Much has been said about the United Church of Christ in

recent weeks, much of it hurtful for many in our country,

including members of Trinity UCC in Chicago. That is

why we are eager to share the broad and diverse story of

the United Church of Christ, one that we celebrate.

With all Christians, we rest in God’s amazing grace and

hear God’s voice in the words of Scripture. Yet, the UCC

is unique to some because we do not require uniformity

of belief. We are a church of open ideas, extravagant

welcome and evangelical courage. Our passion for

democracy extends to both government and church, where decision-making

rests within each congregation. We support liberty in our pulpits, just as we

affirm the individual conscience of our 1.2-million members to agree, disagree

and wrestle with life’s biggest questions in a spirit of love.

Our story is this nation’s story. We are the people of the Mayflower. More than

600 of our 5,700 congregations were formed before 1776. Eleven signers of the

Declaration of Independence were members of UCC predecessor bodies.

As early abolitionists, we came to the aid of the Amistad captives and founded

hundreds of schools across the South after the Civil War. We were the first

mainline church to ordain an African-American (1785), a woman (1853) and

an openly gay pastor (1972). We were also the first to form a foreign mission

society (1810). Our multi-ethnic membership includes persons from every

immigrant group, as well as native peoples and descendants of freed slaves.

Our unity is not dependent upon uniform agreement, but in our shared

allegiance to Jesus Christ. Ours is a risk-taking church, because ours is a

risk-taking God.

God is still speaking, ®