United
Church of Christ Statement of Faith
We believe in you, O God, Eternal Spirit,
God of our Savior Jesus Christ and our God,
and to your deeds we testify:
You call the worlds into being,
create persons in your own image,
and set before each one the ways of life and death.
You seek in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and
sin.
You judge people and nations by your righteous will
declared through prophets and apostles.
In Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen
Savior,
you have come to us
and shared our common lot,
conquering sin and death
and reconciling the world to yourself.
You bestow upon us your Holy Spirit,
creating and renewing the church of Jesus Christ,
binding in covenant faithful people of all ages tongues and
races.
You
call us into your church
to accept the cost and joy of discipleship,
to be your servants in the service of others,
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.
You promise to all who trust you
forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace,
courage in the struggle for justice and peace,
your presence in trial and rejoicing,
and eternal life in your realm, which has no end.
Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto you. Amen.
The
United Church of Christ Emblem
The
emblem of the United Church of Christ is based on the ancient
Christian symbol known as the Cross of Victory or the Cross
Triumphant.
Traditionally, this symbol - the cross surmounted by the crown
and all of it atop the orb - signifies the kingship of the Risen
Christ over all the world. The orb, representing the world,
is divided into three parts to signify Jesus’ command
to his disciples: “You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem
and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.”
For the United Church of Christ, this emblem, rich in the traditions
of the past and alive with hope for the future, is particularly
appropriate. For this reason, there appear on the perimeter
of the emblem both the name of the church and the text: “That
they may all me one.”
Characteristics
of the United Church of Christ
The
characteristics of the United Church of Christ can be summarized
in part by the key words in the names that formed our union:
Christian, Reformed, Congregational, Evangelical.
Christian. By our
very name, the United Church of Christ, we declare ourselves
to be part of the Body of Christ—the Christian church.
We continue the witness of the early disciples to the reality
and power of the crucified and risen Christ, Jesus of Nazareth.
Reformed.
All four denominations arose from the tradition of the Protestant
Reformers: We confess the authority of one God. We affirm the
primacy of the Scriptures, the doctrine of justification by
faith, the priesthood of all believers, and the principle of
Christian freedom. We celebrate two sacraments: baptism and
the Lord's Supper (also called Holy Communion or the Eucharist).
Congregational.
The basic unit of the United Church of Christ is the congregation.
Members of each congregation covenant with one another and with
God as revealed in Jesus Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
These congregations, in turn, exist in covenantal relationships
with one another to form larger structures for more effective
work. Our covenanting emphasizes trustful relationships rather
than legal agreements.
Evangelical. The
primary task of the church is the proclamation of the Gospel
or (in Greek) evangel. The Gospel literally means the "Good
News" of God's love revealed with power in Jesus Christ.
We proclaim this Gospel by word and deed to individual persons
and to society. This proclamation is the heart of the leiturgia—in
Greek, the "work of the people" in daily and Sunday
worship. We gather for the worship of God, and through each
week, we engage in the service of humankind.
