When I tell people that I am part of the united Church of Christ I either get a quizzical look (from the many who do not know who we are) or, more often now, a startled look or raised eyebrow (from those who associate the UCC with Jeremiah Wright and his portrayal during 2008). When I get the question "Well, what does the UCC believe?" I usually either give a quick, maeanigless answer--"Oh, we're like the Methodists." Or I give a theological treatise, explaining all of what I see as the wonderful nuances of our theology and watch my listener's eyes glaze over. You see, when you are as inclusive as we are in the UCC, its hard to give a simple answer about who we are.

That's why I was happy to run across "What Matters to Us" on the UCC website. It's not a statement of beliefs, per say, but six historic emphases of our denomination and the streams that flow into it. Take a look at these. I invite you to read them, ponder them, discuss them, and then use them as you are talking about who we are with those who ask you. Let me know what you think!

“What Matters”

We are people of God’s Extravagant Welcome
Jesus didn’t turn people away, even those often rejected by others. We don’t intend to either. We are like a “company of strangers,” made family by the grace of God. God welcomes, claims, and loves all people. God also feeds our hunger, forgives our sins, and frees us from aimless wandering.

This is no idle chatter. The UCC has been bold in extending an invitation to all. For example, our historic denominations were first to ordain an African American pastor (1785), a woman (1853), and a gay or lesbian person (1972).



We Belong to Christ
Jesus Christ is central to who we are. We know God especially in Jesus, who lived, loved, died, rose from the dead, and is present today. Because we belong to Christ, we welcome, love, pray, and serve.

The God we know in Jesus is also known by many names. We share a tradition among Christians speaking of one God as “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” We also speak of God in ways that enrich our faith—God as mother, rock, liberator, savior, friend.

We affirm historic creeds and statements of faith, not as tests for belief, but as inspired words of faithful women and men who came before us. We discover God through the Bible, through prayer, and through engaging the world.

No single statement fully expresses who God is; but where there is justice, peace, and compassion, we see the living God at work in history. To such a God, we belong.


We Are One at Baptism and the Table
God’s grace is celebrated in baptism and Holy Communion. We call these rituals sacraments.

Through the water of baptism, God embraces you—no matter who you are—and brings you into Christ’s church. Baptism reminds us of our special covenant with God. In it, you share in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. In turn, the church promises to love, support, and care for you throughout your whole life.

At Holy Communion, we hare a simple meal of bread and juice. Here, we encounter Christ’s presence. Together, around God’s welcome table, we recall God’s loving acts in Jesus, experience oneness in God, hope for a time when all will be fed, and anticipate the fullness of God’s love and justice throughout creation.



We Are a People of Covenant, a United and Uniting Church
God invites us into a special relationship called “covenant.” The bible speaks of God’s holy covenants with people, communities of faith, nations, and all of creation.

As God covenants with us, we covenant with one another. Local churches also covenant—prayerfully acting on their own, but also relating with associations, conferences, the General Synod, and national settings of the UCC. We covenant with many other Christian denominations, and pray that all may be one (John 17:21). This prayer extends beyond the unity of all churches to the reconciliation of the whole world.



We Thank God by Working for a Just and Loving World
Jesus taught about the realm of God. This realm is one of love and justice, hope and peace. We see it in the past, particularly in the life of Christ. But we also glimpse it in the present, and look for the fulfillment of it in the future. God’s promise extends even beyond death to eternal life.

God continues to break through the barriers of sin and death in the bold witness of God’s people. In gratitude to God, we seek to root out injustice, to stand in solidarity with those who are poor and oppressed; to give with inspiring generosity; to care for the earth; and even to sometimes go against the grain of conventional norms.


We Listen for the Still-speaking God
Founded in 1957, the UCC is grounded in the ancient church of the New Testament and in historic streams of Christianity in this country, dating back to the Pilgrims and German immigrants in colonial Pennsylvania. We affirm the words of our Pilgrim forbearer, John Robinson, that God has “more light and truth to break forth…” (1621)

In our generation, we seek and serve God in innovative ways. God continues to form us through new people among us, offering a multicultural mosaic that reflects all of creation. We celebrate our common ground, while honoring our differences: “In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, diversity; in all things, charity.”

Through prayer, sacraments, and worship; through the arts and sciences; through compassionate and political acts; and particularly in the voices of those who suffer, God is at work in our hearts and minds, in faith communities, and in the wider world