Faith and Doctrine
The United Church of Christ does not have a particular book of doctrine to which members’ faith understanding is held accountable. However, we have come to regard the Preamble to our denomination’s Constitution and by Laws as an expression of the core of our understanding of the Christian faith and what bonds us together a family of faith. Likewise, while acknowledge several creeds and statements as valid testimonies of the Christian faith, our own UCC Statement carries a particularly deep appreciation.
The Preamble
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, in honesty of thought and expression, and in purity of heart before God. In accordance with the teaching of our Lord and the practice prevailing among evangelical Christians, it recognizes two sacraments: Baptism and the Lordês Supper or Holy Communion.