Unionization of United Church Ministers

Some background info regarding the following post:

My mom sent an e-mail to the ministers at my home church (Wellington Square in Burlington, Ontario) about an article she saw in the local paper today about two ministers who were campaigning for United Church of Canada clergy to become members of and supported by the Canadian Auto Workers union. It should be noted that I have no idea what position any of the ministers at Wellington Square have on this issue. Below is my response to my mom's message and actually, my opinions on the whole thing, but first some informational links for those who may be less familiar with the issues at hand:

• An old CBC article on this
  
• The Official United Church of Canada response
• The Official United Church of Canada website
• Wellington Square United Church - my home church (looks like it's down at the moment)
• Canadian Auto Workers official site

My two cents (or two pence, as it happens to be at the moment...):

Y’see, at work my mom has to deal with a union that is pushy and unnecessary (plus she just finished collective bargaining agreements, so she’s probably a little extra frustrated with unions at the moment) when really, the organization could take much better care of the employees without the union around, especially with my mom at the helm of said organization! :)

However we need to keep in mind that unions themselves aren’t inherently evil…the reason that we don’t have sweatshop labour in north america / europe any more is largely due to the work of unions. And I know that many of the sweatshop workers overseas would LOVE to be able to organize a union to keep working conditions safe and payment fair, however they are often illegal and discouraged (with both verbal and physical abuse) because the leaders in the governments of the countries where such things take place know that if they impose rules about fair payments, corporations will just pick up and move to a country where no such laws exist and they can continue to exploit people (this is an over-simplification of all the issues involved, however this is basically why everything is Made in China these days…)

Now, I think it would be safe to presume that the reason these united church ministers want to unionize is because they too feel exploited, unsupported and treated with hostility. We would all do well to remember that many, many individual churches within the United Church of Canada are not _nearly_ as vibrant as Wellington Square, and many bitter congregation members still attend out of a sense of moral duty more than anything else. Having had a recent experience of this in a rural Anglican church, I can appreciate the position that these ministers are in all too well…

That being said, when the leaders of a Christian community (in this case, the ministers of individual United Churches of Canada) feel so distraught and disconnected that they can’t actually approach the denominational leadership and/or their congregation about these issues, and thereby feel the need to appeal to a 3rd party arbiter (in this case, the Canadian Auto Workers union) to fight out the legality of their employment, well then you might as well just scrap the whole thing and start again. Isn’t the whole POINT of a Christian community to be accountable to one another…to encourage each other, to forgive each other, to love one another?
It’s true that it may just be a few dissidents, but that in itself is enough to expose the inherent flaws in the system. It’s this exact kind of political and bureaucratic bullshit that has always unnerved me about institutionalized Christianity. I recognize that in the past it was necessary to be associated with some form of organized doctrine in order to distinguish ourselves from loony cults, and that was not a bad thing at the time, but it is now the 21st century, so can we please move past that? I think most of us have realized that actually, in fact, we don’t have all of God entirely figured out (like we thought we did), and as beautiful as our systematic theologies are, they are still man-made constructs…containers which God refuses to be stuck inside of…God is alive, and moving and working and breathing, all the time, every day! So as long as we are loving God and loving our neighbours, as Jesus commands in Mark 12:30-31 (the two greatest commandments) and acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God, as written in Micah 6:8, then what is the necessity for a monolithic institution pulling strings above us? As far as I’m concerned, Christian communities should be self-sufficient (so long as God is part of the equation), and if they’re not then maybe you need to take a step back and reconsider the whole thing.

So what do I recommend for Wellington Square? The same thing I’d recommend for any other Christian church or community…to care for one another and support one another, including the leadership. I would have a hard time believing that there were any serious problems between the ministry team and the congregation of Wellington Square, but I would hope that if there ever were, both sides would act like loving, mature Christians and approach the issue in an honest, open and most of all, humble way. If these other unionized ministers are feeling so unsupported, well then there are fundamental flaws in that system which need to be addressed. To put this all in perspective, I’m not against Christians organizing in large numbers and working together…not by a long shot! In fact, I think as the acting body of Christ, we need more inclusion and less division. My problem is when the politics become an obstacle to loving God and everyone else with all of our hearts…to be honest, I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to understanding how the United Church functions at a national level, however it is clear to me that if things like this are occurring, then the politics are getting in the way of our true (com)mission.

To finish up then, my final views on the unionization of United Church ministers is this: let them argue about who is going to have what on the ship that is inevitably sinking, because I’ve got more important things to worry about. I am going to continue to try my very best to ‘fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…’ (Heb. 12:2) and do so in conjunction with those around me who are seeking the same thing. And in the end, we’ll be the ones making the difference in the world because we will constantly be supporting each other in our quest to love God and everyone else, while the rest worry about matters which are ultimately insignificant.

Keep in mind these are the rantings of an idealistic 22 year old who is currently galavanting across Europe, but to summarize in one statement: I think the whole thing is an exercise in missing the point. My opinions are not firm however, and I welcome – encourage, even - any dialogue which may occur as a result!