Any of you in the United Church of Christ

[mrgorth]

I'm RC right now but that UCC guy on NOW! with Bill Moyer got me thinking of doing a switch. I looked in the phone book and there's several near me. I'm going to talk to a pastor. Can you give me an idea of you tenets? Thanks.

[sam sarrha]

1. which ever will make you a more positive person, and will cultivate

your compassion for others is probably the best.

[htuttle]

2. I was in it as a child for awhile

I don't remember much as far as specific tenets go, but I've always thought of them as similar to Unitarians, except that they talk about Jesus a lot more often. Lots of 'feed the hungry' sentiment (and actions) -- not much emphasis on Old Testament stuff, IIRC. Pretty activist throughout their history (back through a least the Vietnam War).

[tokenlib]

3. The UCC is pretty cool..

The UCC was a merger of some interesting groups. If someone else remembers the history a bit better than I--it is of interest.

Anyhow I went to liberal arts college affiliated with the UCC. We used to joke around that UCC stood for Utterly Confused Christian--(my background is Lutheran). Probably because a lot of us from more regimented, high liturgical traditions found a bit of a contrast.

In reality I gained a lot of respect for the UCC. They were very open and inclusive. They are not leery of putting their faith in action in society which is cool. Definately the opposite of protestant evangelical nutcases.

[quinnox]

4. It's a very good church

My grandfather worked for them, and they helped the community all the time, like food drives for the homeless.

[AWD]

5. Mrs. AWD here...

We've started going to UCC fairly recently because the local UU's seem to be a little too disorganized and well...defeated. Ours is very open minded in a town that is anything but. There is a large community of GLBT involved in our "New Vision" service -- there's even a bible study devoted solely toward debunking the so-called prohibition against homosexuality in the bible. I love the pastor because she did her pastoral thesis as an interpretive dance. Can't speak too highly of our church, but from an historical perspective, I can't seem to find the stuff they gave us. I know that they are very loose in their interpretation of the bible - pretty much Jesus is the bottom line and everything else is sort of left up to you to decide on. Another UCC church in our town allows the UU's to worship in their basement, so they must be pretty tolerant as a whole.

What Bill Moyers NOW was this and can I still see it?

[mrgorth]

7. Here ya go

http://www.pbs.org/now/society/hough.html

[Kolesar]

8. Bill Moyers NOW is a PBS show

I catch it Friday night (today!) on WVIZ or WNEO/WEAO 45/49 (one or both stations). It is high quality, and is a liberal balance to all the "moderate" shows on PBS that are actually conservative.

there are schedules at www.wviz.org and probably WNEO's site.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

6. http://www.ucc.org

http://www.ucc.org

[noonwitch]

9. I grew up UCC, go to a Unity church, now

The UCC has a statement of faith, you can read it on their website. It's basically a few paragraphs that sum up the things that the denominations that came together to form one agreed upon. My brother is a minister in the UCC,he has a church in Columbus, Ohio (St. Paul's). They use inclusive language, like referring to God by female and male pronouns, they have a hymnal that in addition to the traditional christian hymns also includes more gospel songs, too. They support civil rights, women's rights, are opposed to war, although you may find an occasional congregation that is more conservative than others, because each church is free to make some of their own determinations on such matters. Most who disagree with the denomination go off as independents or retain the old denominational label, such as congregational. They've been ordaining women and gays for a while now and it is no big controversy, like in some other liberal denominations (UMC and Episcopalian). The UCC, UU and Unity are the three denominations who have no issues with gays.

[grasswire]

10. gee....

...there's one just a few blocks from me. Guess I'll give it a try, since I've never found a church that really practised Christianity.

[LSparkle]

15. noonwitch, is there more than one UCC

church in Columbus? If not, my aunt belongs to your brother's church!

[Nikia]

11. I was baptized in the UCC as a baby

It was my mother's family church. My father's family church was Methodist. I didn't really see huge differnces in the two churches although I think that both Methodists and UCCs have more freedom in how they run their church and what they preach than many other denominations.

[Selwynn]

12. I'd love to find a "church" community that actually reflected christian...

values... instead of the bulk of christendom bullshit we have today. :(

[MrPrax]

13. Apparantly they need a donation drive too

Church leaders agree: Financial struggles demand a united effort

Mounting budget deficits throughout the UCC are triggering a push for a ramped-up stewardship and identity campaign that will build pride and ownership among our own, while reaching out to attract new members.

By J. Bennett Guess
Editor

The UCC is facing its most significant financial crisis in its 47- year history, church leaders say, but perhaps for the first time, there is a shared understanding that the weight of the problem—including its solution—must be owned equally by all settings of the church.
http://www.ucc.org/ucnews/nov03/struggles.htm

Maybe they should try to get some of that 'faith-based' cash...

[LSparkle]

14. My father is a retired UCC minister

(don't you dare care him pastor). It's probably the most liberal mainline Protestant denomination, one that feeds the mind as well as the spirit/emotion. Very inclusive (mirroring Jesus' behavior), not fundamentalist (liberal Biblical interpretation), believes that science and scripture can coexist ...

[bobbieinok]

16. A UCC version of the Apostles' Creed

United Church of Christ Statement of Faith
adapted by Robert V. Moss


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.


This really blew me away some years ago when the whole congregation affirmed this in unison.

http://www.ucc.org/faith/faith.htm

(Check out other versions.)