SOME WAYS OF BEING
Formed through posture.
In addition to our core practices, we come together around a handful of shared postures—or, "ways of being"—that help keep us anchored to the Jesus way.
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Practicing presence means trusting that God is alive in you through the Holy Spirit, and that this living light, power, and love desires to shine brightly through you. The more we surrender ourselves to Christ, the more Christ can flow through us and into the lives of others. At UCC, we desire to be people who show up as our whole selves, recognizing that discipleship to Christ is a lifelong journey of becoming more and more of who God created us to be.
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Maintaining a faithful posture of prayer is paramount to our lives as disciples of Christ, and undergirds everything we do as a church. There is no singular "right" way to pray. Prayer is merely about entering into an ongoing conversation with God, trusting that God hears every word (right along with our wordless groans and sighs) and does not turn away. At UCC, we desire to be a people who pray together regularly, making rhythms of prayer—both communal and individual—a regular part of life.
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Scan the Gospel accounts and notice how frequently Jesus asks questions. Jesus knows how to stir hearts and minds, provoking curiosity and wonder in his hearers. At UCC, we desire to be a people who make space for questions (even the ones we may never be able to fully answer), always growing in our capacity to ask the kinds of questions that draw people deeper into possibilities in their walk with Christ.
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Hospitality is about "making room." This might mean literally making room for someone in our home, or it might be making room for something (or someone) unexpected to "interrupt" our day. Making room for each other often includes complexity, like: extending forgiveness through pain; pursuing acts of justice for the sake of the weak and marginalized; or allowing space for nuance in our theological stances. Making room for each other might also be quite simple, like: giving someone a handshake instead of a hug based on their preferences, or using someone's preferred name and pronouns. At UCC, we desire to be a people who make room for everyone to come and have a front-row seat at the table, to encounter Christ and experience His welcome with equal freedom.
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Jesus touched the unclean. Jesus affirmed women in a patriarchal society. Jesus broke the Sabbath Law so the hungry might be fed. Jesus did not allow sin, social status, or political leanings to create barriers to Him. Instead, Jesus invited "the least of these" to move from the margins of society into beloved community. To sit with him. To commune with Him. At UCC we recognize all people as made in God's image—persons for whom Christ died—and therefore look for ways to engage in sacrificial acts of love and mercy, just as Christ did.
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Jesus taught about repentance as part of the pathway into God's Kingdom. But repentance is so much more than just feeling sorry for our mistakes—it's a lifelong journey of turning away from the world's way and toward Christ, transforming how we think, act, and see everything. At UCC, we talk about repentance to encourage all of us to orient our lives toward Jesus's way, day by day. It's really about choosing to live differently because we're following Someone who loves us deeply.
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The New Testament connects repentance with baptism, showing they're deeply linked. Baptism gives us a beautiful picture of a life made new: death, burial, and resurrection. The old self-centered life is gone, and new Christ-centered life begins. While repentance is ongoing, baptism is a one-time event that becomes a significant signpost in your faith journey—announcing your desire to follow God, while helping you remember your choice to surrender to His ways. At UCC, we practice baptism by immersion, though we honor different baptism traditions across the broader church.
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Communion is the heart of Christian worship. Gathering around the table reminds us of fundamental truths about God and ourselves. At the table, we remember Jesus's betrayal, death, and resurrection. We remember the sacrifice made for sin. We remember that we're all works-in-progress, needing Jesus's mercy and grace. We remember that we're called to make room for everyone to come and discover His love. At UCC, the communion table is open to anyone who chooses to participate. It's the Lord's table, not ours, and His invitation is for everyone who will come.
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Marriage and celibacy are both beautiful, challenging invitations from God for the good of His people. We believe God can be honored and Christ can be served through both paths—and neither is better than the other. At UCC, all individuals and couples have the freedom to choose whether they believe God is calling them to faithful celibacy or faithful marriage. If our sibling in faith is called to celibacy, we want to honor their choice and walk alongside them to help them live faithfully. Similarly, if a couple is called to marriage, we want to honor their choice and support them in living out their calling.
SOME WAYS OF LIVING
Embodied faith.
We seek to be a place where everyone is welcome at the table, free to explore who God is and what it means to follow Jesus.
A commitment to life in Christ is a commitment to bear with one another through joy, sorrow, and difficulty. It is a daily "yes" to wrestle with complexity and be confronted by mystery. Our deepest desire is for every person to know Jesus as Lord of their life to make the pursuit of Him their number one priority.
We do not have a formal statement of faith or an exhaustive list of theological positions. For us, it’s enough to say we believe in Jesus as Savior and the Bible as God’s word. The postures listed above and the tenants listed below are how we choose to express who we are trying to be as a Christian community of faith.
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By embracing the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we begin the lifelong journey towards becoming more like Jesus. From this posture of deepening surrender, we begin to trust in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and in the lives of others within the body of Christ.
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Scripture is the story we’re living. We can look across the entire biblical narrative to discover God’s engagement with His people over time and place, understand God’s reconciling, mission in the world, understand who Jesus is, and learn how to know and love Him better.
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As we look upon the world we inhabit, we see people—including ourselves—living under the oppression of unjust systems, worldly powers, and cultural idols. We long to advance the Kingdom by proclaiming Jesus’ lordship across all domains—that Jesus is alive today, sits enthroned at the right hand of the Father, and has the power to overcome all forces of evil that seek to squander life.
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In scripture, justice and righteousness are the foundations of God’s throne. We look to Jesus to see how God’s justice and righteousness are held together. In Jesus, we see the ongoing pursuit of “lost sheep,” those who have gone astray from God, controlled by unrighteous living. In Jesus, we see the ongoing pursuit of restoration, mending what’s broken in gentle ways. As followers of Jesus, we are called to this same pursuit of God’s good shalom.
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Sin is estrangement from God out of which harmful action may arise. This separation, if left unattended, can lead to further damage, causing harm to ourselves and fractures in our relationship with/among God’s good creation. Recognizing our sinful nature before God—who loves us and wants to reconcile us back to himself—is what leads us to repentance, renewal, and new life.
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Acknowledging sin leads to repentance, a deliberate “turning” that redirects our wills, hearts, and minds towards a gracious God. Repentance is not a one time action, but rather an ongoing lifestyle that strips us of our false natures and orients us towards just and right living. Opening to repentance means opening to the Spirit’s work in us, which we trust will lead us into all truth and freedom.
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Baptism is an outward declaration of a lifelong commitment to live for God. The act of immersion symbolizes dying to our life outside of Christ and being raised, like Jesus, to live under the lordship of our One True King. Life, death, burial, ressurection!
