What We Believe - Community United Church Of Christ

What We Believe

Our Mission, Vision and Values We are called to welcome, nurture and serve. No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here. Our church members dedicate themselves to a shared promise, or covenant: “We covenant with God and with one another; and do bind ourselves in the presence of God, to walk together in all God’s ways as they are revealed to us through the divine gifts of scripture, tradition, reason and experience.”

The full statement of Community UCC’s mission and welcome reads: “The mission of Community United of Christ is to encourage each other in the Christian faith by nurturing each one’s spiritual journey, supporting and celebrating each other and sharing the Gospel of Christian love through service, sacrament, and outreach. Community United Church of Christ is an open and affirming congregation, welcoming all persons regardless of race, gender, identity, sexual orientation, marital status, age, mental and physical ability, as well as ethnic or socio-economic background into the full life and ministry of the church.”

Open and Affirming According to the UCC, an “Open and Affirming” congregation is one that has publicly and specifically declared that those of all “sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions” (or “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender” people) are welcome in its full life and ministry (e.g. membership, leadership, employment, etc.) It speaks of a spirit of hospitality and a willingness to live out that welcome in meaningful ways. To become a recognized ONA (Open ‘n Affirming like salt ‘n pepper) congregation, individual churches engage in a time of study, prayer, and congregational conversations prior to making their decision. On average, the process takes around two years. Community UCC became an ONA church in 2009.

STATEMENT OF FAITH

Community United Church of Christ does not require a creed of beliefs in order to be part of our life together. We believe the historic creeds and statements of faith are “testimonies” to God’s presence with faithful people, rather than “tests” of who’s in and who’s out. Most Sundays in worship, we recite a statement of faith as a helpful reminder of the path our ancestors walked before us. Of particular importance is this Statement of Faith, adopted by the United Church of Christ:

We believe in God, the Eternal Spirit, who is made known to us in Jesus our brother, and to whose deeds we testify: God calls the worlds into being, creates humankind in the divine image, and sets before us the ways of life and death. God seeks in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and sin. God judges all humanity and all nations by that will of righteousness declared through prophets and apostles.

In Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Lord, God has come to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and death and reconciling the whole creation to its Creator.

God bestows upon us the Holy Spirit, creating and renewing the church of Jesus Christ, binding in covenant faithful people of all ages, tongues, and races.

God calls us into the church to accept the cost and joy of discipleship, to be servants in the service of the whole human family, to proclaim the gospel to all the world and resist the powers of evil, to share in Christ’s baptism and eat at his table, to join him in his passion and victory.

God promises to all who trust in the gospel forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace, courage in the struggle for justice and peace, the presence of the Holy Spirit in trial and rejoicing, and eternal life in that kingdom which has no end.

Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto God. Amen.