It is said that we live in a time in which denominations are
going to mean less and less. That may be true. However, our own denominational
ties are important to us and treasured by us. Therefore, a very brief history:
The United Church of Christ was formed in 1957 by a merger of the Congregational
Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church. These were
two very different denominations. They were different in their histories,
the ethnic groups which comprised their people, their theological outlook,
the economic class of their laity and even the way they made church decisions.
Their common and uniting conviction was that obedience to the unity in
the Gospel of Jesus Christ would overcome their many differences.
Their merger was a heroic and historic moment in obedience to Christ's
prayer, "that they all may be one" (John 17:21). Presbyterians have reunited
with Presbyterians and Lutherans with Lutherans, but no merger can be compared
to that which began in the summer of 1957.
The Congregationalists trace their heritage back to the Puritans and
the Pilgrims. The Congregationalists founded Harvard and Yale as well as
many of the historic black colleges. They were also very involved in the
abolitionist movement prior to the Civil War. The E&R folks were predominantly
made up of two German groups. One group came just before the American Revolution
(the Reformed Germans). The others emigrated from Germany to the US from
about 1840 to 1900. The Churches in this second group belonged to what
is today known in Germany as the Evangelical Church of the Union (EKU).
Hence, they called themselves the "Evangelical" Church when they arrived
here.
The word "Evangelical" simply means "of the Gospel" and the word "Gospel"
means "good news." These German immigrants understood themselves to be
a
people who were moved by the good news of God's love for us revealed most
perfectly in Jesus Christ. The word "Evangelical" doesn't have quite the
same meaning here in the United States, though we have much in common with
those who use the more modern label of "Evangelicals" as well.
The E&R side of the UCC is where Faith Church has most of its roots,
though today we represent a profound mixture of people from a variety of
backgrounds.
What are we now?
So, that's history (it's much more complicated, as you might expect, but
that's enough to get started). But what are we now?
We are Congregational in the way in which we govern our local
church. That means that the local church owns its own property and is legally
independent. Our connection to the national church is far more informal
that it is in many other denominations. That gives us enormous flexibility
in the way in which we run the life of the church. However, we are not
totally free to "do our own thing." We also honor a thing called "Covenant"
meaning that we honor our partnerships and shared historical faith with
other congregations in the UCC as well as those other denominations who
hold a common confession of faith.
We are open: Most of our ancestors in our denomination had significant
experiences with religious intolerance and even persecution. The early
Germans came to the United States in the 1700s to escape the religious
wars of Louis the Fourteenth. The Pilgrims and Puritans left England partly
to rid themselves of the double persecutions of King and Bishop.
So we have inherited a certain flexibility of thought in terms of our
faith. One of our historic mottoes goes like this:
In essentials, unity
In non-essentials, liberty
In all things, charity.
Some might think of that as being undecided. We don't. We know that
our God was distinctly revealed in Jesus Christ and that our God deeply
loves us and abides with us in all times and places. We may disagree about
the meaning of several theological points, but we are in complete agreement
about God's love for us and the world (John 3:16)
We are Biblical
We are a people who are shaped and sustained by the Word of God. The expression
"Word of God" has an interesting double meaning. The obvious meaning is
"Holy Scripture." But it also means Jesus Christ ("The word became flesh
and dwelt among us" John 1:14) The combination of these two meanings is
very important.
Even a child knows that not all biblical passages are meant to be taken
literally. Many passages need to be interpreted by the community of faith
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The way we interpret them is through
the "lens of Jesus Christ." As Martin Luther once put it, we must discern
in all our reading of Scripture, "That which has to do with Christ." Jesus
Christ reveals to us the heart of God and we read all Scripture in the
light of that revelation.
God's revelation in Jesus Christ and the Bible is also open ended. God's
will continues to be revealed to us. In the community of Faith, through
Bible studies, sermons, friendly and faithful arguments, we continue to
struggle with the meaning of many passages of Scripture; even, sometimes,
the ones which we hold most dear.
This has always been the case with Scripture, of course. We strive for
an important balance between the permanence of Scripture and the continuing
revelation of our God. The Puritan pastor, John Robinson, once said that
there is "yet more truth and light to break forth from this, his Holy Word."
We are prophetic
From the beginning of the UCC, our life as a church has been shaped
by a central commitment to the struggle for justice and peace. In this
we find good company with Jesus Christ who struggled to overcome
every racial, economic and gender barrier of his day. His encounter with
the Samaritan woman at the well, in the Gospel of John (chapter 4) is the
best example of how Jesus treated people who were different from him. Women
and Samaritans were not highly placed in the culture of Jesus' day, but
such barriers meant nothing to him.
We love one another
That's pretty much all it means to be the "UCC" (or just to be Christian
for that matter). To love one another as God has loved us. To love with
the love by which we have been loved. That's pretty much it. But the implications
of such a simple statement are powerful and world transforming. We struggle
mightily together as a people of God to understand the implications of
the great dual commandment to "love the Lord your God with all your heart
and mind and strength ... and your neighbor as yourself." (Luke 10:27)
The Gospel in one word is love
We welcome all to join us in this heady and sometimes exasperating,
but ever joyful journey of hopeful obedience to the One God we know in
Jesus Christ.
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