The United Church of Christ (UCC) brings together many Christian traditions. Instead of focusing upon unchanging truths, it strives to unite diverse understandings of Christianity by treating historic creeds and confessions as testimonies, not tests of faith. We say, “whoever you are and wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.” We assert that “God is still speaking.”

In the United Church of Christ there is no central authority or hierarchy. Christ alone is Head of the church. Each congregation is autonomous and local churches are governed by their members guided by the Holy Spirit.  Local church members covenant together to be a faithful community in a particular place, and at the same time each congregation relates to the wider church family (denomination) through voluntary covenants. Sometimes people confuse the “United Church of Christ” with the “Churches of Christ.” That denomination is quite different and does not embrace the progressive social witness characterized by the UCC.

Click here to see a four minute video about the United Church of Christ

To learn more about the wider church connections of First Congregational UCC in Washington go to:

• For information about local UCC congregations in the DC area go to the Potomac Association of the United Church of Christ
• For information about the regional Conference of UCC congregations (the Central Atlantic Conference) that stretches from New Jersey to Virginia go to the Central Atlantic Conference of the United Church of Christ
• For information about the national denomination known as the United Church of Christ go to United Church of Christ. Check out the latest news releases distributed by the national denomination at UCCNews Headlines
• For information about the ways in which the UCC works with many Christian denominations in collaborative partnership go to the National Council of Churches