United Church of Christ

This article is about the United States denomination known as "United Church of Christ". For other merged denominations, see United and uniting churches. For other churches that have the words "Church" and "Christ" in their name, see Church of Christ (disambiguation).

United Church of Christ
ClassificationMainline Protestant
OrientationUnited church (Congregationalist, Restorationism, Lutheran & Continental Reformed)
TheologyLiberal Reformed
PolityMix of Congregational and Presbyterian
General Minister
and President		Karen Georgia Thompson
Full communion
AssociationsChristian Churches Together
Churches Uniting In Christ
National Council of Churches
World Communion of Reformed Churches
World Council of Churches
RegionUnited States
HeadquartersCleveland, Ohio, U.S.
OriginJune 25, 1957; 67 years ago (1957-06-25)[1]
Merger ofEvangelical and Reformed Church
Congregational Christian Churches
Afro-Christian Convention
Congregations4,603 (2022)
Members712,296 (2022)
Official websitewww.ucc.org Edit this at Wikidata
Logo

The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran traditions, and with approximately 4,600 churches and 712,000 members.[2][3] The UCC is a historical continuation of the General Council of Congregational Christian churches founded under the influence of New England Puritanism.[4][5] Moreover, it also subsumed the third largest Calvinist group in the country, the German Reformed.[5] Notably, its modern members' theological and socio-political stances are often very different from those of its predecessors.

The Evangelical and Reformed Church, General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches, and the Afro-Christian Convention,[6] united on June 25, 1957, to form the UCC.[1] The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the General Council of Congregational Christian Churches were themselves the result of earlier unions and had their roots in Congregational, Lutheran, Evangelical, and Reformed denominations. At the end of 2014, the UCC's 5,116 congregations claimed 979,239 members, primarily in the U.S.[7] In 2015, Pew Research estimated that 0.4 percent, or 1 million adult adherents, of the U.S. population self-identified with the United Church of Christ.[8]

The UCC maintains full communion with other Protestant denominations. Many of its congregations choose to practice open communion.[9] The denomination emphasizes participation in worldwide interfaith and ecumenical efforts.[10][11] The national leadership and General Synod of the UCC have historically favored culturally liberal views on social issues, such as civil rights, LGBT rights, women's rights, and abortion. UCC congregations are independent in matters of doctrine and ministry and may not necessarily support the national body's theological or moral stances. It self-describes as "an extremely pluralistic and diverse denomination".[12]

  1. ^ a b "The Morning Call 26 Jun 1957, page 1". Newspapers.com. pp. 1, 15. Retrieved June 4, 2023.
  2. ^ "A statistical profile" (PDF). United Church of Christ Center for Analytics, Research and Data (CARD). 2023.
  3. ^ "SUMMARY STATISTICS 1955 - 2022" (PDF). United Church of Christ. p. 2. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  4. ^ Johnson, Daniel L. (1990). Theology and Identity - Traditions, Movements, and Polity in the United Church of Christ. Cleveland, Ohio: United Church Press. p. 4. ISBN 0-8298-0807-8.
  5. ^ a b Queen, Edward L.; Prothero, Stephen R.; Shattuck, Gardiner H. (January 1, 2009). Encyclopedia of American Religious History. Infobase Publishing. p. 818. ISBN 978-0-81606-660-5. Retrieved October 31, 2012. Next in size and historical importance is the United Church of Christ, which is the historic continuation of the Congregational churches founded under the influence of New England Puritanism. The United Church of Christ also subsumed the third major Calvinist group, the German Reformed, which (then known as the Evangelical and Reformed Church) merged with the Congregationalists in 1957.
  6. ^ Holznagel, Hans (October 10, 2022). "Afro-Christian tradition's status as distinct UCC 'stream' gets Historical Council support". United Church of Christ. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  7. ^ United Church of Christ Statistical Profile. Cleveland, Ohio: Center for Analytics, Research and Data (CARD). p. 3.
  8. ^ "Religious Landscape Study". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  9. ^ "Ecumenical partnerships and relationships of full communion". United Church of Christ. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  10. ^ "Interfaith relations". United Church of Christ. Archived from the original on May 4, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  11. ^ "Ecumenical and Interfaith Partners". United Church of Christ. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  12. ^ Zikmund, Barbara B. (1987). Hidden Histories in the United Church of Christ – Volume I. New York City: United Church Press. ISBN 0-8298-0753-5.