Structure

The Southeast Conference of the United Church of Christ is the regional body that provides services to, and relates the congregations of, the United Church of Christ within the states of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, all of Tennessee except Memphis Mississippi, and the Panhandle of Florida. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the Conference's Conference Minister is the Rev. Dr. Timothy C. Downs.

This conference bears the strong heritages of several missionary efforts, dating back to the Reconstruction period of the late 19th-century, although one church was founded as early as 1681. About 55 percent of the membership of the Conference's churches is African-American, reflecting the mission work of the American Missionary Association, as well as more recent church planting targeting that constituency.

Although the third smallest of the 38 conferences of the United Church of Christ, The Southeast Conference has grown by 79% in the last five years due to ministries which have renewed many of our local congregations, planted new churches and cultivated the affiliation of established churches.  The Conference has encouraged congregations to practice radical hospitality, engage in ministries of social justice, and proclaim the  good news of a Gospel which liberates, reconciles and renews in the name of Jesus Christ.

In addition to the Conference Minister, several associate conference ministers implement programming to provide educational, youth, and evangelistic ministries for the churches. The Conference holds its annual meeting every June, and is governed by a Board of Directors between those meetings. The Board consists of officers and representatives elected by the annual meeting. For the 2006-2008 term, the Rev. Dr. Dorothy Gager of Nashville, Tennessee is moderator.

The Conference includes three Associations:

As with most conferences in the UCC, the Southeast Conference is composed of several associations.

The Alabama-Tennessee Association was established over a period from 1965 through 1969; it covers northern and central Alabama, eastern and central Tennessee, and Mississippi. Mrs. Nancy Sales, Beloved UCC, Alabama, is moderator.

The East Alabama-West Georgia Association derived from the former Alabama Christian Conference (pre-1930s) and consists of churches in east central Alabama and west central Georgia. The Rev. Don Harmon is moderator.

The Georgia-South Carolina Association represented a 1969 merger of the two previously racially-defined bodies bearing that name; self-evidently, it contains churches in both states (except for Georgia churches in the East Alabama-West Georgia territory). The Rev. Dr. Kimberleigh Buchanan, pastor, Pilgrimage UCC, Marietta, Ga., is moderator.

The Board of Directors of the Southeast Conference is operating under a Constitution and Bylaws that was ratified for a period of one year and will be reviewed and finalized  at the Annual Meeting of the Conference in June, 2007.   Under the terms of this Constitution and Bylaws, the Board is organized into three standing committees; Stewardship and Finance, Personnel, and Nominating.  Each of the Conference representatives on the Boards of Directors of the Covenanted Ministers in the national setting of the UCC are on the Board, and each of these representatives have a liaison, also on the Board, to support them. A staff supported ministry may have an Advisory Committee, as does the lay theology program TAP (Theology Among the People), and New Church Development.  Other ministries and priorities of the Conference may be served by Task Forces, such as the Task Force for Women in Church and Society, or the Task Force for Youth and Young Adult Ministries.

The Board of Directors meets quarterly.  The Annual Meeting of the Conference takes place in June, and is hosted by a different congregation each year.  It is a time of celebration, worship, equipping ministries and conducting the business of the Conference. Voting delegates are those elected from each congregation and all authorized (ordained, licensed and commissioned) ministers in the Conference.

The Annual Meeting of the Conference, hosted each year by one of the Associations, is held the second weekend in June. It is time of celebration, with workshops and displays to enrich our faith, a business meeting to keep us informed, and worship and music to keep us connected to one another and our faith.