What Is The UCC?

Overview

Pilgrim Congregational Church is a member congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC). The United Church of Christ is the result of the gradual union of different traditions: the Congregational Churches, the Reformed Church in the United States, The Christian Churches, and the Evangelical Synod of North America. The UCC was founded on June 25, 1957, and has continued to grow and mature since that time. The United Church of Christ is presently composed of over 6000 congregations around the world, with a total of more than a million members.

The movie Amistad, directed by Steven Spielberg, depicted an episode in the battle against slavery. The Amistad Committee, which helped the African Mendi slaves gain their freedom, was composed of New England Congregationalists. The Amistad story is an integral piece of UCC history.

Our tradition has valued local church autonomy and respect for individual belief, while bringing people together in faith witness and action. We gather in covenant and maintain a statement of faith which expresses our common sentiment but never serves as test of individual belonging. We are inclusive in spirit and open-minded in character.

Our Relationship to the Church and Conference

Our relationship to the national UCC organization is not that of a subservient donor or passive recipient. There is no “central authority” in the UCC; rather, congregations (and their members) hold the ultimate accountability for their own beliefs and actions.

Every two years, representatives from all the congregations meet at the National Synod, which is a “town meeting” of all the congregations. At Synod, representatives discuss issues that affect the entire Church, as well as the entire world. Frequently, discussions at Synod result in proposed policy changes that may be instituted throughout the UCC.

In addition to the national body, member congregations may choose to gather together in member associations or regional conferences. These intermediate bodies exist for the purpose of helping local congregations with issues or questions that are too big for one congregation, but too specialized for the national Church. We are a member of the New Hampshire Conference of the UCC, which supports congregations throughout the state. In turn, the NH Conference is composed of eight Associations, which are geographical clusters of churches that meet for support and for the maintainance of standards for clergy and churches. We are a member of the Hillsborough Association, which was founded in 1827. This page has more information about both the Hillsborough Association, and the NH Conference in general.

More About The UCC

Want to know more? The UCC national website has the following resources, and much more!

• What is the UCC? — A very good one-page summary of the beliefs and characteristics of the United Church of Christ
• An excellent short history of the Church
• An online book entitled Hidden Histories in the United Church of Christ
• Want a different look? Try the “outreach” site at StillSpeaking.com

Here on our website, we have also reproduced some material of special interest:

• The Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ
• Some information about the UCC Logo

Tip: To visit the UCC website from anywhere in these pages, just click on the UCC logo in the left-hand panel. To visit the UCC “outreach” site, StillSpeaking.com, click on the comma.