“That They May Be One”
The United Church of Christ (UCC) was founded in 1957 as the union of several different Protestant traditions. From the beginning of its history, it was a church that affirmed the ideal that Christians did not always have to agree in order to live together in communion. The motto—”that they may all be one”—is Jesus’ prayer for the unity of the church.
The 1.4 million members who belong to the UCC make it one of the most diverse Christian denominations in the United States. The UCC manages to balance congregational autonomy with a strong commitment to unity among its nearly 6,000 congregations—despite wide differences among many local congregations on a variety of issues. The First Congregational Church of Blue Hill joined the UCC in 1962.