The United Church of Christ (UCC) has over 5,000 churches and nearly 1 million members and is a distinct and diverse community of Christians that come together as one church to join faith and action. Need reasons to be excited about being UCC?

  • we were the first historically white denomination to ordain an African-American
  • the first to ordain a woman
  • the first to ordain an openly gay man
  • the first Christian church to affirm the right of same-gender couples to marry

Why? Because God is still speaking,
for more visit http://www.ucc.org/about-us_ucc-firsts

We believe in God’s continuing testament. This is why we are committed to hearing God’s ancient story anew and afresh in our lives and in the world today. We try to remain attentive to God’s creative movement in the world. Religion and science are not mutually exclusive, and your head and heart are both welcomed into our places of worship. We prepare our members and leaders to be engaged in ministry in the present and future church, and we embrace all kinds of communities and new modes of thinking.
Why? Because God is still speaking,
We believe the church’s mission is to change lives — individually, systemically and globally.
We work to make transformation possible, but trust in God’s grace. This is why we insist that churches must be places of vitality in worship, learning and advocacy.
We are committed to working for justice, and we believe that lives are changed through global experiences and friendships.
Why? Because God is still speaking,

The United Church of Christ

A Brief Look at Our History & Beliefs

  • The Congregational Christian Church was formed in 1931 with the merger of the Congregational Church and the Christian Church.
  • The Evangelical and Reformed Church was formed in 1934 with the merger of the Reformed Church and the Evangelical Synod of North America.
  • The United Church of Christ began in 1957 with the merger of 2 denominations: The Evangelical and Reformed Church & The Congregational Christian Church. Due to differences in governance, all the Evangelical and Reformed Churches became UCC churches and the Congregational Christian Churches each voted (or didn’t) to join the UCC.
  • We believe in God: Creator, resurrected Christ, the sole Head of the church, and the Holy Spirit, who guides and brings about the creative and redemptive work of God in the world.
  • We believe that each person is unique and valuable. It is the will of God that every person belong to a family of faith where they have a strong sense of being valued and loved.
  • We believe that each person is on a spiritual journey and that each of us is at a different stage of that journey.
  • We believe that the persistent search for God produces an authentic relationship with God, engendering love, strengthening faith, dissolving guilt, and giving life purpose and direction.
  • We baptize during worship when the community is present because baptism includes the community’s promise of ‘love, support and care’ for the baptized – and we promise that we won’t take it back – no matter where your journey leads you.
  • We believe that all people of faith are invited to join Christ at Christ’s table for the sacrament of Communion.
  • We celebrate the UCC motto: “In essentials – unity, in non-essentials – diversity, in all things – charity,” The UCC has no rigid formulation of doctrine or attachment to creeds or structures. Its overarching creed is love.
  • We believe that the UCC is called to be a prophetic church. As in the tradition of the prophets and apostles, God calls the church to speak truth to power, liberate the oppressed, care for the poor and comfort the afflicted.
1620:
Congregationalists trace their roots back to the Pilgrims. Their pastor, John Robinson, told them to keep their hearts and minds open to new ways.
God, he says, “has yet more light and truth to break forth out of his Holy Word.”

1700:
Congregationalists are among the first Americans to take a stand against slavery.

1773:
Five thousand angry colonists gather in the Old South Meeting House to demand repeal of an unjust tax on tea. Their protest inspires the first act of civil disobedience in U.S. history – the “Boston Tea Party.”

1777:
The British occupy Philadelphia – seat of the rebellious Continental Congress – and plan to melt down the Liberty Bell to manufacture cannons. But the Bell has disappeared. It is safely hidden under the floorboards of Zion Reformed Church in Allentown.

1810:
America’s first foreign mission society, the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions (ABCFM) is formed by Congregationalists in Massachusetts.

ABCFM sends its first group of five missionaries to India.
ABCFM sends first missionaries to Near East, including Turkey and Palestine.
ABCFM sends first missionaries to Sandwich Islands.

1839:
Enslaved Africans break their chains and seize control of the schooner Amistad.
The Congregationalists in Connecticut help to work to free the captives.

1853:
Antoinette Brown is the first woman since Bible times ordained as a Christian minister, and perhaps the first woman in history elected to serve a Christian congregation as pastor.

1943:
Evangelical and Reformed theologian Reinhold Niebuhr preaches a sermon that introduces the world to the now famous Serenity Prayer: “God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.”

1972:
The UCC’s Golden Gate Association ordains the first openly gay person as a minister in a mainline Protestant denomination: the Rev. William R. Johnson. In the following three decades, General Synod urges equal rights for homosexual citizens and calls on congregations to welcome gay, lesbian and bisexual members.