OKC UCC unanimously confirms transgender ministerial candidate
May 15, 2010 by Blaiz
by Nathaniel Batchelder
http://oklahomacitizen.org/2010/05/15/okc-ucc-unanimously-confirms-transgender-ministerial-candidate (http://oklahomacitizen.org/2010/05/15/okc-ucc-unanimously-confirms-transgender-ministerial-candidate)
Church of the Open Arms, UCC, Oklahoma City
OKLAHOMA CITY - Delegates from 14 United Church of Christ congregations of the Oklahoma UCC Association voted unanimously today in support of the candidacy of Ben Files for ordination as a UCC minister. Mr. Files -- of Ada, OK and a graduate of OBU in Shawnee -- received his Masters of Divinity degree from PSR, Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, and has served a one-year internship as a hospital chaplain. Files plans to pursue a career in hospital chaplaincy as a UCC minister.
Delegates were impressed by a 20-page statement Files had submitted, describing his own faith journey from his Southern Baptist roots to an expansive progressive theology consistent with UCC understandings; by the testimony of pastors and faculty supporting his candidacy; and by his personal presentation at the gathering including his answers to numerous questions from the delegates.