The Rev. Jim Moos, senior at pastor at Bismarck's United Church of Christ, was elected chairman of the executive council of the national United Church of Christ at the church's general synod in Hartford, Conn.

Moos spent six years working on the national level as part of the budget and finance committee of the church's Wider Church Ministries, one of four "covenanted ministries" of the national UCC.

He has been on the executive council for the past two years and will now serve a two-year term as chairman of the executive council. The entire council consists of about 80 people representing various groups in the church, he said.

When his name was put forward for the post, Moos consulted with his family, church leaders and church members before saying "yes,"he said, since the job entails significant time spent away from the congregation.

The executive committee schedules two or three meetings year, most in Cleveland, the church headquarters, and much work on various issues in between, he said.

"It's a significant time commitment," Moos said.

The national church is considering a major structural reorganization of its four major ministries, which are now separate entities, for efficiency, he said. The UCC consists of the basic units - congregations - organized into various geographical groups. The general synod meets every two years. This year's synod celebrated the denomination's 50th anniversary of its formation in 1957 from the merger of several Protestant bodies.