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whose organizational structure was, obviously, congregationalism, separating them from the then-theologically similar Presbyterians.  This denomination was centered in New England (being the state churches of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut from colonial times until into the early 19th century).  The church spread wherever New Englanders migrated, including significant numbers in the Great Lakes region of the Midwest (states like Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, etc.).  
The Congregational churches traced their colonial-era origins to two English dissenting Protestant groups: the separatist Pilgrims, who established Plymouth Colony in 1620; and the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, who landed in 1629 and 1630 and settled Boston.  (At the time of the 1957 formation of the United Church of Christ, several hundred Congregational churches did not join.  Most of those  congregations joined either one of two alternative bodies: the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches and the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference.)

• * A portion of the American frontier Restoration Movement known as the Christian Churches, which derived from separate but related movements in North Carolina and Virginia, and New England at the turn of the 19th century. This loosely-defined group comprised a number of frontier movements that broke away from more established denominations (Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist) because they desired less rigid requirements of doctrine and church polity/organization. Adherents saw the Bible as the sole doctrinal guide and claimed "no creed but Christ." The Christian Church movement is part of the family of similar movements (Restoration Movement) that generated the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) denomination, the independent Christian Churches, and the fundamentalist, sectarian Churches of Christ. While the United Church of Christ has very close ties with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), it is theologically and culturally dissimilar to the Churches of Christ despite their similar names--this has caused substantial confusion in some parts of the United States.

Doctrine and Beliefs

The UCC uses four words to describe itself: Christian, Reformed, Congregational and Evangelical. The church's diversity and adherence to covenantal polity (rather than government by elders or bishops) give individual congregations a great deal of freedom in the areas of worship, congregational life, and doctrine.

The motto of the United Church of Christ comes from John 17:21: "That they may all be one." The UCC uses broad doctrinal parameters, honoring creeds and confessions as "testimonies of faith" rather than "tests of faith," and emphasizes freedom of individual conscience and local church autonomy. Indeed, the relationship between local congregations and the denomination's national headquarters is covenantal rather than hierarchical: local churches have complete control of their finances, hiring and firing of clergy and other staff, and theological and political stands.

In the United Church of Christ, creeds, confessions, and affirmations of faith function as "testimonies to faith" around which the church gathers rather than as "tests of faith" rigidly proscribing required doctrinal consent. As expressed on the United Church of Christ website, "The United Church of Christ embraces a theological heritage that affirms the Bible as the authoritative witness to the Word of God, the creeds of the ecumenical councils, and the confessions of the Reformation."

The denomination, therefore, looks to a number of historic confessions as expressing the common faith around which the church gathers, including:

• the Apostles' Creed,
• the Nicene Creed,
• the Heidelberg Catechism (inherited from both the German Reformed and German Evangelical heritages),
• Luther's Small Catechism (inherited from the German Evangelical heritage),
• the Kansas City Statement of Faith (a 1913 statement in the Congregationalist tradition),
• the Evangelical Catechism (a 1927 catechism in the German Evangelical tradition), and
• the Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ (written at the founding of the denomination).

While not functioning as creedal tests of faith, together these confessions and testimonies of faith situate the United Church of Christ solidly within the family of Reformation churches.

Polity/Organizational Structure

System and Ethos of Polity

Quoting the United Church of Christ Constitution, "The basic unit of the life and organization of the United Church of Christ is the local church." An interplay of wider interdependence with local [[Wiktionary:autonomy|autonomy]] characterizes the organization of the UCC. Each "setting" of the United Church of Christ relates covenantally with other settings, their actions speaking "to but not for" each other.

The ethos of United Church of Christ organization is considered "covenantal." The structure of UCC organization is a mixture of the congregational and presbyterian polities of its predecessor denominations. With ultimate authority on most matters given to the local church, many see United Church of Christ polity as closer to congregationalism; however, with ordination and pastoral oversight conducted by Associations, and General Synod representation given to Conferences, certain presbyterian similarities are also visible.

The Local Church

The basic unit of the United Church of Christ is the local church (also often called the congregation). Local churches have the freedom to govern themselves, establishing their own internal organizational structures and theological positions. Thus, local church governance varies widely throughout the denomination; some congregations, mainly of Congregational origin, have numerous relatively-independent "boards" that oversee different aspects of church life, others have one central "church council" or "consistory" (especially in former Evangelical and Reformed parishes) that handles most or all affairs, while still others have structures incorporating aspects of both, or other alternative organizational structures entirely.

Local churches also have the freedom to hire and dismiss their own pastors and other leadership. However, unlike purely congregational polities, the association has the main authority to ordain clergy and grant standing to clergy coming to a church from another association or another denomination (this authority is exercised "in cooperation with" the person being ordained/called and the Local Church that is calling them). Local churches are aided in searching for and calling ordained clergy through a denominationally-coordinated "search-and-call" system, usually facilitated by staff at the conference level.

The Association

Local churches are typically gathered together in regional bodies called Associations. Local churches often give financial support to the association to support its activities. The official delegates of an association are comprised of all ordained clergy within the bounds of the association together with lay delegates sent from each local church. The association provides primary oversight and authorization of ordained and other authorized ministers. The association ordains new ministers, holds ministers' standing in covenant with local churches, and is responsible for disciplinary action. [In a few instances where there is only one association within a conference, or where a conference has decided to dissolve its associations, the Conference (below) assumes the association's functions.]

The Conference

Local churches also are members of larger Conferences, of which there are 39 in the United Church of Christ. A conference typically contains multiple associations; if no associations exist within its boundaries, the conference exercises the functions of the association as well. Conferences are supported financially through local churches' contribution to "Our Church's Wider Mission", the United Church of Christ's denominational support system. Conferences provide the primary support for the search-and-call process by which churches select ordained leadership and often provide significant programming resources for their constituent churches. Conferences, like associations, are congregationally representative bodies, with each local church sending ordained and lay delegates. Conferences often have their annual meetings in June.

The General Synod

The denomination's churchwide deliberative body is the General Synod, which meets every two years. The General Synod is comprised of delegates elected from the Conferences (distributed proportionally by conference size) together with the boards of directors of each of the four covenanted ministries (see below, under National Offices).

While General Synod provides the most visible voice of the "stance of the denomination" on any particular issue, the covenantal polity of the denomination means that General Synod speaks to local churches, associations, and conferences, but not for them. Thus, the other settings of the church are allowed to hold differing views and practices on all non-constitutional matters.

General Synod considers three kinds of resolutions:

• Pronouncements: A Pronouncement is a statement of Christian conviction on a matter of moral or social principle and has been adopted by a two-thirds vote of a General Synod.
• Proposals for Action: A Proposal for Action is a recommendation for specific directional statements and goals implementing a Pronouncement. A Proposal for Action normally accompanies a Pronouncement. (See link above regarding Pronouncements.)
• Resolutions and Other Formal Motions Which may consist of the following three types:
• *Resolutions of Witness: A Resolution of Witness is an expression of the General Synod concerning a moral, ethical, or religious matter confronting the church, the nation, or the world, adopted for the guidance of the officers, Associated, or Affiliated Ministries, or other bodies as defined in Article VI of the Bylaws of the United Church of Christ; the consideration of local churches, Associations, Conferences, and other bodies related to the United Church of Christ; and for a Christian witness to the world. It represents agreement by at least two-thirds of the delegates voting that the view expressed is based on Christian conviction and is a part of their witness to Jesus Christ.
• * Prudential Resolutions: A Prudential Resolution establishes policy, institutes or revises structure or procedures, authorizes programs, approves directions, or requests actions by a majority vote.
• * Other Formal Motions

The National Offices: Covenanted, Associated, and Affiliated Ministries

As agents of the General Synod, the denomination maintains national offices comprising four "covenanted ministries", one "associated ministry", and one "affiliated ministry". The current system of national governance was adopted in 1999 as a restructure of the national setting, consolidating numerous agencies, boards, and "instrumentalities" that the UCC, in the main, had inherited from the Congregational Christian Churches at the time of merger, along with several created during the denomination's earlier years.

Covenanted Ministries

These structures carry out the work of the General Synod and support the local churches, associations, and conferences. The head executives of these ministries comprise the five member Collegium of Officers, which are the non-hierarchical official officers of the denomination. (The Office of General Ministries is represented by both the General Minister, who serves as President of the denomination, and the Associate General minister). According the UCC office of communication press release at the time of restructure, "In the new executive arrangement, the five will work together in a Collegium of Officers, meeting as peers. This setting is designed to provide an opportunity for mutual responsibility and reporting, as well as ongoing assessment of UCC programs." The main offices of the Covenanted ministries are at the "Church House", the United Church of Christ national headquarters at 700 Prospect Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio.

• The Office of General Ministries (OGM) is responsible for administration, common services (technology, physical plant, etc), covenantal relations (ecumenical relations, formal relations to other settings of the church), financial development, and "proclamation, identity and communication". The current General Minister and President is the Rev. John Thomas and the current Associate General Minister is Ms. Edith Guffey.
• Local Church Ministries (LCM) is responsible for evangelism, stewardship and church finance, worship and education, Pilgrim Press and United Church Resources (the publishing house of the United Church of Christ), and parish life and leadership (authorization, clergy development, seminary relations, parish leadership, etc.). The current Executive Minister of Local Church Ministries is the Rev. José Malayang.
• Wider Church Ministries (WCM) is responsible for partner relations* (relations with churches around the world, missionary work, etc.), local church relations* (as relates to world ministries and missions), global sharing of resources, health and wholeness ministry, and global education and advocacy*. The starred '*' ministries are carried out through the Common Global Ministries Board, a joint instrumentality of the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The current Executive Minister for Wider Church Ministries is the Rev. Cally Rogers-Witte.
• Justice and Witness Ministries (JWM) is responsible for ministries related to economic justice, human rights, justice for women and transformation, public life and social policy, and racial justice. In addition to its offices in Cleveland, JWM also maintains an office on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The current Executive Minister for Justice and Witness Ministries is Ms. M. Linda Jaramillo.

Associated Ministry

The Pension Boards of the United Church of Christ (PB) operates the employee benefits systems for all settings of the United Church of Christ, including health, dental, and optical insurance, retirement/pension systems, disability and life insurance, and ministerial assistance programs. The Pension Boards offices are in New York, New York.

Affiliated Ministry

The United Church Foundation (UCF) operates a collective financial management and investment system available to any setting of the United Church of Christ that wishes to place its assets with UCF. The United Church Foundation offices are in New York, New York.

The United Church of Christ Insurance Board is a nonprofit corporation collectively "owned" by 38 of 39 Conferences of the United Church of Christ. It is run by a president/CEO and a 15-member Board, of with the full corporate board consisting of participating Conference ministers. The UCCIB administers a property insurance and liability insurance program serving the United Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) churches and related entities. [link]. [link]

Current issues in the United Church of Christ

\"God Is Still Speaking\" Identity Campaign

In 2004 the United Church of Christ began using paid commercial advertising to reach potential members, joining the United Methodist Church and others who have also begun such efforts. The multi-year "God Is Still Speaking" identity initiative was themed around a quote by Gracie Allen warning, "Never place a period where God has placed a comma."  Campaign materials, including print and broadcast advertising as well as merchandise, featured the quote and a large "comma," with a visual theme in red and black.  United Church of Christ congregations were asked to "opt in" to the campaign, signifying their support as well as their willingness to receive training on hospitality and evangelism.

The first television advertisement in the campaign, ["Bouncers" advertisement], showed bouncers allowing a white, well-dressed family comprising a different-gender couple and two children into a church building while rejecting a number of other people, including an African American female, a Latino male, two men holding hands, and a person using a wheelchair. The text displayed on the screen says "Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we." In the initial December 2004 run, the NBC and CBS television networks refused to air an advertisement by the UCC, deeming it too controversial. According to Broadcasting & Cable magazine, "The controversy, said NBC, stemmed from the ad's suggestion that 'other religions are not open to all people.'"[link]

Although the United Church of Christ intended to run a new television commercial during the December 2005 period, funding problems (lack of giving by congregations and the complexities of borrowing money from other UCC ministries) made financing goals unreachable. Because of a lack of funds, the UCC's 80-member Executive Council met Nov 2 to approve a Lent (March-April 2006) ad buy rather than an Advent (December 2005) one. [link] During Lent 2006, the UCC launched several sites prior to the release of the commercial, including [iucc.org], [www.uccvitality.org], [rejectionhurts.com],[accessibleairwaves.org]. When a description of the commercial was leaked by Sojourners magazine, and published on several blogs, [link], the United Church news issued a complete description of the ad a full week before it was launched. In the new commercial, known as the "Ejector Seat" commercial, church pews "eject" people in a fashion similar to aircraft ejector seats; among the persons "ejected" from the church are an African American mother holding a crying infant, two men holding hands, an Arab-American man, and a person with a walker. The commercial again concluded with the line "Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we", and cut to a scene of a diverse church gathering and a voice-over stating "The United Church of Christ: No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you're welcome here."

Examining the denomination's long-term financial needs, the United Church of Christ Executive Council announced at its April 2006 meeting that the Still Speaking Initiative could no longer be sustained as a separate program at its current funding levels, and that instead the denomination would integrate the campaign into the overall program of the national setting. [link]. On June 7, 2006, the UCC announced that Ron Buford would be stepping down from his position as Coordinator and Team Leader of the Stillspeaking Initiative and would work as a consultant for six months. [link]

Equal Marriage Rights controversy

On July 4, 2005, the United Church of Christ General Synod XV endorsed an "Equal Marriage Rights For All" resolution, with an estimated 80% of the 884 delegates voting in favor of the resolution. With the resolution the UCC General Synod became the first major Christian deliberative body in the U.S. to make a statement of support for equal marriage rights for all people, regardless of gender, and is hitherto the largest Christian denominational entity in the U.S. supporting equal marriage rights (although other denominations have affirmed committed relationships for LGBT people in other forms). The resolution's primary focus is on calling for equal access to civil marriage regardless of gender; however, the resolution does call upon local congregations and other settings of the United Church of Christ to discussion and discernment around "marriage equality" and encourages congregations "to consider adopting Wedding Policies that do not discriminate against couples based on gender." As noted in the Polity section above, the General Synod cannot enforce positions on local congregations, speaking "to, but not for" them. [text of the resolution here].

Response to the resolution was mixed. In Massachusetts, the only state to authorize gay marriage, most local congregations have yet to recognize gay marriage, for example.

Responses in support of the resolution

Some in the United Church of Christ have heralded the resolution as furthering the prophetic witness of the United Church of Christ to both church and society. The [United Church of Christ Coalition for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns], whose Open and Affirming Congregation program includes over 600 UCC congregations (as of March 2006), vigorously supported the resolution during the Synod and rejoiced at its passage.

Several prominent congregations outside the UCC have made movement toward joining the denomination following the adoption of this resolution. These prominent congregations include the formerly Metropolitan Community Church-affiliated [Cathedral of Hope] in Dallas, Tex., [Plymouth Congregational Church] (currently NACCC-affiliated) in Minneapolis, and the [Higher Dimensions Family Church] charismatic megachurch in Tulsa, Okla. According to the June-July 2006 United Church News, "at least 26 churches have joined the UCC [in the 10 month period following General Synod], with an additional 40 churches expressing a 'firm interest' in affiliating." [link]

Responses in objection to the resolution

Others in the United Church of Christ viewed this decision unfavorably, though, because the General Synod's highly publicized endorsement may or may not reflect the actual theological opinions held by individual members or their local congregations. The language used that asserts no distinction between same sex marriage and different sex marriage ("Therefore, theologically and biblically, there is neither justification for denying any couple, regardless of gender, the blessings of the church nor for denying equal protection under the law in the granting of a civil marriage license, recognized and respected by all civil entities.") has been considered by some to be an overstepping the Synod's role in asserting theological positions.

In response, certain conservative "renewal movements" within the denomination made various responses to distance themselves from the resolution. The Biblical Witness Fellowship, founded originally in 1977 in reaction to that year's Synod addressing homosexuality seriously for the first time, issued press releases questioning the legitimacy of the UCC as a Christian denomination [link], and churches in the Southern Conference Renewal, founded by a group of conservative congregations in North Carolina, promulgated the "Lexington Confession" [link] (named after the North Carolina town where the document was drafted), listing several points of dissent, but calling on UCC congregations to remain in dialogue with the UCC.

No uniform data exists as to how many congregations have withdrawn from the denomination since the actions of General Synod 25, mainly because conferences submit data on local congregations only once per year, to supply information for the denomination's annual yearbook. According to the June-July 2006 issue of United Church News, "Ninety eight churches have voted to leave the UCC during the 10-month period that has followed General Synod 25, July 1-5, 2005, in Atlanta. Sixty-six of the churches specifically cited the General Synod-approved resolution supporting same-gender marriage equality as their reason for leaving." However, the dissent group [Faithful and Welcoming Churches (FWC)] has identified nearly 200 churches that have left the denomination as of July 2006. [link].

On June 10, 2006, the Iglesia Evangelica Unida de Puerto Rico, since 1931 a conference of the Congregational Christian Churches/UCC, voted by a 3-1 margin to withdraw its affiliation with the UCC as a body, over the issue [link]. This means most of the 62 previously affiliated congregations will withdraw from the UCC, although denominational officials expressed hope that several might continue affiliation, through other conferences or special arrangements.

Puerto Rico was one of two conferences that publicly disapproved of the Synod resolution; the other was the Calvin Synod, a non-geographic conference of Hungarian-origin Reformed congregations that originally joined the Reformed Church in the U.S. in the 1910s. Unlike Puerto Rico, however, most Calvin Synod churches and pastors have opted to work within the confines of the conservative "renewal" organizations, reflecting their heritage in the Evangelical and Reformed tradition, which generally emphasizes the unity and connectionalism of the UCC, as opposed to the Congregationalist heritage of the Puerto Rican churches, which emphasizes autonomy.

Middle East policy and economic leverage resolutions

United Church of Christ General Synod XV also passed two resolutions concerning the conflict between Israel and Palestinians in the Middle East. One calls for the use of economic leverage to promote peace in the Middle East. "Economic leverage" can include measures such as government lobbying, selective investment, shareholder lobbying, and selective divestment from companies which profit from the continuing Israel-Palestine conflict. The other resolution, named "Tear Down the Wall", calls upon Israel to remove the separation barrier between Israel and the West Bank.

Responses to the Middle East policy and economic leverage resolutions

Opponents of the "Tear Down the Wall" resolution were quick to note that the resolution does not specifically call upon the Palestinians to stop the terror attacks that Israel claims the wall was built to prevent. The Simon Wiesenthal Center stated that the July 2005 UCC resolutions on divestment from Israel are "functionally anti-Semitic." [link] The Anti-Defamation League found that those same resolutions are "disappointing and disturbing" and "deeply troubling." [link].

At a UCC-sponsored event in Minnesota, Jonathan Kutab, a prominent Palestinian human rights lawyer, advocated for the UCC resolutions on behalf of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, an organization that supports economic divestment from Israel. [link].

In addition to the concerns raised about the merits of the resolution, additional concerns were raised about the process in which the General Synod approved the resolution. Michael Downs of the United Church of Christ Pension Boards [link] (who would be charged with implementing any divestment of the UCC's Pension Board investments) wrote a letter [link] to UCC President John Thomas expressing concern "with the precedent-setting implications of voted actions, integrity of process and trust."

Criticism of the Institute for Religion and Democracy

Leaders of the United Church of Christ have recently begun to issue criticism of the Institute for Religion and Democracy. In a speech October 14, 2005, President John Thomas accused the IRD of becoming over-involved with conservatives within the UCC. He said, ''"In the midst of all of this we are increasingly aware of the challenge of groups within and beyond the United Church of Christ that claim to represent the call to honor theological diversity in the United Church of Christ, that encourage the voice of more conservative sisters and brothers among us, but which are in fact intent on disrupting and destroying our life together."[link]

At Gettysburg College on March 6, 2006, Thomas again warned against collusion with the IRD, calling called the IRD "a sophisticated 'inside the beltway' organization well funded by conservative foundations and closely aligned with a neo-conservative political agenda." Thomas criticized IRD's association with the Association of Church Renewal, with the Biblical Witness Fellowship, with the "Welcoming and Faithful" [sic] movement, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Further, Thomas described IRD's modus operandi as follows: "The IRD pursues its political agenda in the churches through three strategies: campaigns of disinformation that seek to discredit church leadership, advocacy efforts at church assemblies seeking to influence church policy, and grass roots organizing which, in some cases, encourages schismatic movements encouraging members and congregations either to redirect mission funding or even to leave their denominations. Indeed, the Mainline churches are facing hardball tactics." [link] Following the speech, the Simon Wiesenthal Center denied any connection to the IRD and stated "John Thomas made some conspiratorial charges about the Wiesenthal Center at a recent speech at Gettysburg College. These charges are completely inaccurate and are not based on fact and the irresponsible nature of these comments should make reasonable people wonder if the leadership of the UCC is being equally irresponsible with the facts about the Middle-East."[link]

General Synod 26

In 2007, the UCC will hold its General Synod 26. It will also celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the UCC. The General Synod 26 is currently slated to occur in Hartford, Connecticut, but labor disputes at the convention center prompted moving the venue to the Hartford Civic Center with cooperation from the State of Connecticut. According to Edith Guffey, Associate General Minister, "They told me that the governor wants very much to make this work, and that they will be taking care of the $100,000 fee for the Civic Center." [link] The deal has prompted Americans United for Separation of Church and State to initiate an investigation of the arragements. [link]

Current issues for GS 26 will also include another significant restructure of the national offices due to "financial woes." [link] The United Church News termed these "sweeping changes that, if enacted, could substantially alter the way the national church is governed. The Collegium is suggesting an examination of the 'size, number and role' of the Covenanted Ministry boards and the Executive Council, the size and design of the Collegium of Officers, the assignment of national work and staffing settings, and the role of the general minister and president." [link] It should be noted that the UCC is not the only church body experiencing such problems; other mainline denominations, such as the Presbyterian Church (USA), have in recent years experienced sharp downturns in receipts from lower bodies, due to increased designated giving and membership losses, combined with increased distrust of national and regional judicatories.

Ecumenical relations

The United Church of Christ is in a relationship of full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the Reformed Church in America through a formal declaration known as the Formula of Agreement, with the Union Evangelischer Kirchen (Union of Protestant Churches) in Germany, and with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) through an ecumenical partnership. The church is a founding member of Churches Uniting in Christ and is in dialogue about deeper relations with the Alliance of Baptists. It is a member of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC), the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), and the World Council of Churches. The UCC also allies with other denominations in support of Church World Service efforts in domestic and foreign development and relief efforts.

United Church of Christ Institutions

Officially related Educational Institutions

Seminaries

• Andover Newton Theological School (Newton Centre, Massachusetts) [website]
• Bangor Theological Seminary (Bangor, Maine) [website]
• Chicago Theological Seminary (Chicago, Illinois) [website]
• Eden Theological Seminary (Webster Groves and St. Louis, MO) [website]
• Lancaster Theological Seminary (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) [website]
• Pacific School of Religion (Berkeley, California) [website]
• United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities (New Brighton, Minnesota) [website]

Colleges & Universities

These 19 schools have affirmed the purposes of the United Church of Christ Council for Higher Education by official action and are full members of the Council.

• Catawba College (Salisbury, North Carolina) [website]
• Deaconess College of Nursing (St. Louis, Missouri) [website]
• Defiance College (Defiance, Ohio) [website]
• Dillard University (New Orleans, Louisiana) [website]
• Doane College (Crete, Nebraska) [website]
• Drury University (Springfield, Missouri) [website]
• Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, Illinois) [website]
• Elon University (Elon, North Carolina) [website]
• Heidelberg College (Tiffin, Ohio) [website]
• Huston-Tillotson University (Austin, Texas) [website]
• Illinois College (Jacksonville, Illinois) [website]
• Lakeland College (Sheboygan, Wisconsin) [website]
• Lemoyne-Owen College (Memphis, Tennessee) [website]
• Northland College (Ashland, Wisconsin) [website]
• Olivet College (Olivet, Michigan) [website]
• Pacific University (Forest Grove, Oregon) [website]
• Piedmont College (Demorest, Georgia) [website]
• Rocky Mountain College (Billings, Montana) [website]
• Talladega College (Talladega, Alabama) [website]
• Tougaloo College (Tougaloo, Mississippi) [website]

Secondary Academies

• The Massanutten Academy (Woodstock, Virginia) [website]
• The Mercersburg Academy (Mercersburg, Pennsylvania) [website]

Historically Related Educational Institutions

Historically Related Seminaries

• Hartford Seminary (Hartford, Connecticut) [website]
• Harvard Divinity School (Cambridge, Massachusetts) [website]
• Howard University School of Divinity (Washington, DC) [website]
• Interdenominational Theological Center (Atlanta, Georgia) [website]
• Seminario Evangélico de Puerto Rico (San Juan, Puerto Rico) [website]
• Union Theological Seminary (New York, New York) [website]
• Vanderbilt University Divinity School (Nashville, Tennessee) [website]
• Yale University Divinity School (New Haven, Connecticut) [website]

Historically Related Colleges and Universities (Council for Higher Education)

"These colleges continue to relate to the United Church of Christ through the Council for Higher Education, but chose not to affirm the purposes of the Council. Though in many respects similar to the colleges and universities that have full membership in the Council, these institutions tend to be less intentional about their relationships with the United Church of Christ." (from the United Church of Christ website)

• Beloit College (Beloit, Wisconsin) [website]
• Carleton College (Northfield, Minnesota) [website]
• Cedar Crest College (Allentown, Pennsylvania) [website]
• Fisk University (Nashville, Tennessee) [website]
• Franklin and Marshall College (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) [website]
• Grinnell College (Grinnell, Iowa) [website]
• Hood College (Frederick, Maryland) [website]
• Ripon College (Ripon, Wisconsin) [website]
• Ursinus College (Collegeville, Pennsylvania) [website]
• Westminster College of Salt Lake City (Salt Lake City, Utah) [website]

Other Historical Colleges and Universities (Unrelated)

These colleges and universities no longer maintain any relationship to the United Church of Christ, but were founded by or otherwise related historically to the denomination or its predecessors.

• Dartmouth College (Hanover, New Hampshire)
• Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts) -- ''Harvard was founded by Congregationalists, but sided with the Unitarians in their 1825 breakaway
• Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut)

List of famous UCC members or attendees

This section lists notable people known to have been raised in or current members of the United Church of Christ or its predecessor denominations.

• Daniel Akaka -- U.S. Senator from Hawaii (Democrat)
• Max Baucus -- U.S. Senator from Montana (Democrat)
• Julian Bond -- Chair NAACP (2004-present) and the first African American nominated as Vice-President of the United States [link]
• Walter Brueggemann -- contemporary theologian, poet, and UCC minister, retired professor at Columbia Theological Seminary
• William Sloane Coffin -- Presbyterian/UCC minister and activist; 'pastor, prophet, poet'; former Chaplain at Yale University and Senior Pastor of Riverside Church, New York City
• Jon Corzine -- Governor of New Jersey (Democrat)
• Howard Dean -- Former Governor of Vermont (Democrat)
• Donald Hall -- United States US Poet Laureate [link]
• Bill Gates -- Founder of Microsoft
• Mills Godwin -- Former Governor of Virginia
• Bob Graham -- Former U.S. Senator from Florida (Democrat)
• Judd Gregg -- U.S. Senator from New Hampshire (Republican)
• Jim Jeffords -- U. S. Senator from Vermont (Independent)
• John Nevin -- notable 19th-century theologian [link]
• Barack Obama -- U.S. Senator from Illinois (Democrat)
• Robert Orr -- Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations [link]
• H. Richard Niebuhr -- notable 20th-century theologian
• Reinhold Niebuhr -- notable 20th-century theologian
• Sally Pederson -- Lieutenant Governor of Iowa (Democrat)
• Leonard Pitts-- Nationally syndicated Pulitzer prize-winning (2004) columnist
• Marilynne Robinson -- Pulitzer prize-winning (2005) author of the novel Gilead
• Phillip Schaff -- notable 19th-century theologian [link]
• Max L. Stackhouse -- Public Theologian and professor at Princeton Theological Seminary.
• Paul Tillich -- notable 20th-century theologian
• Andrew Young -- Civil rights leader, ordained UCC pastor, and former member of Congress, UN ambassador, and mayor of Atlanta, GA. [link]

See also

• Churches Uniting in Christ
• Conferences of the United Church of Christ

References

• Dewan, Shalia. ["United Church of Christ Backs Same-Sex Marriage". New York Times. 5 July 2005.]

1. ↑  J. Bennett Guess, "Since newsworthy General Synod, UCC reports both positive, negative fallout", United Church News, online edition, accessed 28 January 2006 at .

External links

Denominational Websites:

• [United Church of Christ]
• [United Church News]
• [Discussion Forums]
• [stillspeaking.org God Is Still Speaking campaign site]
• [Forums for discussing ministerial calllings]
• http://www.woodmontucc.org/
• [iucc.org prototype seeker-friendly virtual community launched March 1, 2006]
• [www.uccvitality.org launched March 1, 2006] "will help persons “try on” the UCC, especially in areas where no UCC yet exists"
• [rejectionhurts.com launched March 26, 2006] "a space for people to share their personal stories of religious rejection and to find support in their search for a more-welcoming Christian experience"
• [accessibleairwaves.org launched March 26, 2006] "an action outlet for mainline Christians who feel their voices are being silenced by corporate media"
• ["Our Faith Our Vote" civic participation campaign]

Websites of groups/caucuses with Executive Council Seats:

• [United Church of Christ Coalition for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns (The Coalition)]
• [United Black Christians (UBC)]
• [Council for American Indian Ministry (CAIM)]
• [Ministers for Racial, Social, and Economic Justice (MRSEJ)]
• [UCC Disabilities Ministries]
• [Council for Youth and Young Adult Ministries (CYYAM)]

Websites of other UCC related groups (including professional associations, dissent groups, other caucuses, etc):

• [Association of United Church Educators]
• [Biblical Witness Fellowship]
• [Confessing Christ]
• [Council for Health and Human Services Ministries]
• [Faithful and Welcoming Churches (FWC)]
• [UCC Musicians Association]
• [UCC Musicians Network]
• [UCC Stillspeaking (Myspace.com group)]
• [Order of Corpus Christi]
• [Outdoor Ministry Association]
• [UCC Truths]
• [UCC Unity]

 

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