UUA and UCC --"Just Friends"

The leaders of the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ met recently to discuss issues of common interest between the two denominations.

According to an article on this meeting,

The leaders of two American denominations whose ancestral churches divided 200 years ago met last week to discuss their past and future, but a reunion is not in the works.

The presidents of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (UUA) and the United Church of Christ (UCC) spoke at a forum October 25 sponsored by the Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS) in Newton, Mass. The Rev. William G. Sinkford, president of the UUA, and the Rev. John Thomas, general minister and president of the UCC, discussed ways to bridge theological and historical differences in order to work together on issues of common concern.

I can't imagine the two denominations merging. Although the UCC is sometimes jokingly referred to as "Unitarians Considering Christ", there really is a big theological gulf between the two denominations. The vast majority of UU members do not consider themselves Christians, and I can imagine their revulsion at the idea merging with a denomination where the word "God" is actually used. There are individual UU churches with a Christian focus, and I know of a church in Chicago that is affiliated with both the UCC and the UUA; but, in general, the theological focuses of the two denominations are not particularly compatible, even if both tend to share a commitment to social justice.