The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Church, our predecessors who merged to form the UCC, were always a little skeptical of creeds. They did not want the creeds to be a requirement for becoming a Christian. Our founders were so insistent about basing our faith life entirely on the scriptures that they did not want anything else, like creeds, getting in the way.
UCCers want to preserve freedom of conscience for all believers. They wanted members of our church to covenant with one another to struggle with the scriptures and follow God’s will for our lives as best we can discern that. They did not want to require the faithful to sign onto a long list of specific beliefs, some of which we might accept, some we might be skeptical about, and some we would just as soon do without. Read more…