The United Church of Christ

The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition, in historical continuation of the Congregational churches founded in the early United States.

The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC. These two denominations, which were themselves the result of earlier unions, had their roots in Congregational, Christian, Evangelical, and Reformed denominations. 

The UCC maintains full communion with other mainline Protestant denominations. However, United Church of Christ congregations are independent in matters of doctrine and ministry. Within this individually focused structure, however, there are central beliefs common to the UCC.

In 1959, in its General Synod, the UCC adopted a broad “Statement of Faith”. The UCC often uses four words to describe itself: “Christian, Reformed, Congregational and Evangelical.”

As expressed in the United Church of Christ constitution:

The United Church of Christ acknowledges as its sole Head, Jesus Christ, Son of God and Savior. It acknowledges as kindred in Christ all who share in this confession. 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. It 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. It affirms the responsibility of the Church in each generation to make this faith its own in reality of worship, in honesty of thought and expression, and in purity of heart before God. In accordance with the teaching of our Lord and the practice prevailing among evangelical Christians, it recognizes two sacraments: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion.

The motto of the United Church of Christ comes from John 17:21: “That they may all be one. ”

To learn more about the United Church of Christ, please visit:  http://www.ucc.org/