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ORTHODOX CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH About Our Name and Denomination About Our Name We are called the Orthodox Congregational
Church, U.C.C. because…. Our church was founded in 1838 when the Congregational church in town divided. Some members formed a Unitarian Society, and some broke away to establish a new Congregational church, taking the title “Orthodox” to signify their commitment to traditional Christianity. Some churches formed at about the same time took the title “Trinitarian” to emphasize a similar theological commitment. We are called the Orthodox Congregational Church, U.C.C.
because…. We
trace our roots all the way back to the first Puritans who came here on the
Mayflower seeking religious freedom.
They founded congregational churches which emphasized the freedom
of each church to act in accordance
with the collective decision of its members, guided by the working of the
Holy Spirit in light of the Scriptures.
To this day, Congregationalists believe and act in accordance with their
individual discernment of God’s will for their lives, guided by the Holy
Spirit, with the support and counsel of other committed Christians. We are called the Orthodox Congregational Church, U.C.C. because…. Like most Congregational churches, we joined
a new denomination, the United Church
of Christ, in 1957. At its founding,
the United Church of Christ brought together two major denominations in the
United States: the Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical
Reformed Church. While quite
different from each other, all of the
churches that merged to form the U.C.C. shared commitments to the
centrality of Jesus Christ, the authority of scripture, the importance of the
local congregation, and the call to service and witness in the world. The Preamble to the Constitution of the United Church of
Christ sets out our common theology: “The United Church of Christ acknowledges as its sole
head, Jesus Christ, Son of God and Savior. It acknowledges as kindred in
Christ all who share in this confession. It looks to the Word of God in the
Scriptures, and to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, to prosper its
creative and redemptive work in the world. It claims as its own the faith of
the historic Church expressed in the ancient creeds and reclaimed in the
basic insights of the Protestant Reformers. It affirms the responsibility of
the Church in each generation to make this faith its own in reality of
worship, honesty of thought and expression, and in purity of heart before
God.” For
more information about the United Church of Christ please see United Church of Christ Web Page "There is yet
more light and truth to break forth from God’s Holy Word." |
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