Mission Statement: Because we are deeply loved by God, we follow Jesus and others in living fully, loving wastefully and leading courageously.
The United Church of Christ (ucc.org) is a small group of churches, known as a denomination, of about 1.5 million members. The UCC began when, in 1957, the Congregational Church, Christian Church (Disciples), Evangelical and Reformed Churches combined to form the UCC.
The UCC comes out of the “Reformed” tradition. That refers to Martin Luther's movement that sought to change the way the Church was operating in their day. Many denominations, such as Methodist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian, came out of this Reformed movement. Our way of believing is similar to these groups, yet our views tend to be quite a bit more progressive than most other churches.
We have been leaders in issues of peace and justice for many, many years. In 1785 we ordained the first African American pastor, Lemuel Haynes; in 1839 we worked to free the victims of the Amistad disaster as a part of the abolitionist movement; in 1853 we ordained Antoinette Brown as the first known female pastor since New Testament times; in 1972 we ordained the first openly gay pastor, William R. Johnson; we founded Yale and Harvard;
and much, MUCH MORE!!!
To see more about our firsts in civil rights and peace and justice, go to the UCC Firsts section of the UCC home page OR come join us as we seek to be a part of doing what is right in this world at Creative Spirit, UCC!
