First Congregational Church, UCC
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Central Pacific Conference of the United Church of Christ

The First Congregational Church, UCC of Eugene is part of the Central Pacific Conference of the United Church of Christ (www.cpcucc.org) - a family of 50 congregations, large and small, who share a commitment to ministry, to mission, and to mutual encouragement.  For us, the Conference is the major channel of Our Church's Wider Mission as well as the bridge to nationwide and worldwide programs of the United Church of Christ.  Equally important, the Conference provides us with spiritual and material resources.

The United Church of Christ

The First Congregational Church, UCC of Eugene is also a part of the nationwide United Church of Christ (www.ucc.org) - a community of faith that seeks to respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed.  The UCC was founded in 1957 as the union of several different Christian traditions: from the beginning of our history, we were a church that affirmed the ideal that Christians did not always have to agree to live together in communion.  Our motto - "that they may all be one" - is Jesus' prayer for the unity of the church.  The UCC is one of the most diverse Christian churches in the United States.

Our forbears understood that their response to Jesus often meant being at odds with society - requiring resistance, daring and decisive action as they wrestled with issues facing their generation.  When the Pilgrims set sail for the new world in 1620, their pastor, John Robinson, told them: "God has more light and truth to break forth from God's holy word."  Our forebears took this to heart and, even though our history has had some misdirected efforts, we can look back at a number of significant "firsts."

• Forebears of the UCC were the first mainline church to take a public stand against slavery, in the year 1700.
• We were the first predominantly Euro-American church to ordain an African American as a minister - Lemuel Haynes in 1785.
• In 1810, we organized the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the first foreign missionary agency in North America.
• We were the church that initiated the defense of the Amistad captives in 1839, and supported their case to the Supreme Court, which eventually led to their freedom.
• We ordained the first woman to ministry, Antoinette Brown, in 1853.
• We were among the first to establish homes for orphaned children - like Bethany Children's Home and Hoffman Home, both in Pennsylvania, which now are places for troubled young people and their families.
• We founded some of America's premier colleges (Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Oberlin, Elon, UC Berkeley and Elmhurst); hundreds of schools to educate freed slaves after the Civil War; and African-American colleges (Fisk, Taledega, Huston-Tillotson).
• Noted theologian and pastor Reinhold Niebuhr composed the Serenity Prayer: "God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other."
• As a denomination, we were on the front lines of racial desegregation and, in 1959, we challenged the Federal Communications Commission to allow people of color to have access to and be seen on the televised airwaves.
• We ordained the first openly gay person, William Johnson, in 1972.

We often have been referred to as the "early" church, because we've been early in addressing the important issues facing our society and taking uncomfortable positions that sometimes go against cultural acceptability.  Why?  Because we love Jesus more than the lure of respectability.

Do all of our 6,000 congregations and 1.3 million members think exactly the same way?  Hardly.  Our autonomous roots run deep.  Yet we willingly bind ourselves in covenant to join as one church, affirming our differences and diversity, and celebrating our commitment to breathe together as the body of Christ.

Covenant is the starting point in the belief that God is still speaking, and did not stop speaking when the biblical canon and ancient creeds were crystallized.  Therefore, we are still listening, learning and growing in a faith anchored by God's pledge of never-ending covenant.  In the United Church of Christ, local churches are the basic unit of ministry.  Joined in covenant with other settings, our 6,000 congregations share in God's mission, locally and globally.

Associations gather nearby local churches for fellowship, education, worship and cooperative ministry.  Associations grant membership to new UCC congregations, and authorize commissioned, licensed and ordained ministers through ordination and the granting of standing.

Our thirty-nine conferences provide care and support to congregations and their pastors; organize congregations for mission in regional locations; provide outdoor ministry opportunities for youth and adults; help congregations seeking a new pastor; and assist local churches in their own ministries through staff, print, video and web resources.

The national setting of the United Church of Christ includes four Covenanted Ministries serving the needs of congregations and extending their ministry throughout the world: Office of General Ministries, Justice and Witness Ministries, Local Church Ministries, and Wider Church Ministries - in partnership with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) as Global Ministries.  These ministries are located at the Church House in Cleveland and in smaller offices in Washington, D.C.; Franklinton Center, N.C.; and Indianapolis.  The Pension Boards (an Affiliated Ministry) and the United Church Foundation (an Associated Ministry) are located in New York City.

In addition, there are seven UCC-related seminaries, 20 UCC-related colleges and universities, and 360 human service institutions joined together in the Council for Health and Human Service Ministries (CHHSM).

These ministries of partnership with local churches are supported by Basic and Special Support of Our Church's Wider Mission (OCWM), Special Mission Offerings, individual gifts, and income from endowments.