John C. Dorhauer is an American

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

clergy member, author, and

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

who served as the ninth General Minister and President (GMP) of the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...

(UCC), a

Mainline Protestant The mainline Protestants (sometimes also known as oldline Protestants) are a group of Protestantism in the United States, Protestant denominations in the United States and Protestantism in Canada, Canada largely of the Liberal Christianity, theolo ...

denomination, from June 30, 2015, through July 2023.

Career

Dorhauer received a B.A. in Philosophy from Cardinal Glennon College (1983), and an M.Div. from

Eden Theological Seminary Eden Theological Seminary is a Christian seminary based in Webster Groves, Missouri. It is one of the six official seminaries of the United Church of Christ (UCC). History The seminary was established in 1850 by German pastors in Marthasville ...

(1988), the same year that he was ordained in the UCC. He later earned a D.Min degree from

United Theological Seminary United Theological Seminary is a United Methodist seminary in Trotwood, Ohio. Founded in 1871 by Milton Wright, the father of the Wright brothers, it was originally sponsored by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. In 1946, members o ...

, (2004) where he studied the effects of white privilege on the Church. Prior to his election as GMP, Dorhauer served as the Conference Minister of the Southwest Conference, United Church of Christ. He had previously served in the Missouri Mid-South Conference UCC and as the pastor of First Congregational United Church of Christ and Zion United Church of Christ (both of Missouri). Dorhauer was the first person to conduct a legal same-sex wedding in the state of Arizona when he performed the marriage of David Laurence and Kevin Patterson on October 17, 2014.

General Minister and President

On March 19, 2015, Dorhauer was approved as nominee to serve as UCC General Minister and President. On June 29, 2015, during the 30th General Synod (held in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

), Dorhauer's nomination came before the delegates. Numerous delegates at the Synod voiced their concern at how the nomination failed to support minority diversity among leadership in the UCC; many others publicly praised the nomination. When the vote was called, 85% of the voting delegates approved Dorhauer's election. He replaced the Rev. Dr. Geoffrey Black. Dorhauer was the ninth person to lead the UCC since the denomination was formed in 1957. He said that there would be two main themes to his tenure: One was to call on the denomination to rethink itself and to consider new ways of “being church” in light of reduced societal interest in institutional religion. The other was the steep decline in the membership of the UCC, like American Christianity, in general, since the 1960s. He said alternatives to institutional churches, what some call the "emergent church," will not immediately supplant but grow alongside the institutional church for a long time. He also called on the UCC to address

white privilege White privilege, or white skin privilege, is the Social privilege, societal privilege that benefits white people over Person of color, non-white people in some societies, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or ...

.Clarkson, Frederick
Racial Justice Will Be Top Priority for New Prez of the United Church of Christ
Religion Dispatches, August 20, 2015.

Publications

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References

External links

Rev. John Dorhauer Approved As Nominee For UCC General Minister And PresidentBio for UCC General Minister and President Nominee Rev. John DorhauerRacial Justice Will Be Top Priority for New Prez of the United Church of Christ
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorhauer, John Living people Eden Theological Seminary alumni American Christian theologians United Church of Christ ministers United Theological Seminary alumni Year of birth missing (living people)