Dear Friends,

Some have asked me to do an adult confirmation course, which we may do someday, but until then, in this wintery January month, maybe it’s a good time for me to explain a bit about the United Church of Christ as a denomination. This article will be about the national church, then next month how the church works in a more grassroots way. We are mostly national but have international missions. We do our mission work jointly with our “sister denomination”, The Disciples of Christ, or Christian church. (Not all churches with that name are of that denomination, such as the one in Lincoln.) We also have a covenant with the United Church of Canada and some other United Churches across the globe. We also have a baptismal covenant with the Presbyterian Church, USA, the Reformed Church of America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. We and the other three denominations recognize each other as similar enough that our ordained ministers can exchange pulpits, we recognize each other’s baptisms and can intermingle with relative ease.

The UCC has 4,882 churches, 824,866 members, average worship attendance is 67 and the average church size is 171, according to the 2019 statistical report. We are a relatively small denomination compared to others, but we are mighty! The UCC Center is in Cleveland, Ohio and Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer is our General Minister, who was just reelected last June for a second term. The national office has 28 other staff members as well. Our national church meets every two years at “General Synod”. Delegates are elected by each Conference to be the official “voters” but guests are invited and encouraged. Decisions made at General Synod speak “to the churches, not for the churches”. The next one is July 16-20, 2021 in Kansas City. I am an elected delegate so when the time comes, I will be filling you in on the resolutions, etc. Pretty much anything you want to know about the national church can be found on ucc.org. Nationally, we are known as a progressive or liberal church, but again, individual congregations are who they want to be. I’ve served both extremes (liberal and conservative) but by in large, our congregations celebrate diversity and freedom of thought.