(RNS) The supervisor of New York congregations for the United Church of Christ has been nominated to become the UCC’s next general minister and president.
The Rev. Geoffrey Black will need to receive a two-thirds majority of the UCC’s Executive Council in March before he can be presented to the entire UCC General Synod this summer.
The UCC’s current general minister and president, the Rev. John Thomas, has served since 1999 and isn’t eligible for re-election.
Black is particularly concerned about equal justice and black empowerment and co-founded the Amistad Cultural Center of Long Island, according to a church news release. He would be the UCC’s second African-American president.
Black was previously a program staff member in the UCC’s Office for Church Life and Leadership and is currently a member of the board of trustees of Lancaster (Pa.) Theological Seminary.
The Rev. Jim Moos, chair of the UCC’s Executive Council and pastor of Bismarck United Church of Christ in North Dakota, believes Black has leadership qualities that set him apart.
“The phrase ‘servant leadership’ encapsulates his understanding and practice of leadership. Leadership, in his view, is about serving God and God’s people,” Moos said. “He does not believe that leadership is the exclusive purview of a single person, but the shared responsibility of the many.”
