Programs and Services - The Living Waters Association

An Overview of Our Purpose

The Living Waters Association, acting for the whole of the United Church of Christ, ordains, commissions, and licenses persons for ministry; grants and maintains persons in discernment, ordained ministerial standing, and dual ordained ministerial standing; grants privilege of call; installs ordained and commissioned ministers; and reviews and disciplines its ordained, commissioned and licensed ministers.

Pulpit Supply

The following are available for Pulpit Supply within the boundaries of the Association.
Individual congregations are responsible for establishing compensation, including mileage at the time of coordinating Supply. The Association encourages prompt payment to your Supply Pastor. You may contact us for an updated list.

Authorizations designated as:

Ordained Clergy are authorized to perform all Sacraments and Rites of the Church in any setting of the UCC.

Laypersons may serve as Pulpit Supply but are not authorized to officiate the Sacraments and Rites of the Church.

Licensed Pastors are authorized to officiate the Sacraments and Rites of the Church after undergoing specific training and being authorized by the Association.

Knowledge, Skills and Ministry – The Marks

One ongoing initiative the Living Waters Association promotes is around the The Marks of Faithful and Effective Authorized Ministers of the United Church of Christ. “The Marks” is the wider church’s ongoing commitment to empower authorized ministers to think about their ministry in light of these areas:

Spiritual foundation and practice
Nurturing UCC identity
Building leadership skills
Engaging scared stories and traditions
Caring for all creation
Articulating/expressing theology
Working for justice and mercy
Strengthening -inter and -intra personal assets

“The Marks” was affirmed by General Synod’s pronouncement in 2005, as the church strives to show diverse paths to authorized ministry. Nearly twenty years later, the church uses conversation and assessments based on “The Marks” as a way to set goals and assess growth in ministry. “The Marks” is now incorporated into the 2018 update of the UCC Manual on Ministry.

This tool has been described as a kaleidoscope of eight categories, that also describe the depth of understanding, knowledge and integration of each “Mark” into a leader’s ministry.See a detailed description of each mark from the Manual on Ministry here: https://www.ucc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Marks-of-Faithful-and-Effective-Ministers.pdf