The United Church of Christ (UCC), founded in 1957, is a relatively young denomination. And yet, many of the churches that now make up the UCC have a long history, some going back to the Pilgrims who came to America in 1620. Our history includes early abolitionists and human rights advocates. In 1700, Samuel Sewell, a Congregationalist, wrote the first anti-slavery tract on American soil, launching the abolitionist movement. We founded America’s first institutions of higher learning (Harvard and Yale) and were among the first to establish schools and colleges for newly freed slaves (Fisk and Dillard). Ours was the first Protestant denomination to ordain an African American to Christian ministry (1785), the first to ordain a woman (1853), and the first to ordain an openly gay man (1972). On July 4, 2005, the United Church of Christ became the first denominational body to support equal marriage rights for same gender couples.
Our way of being the church is rooted in the “covenantal” tradition – meaning we have no centralized authority or hierarchy that can impose any doctrine, practice, or form of worship on our members. Christ alone is Head of the church. We lean on the Holy Spirit to discern Christ’s guidance for our life together. We understand faithfulness as a dynamic interplay between freedom of conscience and respect for Christian tradition. As we often say, “Whoever you are and wherever you are on your faith journey, you are welcome here.”
First Congregational Church of Boulder is a member of the Metropolitan Denver Association of the Rocky Mountain Conference of the United Church of Christ.