Our Faith & Identity: The UCC Statement of Faith

The 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.

A word about statements of faith in the United Church of Christ: Testimonies, not tests

The United Church of Christ embraces a theological heritage that affirms the Bible as the authoritative witness to the Word of God, the creeds of the ecumenical councils, and the confessions of the Reformation. The UCC has roots in the "covenantal" tradition—meaning there is no centralized authority or hierarchy that can impose any doctrine or form of worship on its members. Christ alone is Head of the church. We seek to balance freedom of conscience and and the responsibility to make faith our own in new times and places with our accountability to the common faith of the church through the ages.

Because faith can be expressed in many different ways, the United Church of Christ has no formula that is a test of faith. Down through the centures, however, Christians have shared their faith with one another through creeds, confessions, catechisms, and other statements of faith.

In addition to our statement of faith that appears above, we in the United Church of Christ specifically value and recognize as part of our particular tradition:

—even though these statements sometimes may not express our faith the same way we would choose to today.

To express our common faith for this era, in 1959, two years into our life together as the United Church of Christ, the UCC General Synod adopted a statement of faith prepared especially for the United Church of Christ. This Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ is widely used as a common affirmation of faith in worship and as a basis for study.

Here at Second Congregational United Church of Christ, we often use this UCC Statement of Faith as a common affirmation during our worship services, especially when we are celebrating a baptism or Holy Communion, or when we are receiving new members into our congregation. The statement serves not as a test for membership or welcome, but rather as a way of affirming the common faith around which we gather.

(The version of the UCC Statement of Faith on this page, in the form of a doxology, was prepared for the 14th General Synod of the UCC in 1981 as an inclusive language revision of the original 1959 text. To see the original 1959 text, as well as a 1977 inclusive language revision and a Spanish translation, click here.)

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