Colleague, Bryan Sickbert, President/CEO, Council of Health and Human Service Ministries of the United Church of Christ; has written a thoughtful piece that speaks to the dual identity of UCC-affiliated health and human service organizations. The article speaks in many ways to our reality as Anabaptist-affiliated organizations. Our member ministries are grounded in the Anabaptist community of faith. An Anabaptist view of church and state relationships is different than that held within the UCC tradition. However, just as Bryan notes, our member organizations serve as a ministry of the church but do so often in partnership with the state. By state, I mean that many of our member organizations are dependent on various state and federal revenues that day in and day out allow our providers to meet real human need. This requires the kind of compliance that Bryan notes. But, just as he notes, some organizations choose only to “serve Caesar” and thus make compromises that blunt or completely dull their witness as Anabaptist-affiliated ministries.
May you and we be wise in our discernment.
Read the article here: http://www.chhsm.org/news/2013/11/25/render-to-caesar.698948
Speaking of Nonprofit Boards 