23, 2021 at 3:10 pm
I just have to laugh. Do I have this straight? A “church” that teaches ‘God’ is just an idea in the human brain that won’t go away; that Jesus lives like Hewey Newton and George Washington live is our hearts. and the Holy Spirit is the same as…the spirit of Denver Broncos; that teaches a future of justice for our children turns on abortion and same sex marriage; and all this is this is avante guard of Christianity? Hahaha! Gag, Hahaha.
Comment by Jonw on September 23, 2021 at 3:56 pm
My. Christian Church minister friend says UCC stands for Unitarians Considering Christ!
Comment by c on September 23, 2021 at 6:07 pm
I’ll be curious to see how fast this building sells. Even though it’s considered to be in a prime location, if Cleveland is anything like other cities in the United States these days there is plenty of vacant office space to go around, with Covid playing a big role as people who were able to do so switched to telecommuting on a permanent or semi-permanent basis.
But they certainly have to sell the building and move; the listing says it’s currently only 12% occupied. They’re throwing money down the drain right now.
Comment by Kepha on September 23, 2021 at 9:06 pm
UCC=Unitarians considering Christ? I thought it was Useless Christless Church. May the Good Lord turn them around. The Puritans and older German Reformed (and even the Prussian union church, the wrong thing for the right reason) were a good base to build on.
Comment by David S. on September 24, 2021 at 1:02 pm
David, as we would say in the South, why bless your heart….your comment is deflection, since staffing to support a denominational membership of 2+ million is not the same as that required to support a denomination of 800+ thousand with continued, projected declines.
On a more important point, the PC(USA) and TEC in particular should take note. TEC is now below 2 million members and the PC(USA) is approaching 1 million, yet the leadership of these denominations act as if, “Oh, our decline is consistent with every one else, including more conservative denominations.” While a valid point, the PC(USA) has experienced 3-6 percent decline, each year for 10 years straight, in membership levels, a decline which accelerated with the adoption of the 2010 and 2014 amendments. Current levels are half of what the levels were 20 years ago. TEC drop in active members has not been as precipitous, but still, it was quipped within the past few years that the last Episcopalian was probably already born.
Comment by Diane on September 24, 2021 at 3:59 pm
I am a UCC member who does not require a brick and mortar building to worship, extend outreach, build community. My congregation does Zoom and half of those who join us are from out of state because they lack a UCC congregation near them.
Thank you David for your responses on this board. You’re the only one who’s witnessed to me, a UCC member, an understanding of “love your neighbor”. You are a person who is intentionally inclusive of those others on this board regularly put down/demonize.
I’m guessing everyone who made their ugly comments about the UCC on this page would say the same hateful things face to face with any UCC member. Noisy gongs they are.
I personally applaud the UCC’s stewardship of its resources. My UCC congregation sits on urban property purchased years ago. It’s now valuable real estate – worth millions of dollars. We are studying our stewardship call in light of this fact. So far, we’ve given a portion of our property to the community to build a much needed fire department. Part of our property has been given to the community fornuse as a recreation and sports field for families and children (there’s very little space for that in our metro area). We are considering affordable housing for another area of our property and senior housing for another area.
It’s 2021, not the 1950s. Churches have more stewardship options. I’m impressed with the UCC’s model. Last week I participated in several nationally-led UCC faith-based workshops, led by Cleveland folks and others.
I also believe that the sale of the Cleveland property is an excellent example of what Bolsinger in his popular book, “Canoeing the Mountains”, speaks of as adaptive church leadership. Doing the same old, same old, is not a sign of failure…envisioning the future church requires bold risk-taking.
Comment by Diane on September 24, 2021 at 4:06 pm
Correction: getting rid of the same-old, same-old is not a sign of failure. The sale. Of no longer needed property as the UCC intends to do is a sign of bold envisioning of faithful stewardship in this century.
Comment by Dan W on September 24, 2021 at 5:08 pm
Diane, it sounds like your congregation is doing good things in your community and should be commended. But are they fulfilling the Great Commission given to us by Jesus Christ? Isn’t that the business of a Christian Church?
(NIV, Matthew chapter 28, verses 18-20) Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
UCC, UMC, TEC, PC(USA) – are these organizations fulfilling the Great Commission or just “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?”
Comment by John Smith on September 26, 2021 at 8:43 am
I’m waiting for the bidding war on the Methodist building, that will be a bidding war.
Comment by Tim P Wohlford on September 27, 2021 at 11:23 am
1. Diane — I’m glad you have a home. However, “Truthful” is not the same as “hateful.” While I’m glad that offices are cutting costs, the reality is that even in the 1980’s the thing was in trouble… I was at CTS (in Indy) during that failed merger attempt.
2. PCUSA headquarters in my back yard. The joke there is that they could hold their national conventions inside of the empty office space. They could probably hold tennis matches as well. But never fear — there are 2 “BLM” banners hung so they can be seen from the Interstate, lest any rioters molest the empty spaces.
Comment by Joy on December 7, 2021 at 12:49 am
Most of the UCC churches in my area have converted back to the Reformed Church denomination. I was raised UCC and enjoyed going to the UCC church very much. In the late 90’s and early 2000’s, the UCC denomination in my area started going too far left. Lifetime members started leaving and the church decided to revert back to the Reformed denomination. Most of the lifetime members came back after that. The sister church in the area decided to do the same. There are very few UCC churches left in my area.
Comment by Joy on March 22, 2023 at 12:31 am
I was raised in a UCC church in the 60’s and 70’s. There were UCC churches in every city surrounding the city I live in and plus the one that was in the city I live in. Since the mid 2000’s, the church I grew up in and most of the surrounding churches have changed from the UCC denomination and returned to the Reformed denomination. This is way the UCC denomination has dropped membership so rapidly. The Reformed churches in my area have gained memberships after splitting with the UCC. The UCC churches became too liberal and political and was turning away from the Bible that the church was founded on.