About the United Church of Christ
The UCC was founded in 1957 as the union of several different Christian traditions: from the beginning of its history, it was a church that affirmed the ideal that Christians did not always have to agree to live together in communion. The motto – “that they may all be one” – is Jesus’ prayer for the unity of the church.
The 1.2 million members who belong to the UCC make it one of the most diverse Christian denominations in the United States. The UCC balances congregational autonomy with a strong commitment to unity among its nearly 5,600 congregations - despite wide differences among many local congregations on a variety of issues.
Affirming that Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, the UCC claims as its own the faith of the historic church expressed in the ancient creeds and reclaimed in the basic insights of the Protestant reformers. Yet the UCC also affirms the responsibility of the church in each generation and community to make faith its own in reality of worship, in honesty of thought and expression, and in purity of heart before God. It looks to the Word of God in the Scriptures, and to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit to prosper its creative and redemptive work in the world.
One of the UCC’s distinguishing characteristics is its penchant to believe that…God is still speaking…