WHO WE ARE
We believe that church is not a building, but is made up of the people of the church
United Church of Christ
We are a congregation of the United Church of Christ, one of the most progressive denominations in the world. The UCC is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical confessional roots in the Congregational, Reformed, and Lutheran traditions; with approximately 4,882 churches and 824,866 members.
Now, more than ever, WE are the church!
CALLING STATEMENT
"We are the New Church - the Chiesa Nuova, who gather and are gathered
as an intentional Christian community seeking to follow in the Way of Jesus."
GUIDING SCRIPTURE
Seek first the realm of God and God's righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6.33
You might notice that a lot of our evening events - special worship services, book studies, fellowship opportunities - are scheduled to begin at 6:33pm. That's because we claim Matthew 6.33 as our Guiding Scripture.
OPEN AND AFFIRMING STATEMENT
We are a community of faith witnessing to God’s love and grace for persons of every race, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, nationality, ethnicity, marital status, physical or mental ability, political stance and theological perspective. As agents of reconciliation and wholeness, we pledge to stand against all forms of discrimination and to embrace all who are disenfranchised from church and community. Together in our diversity and empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit, we are committed to "do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God" (Micah 6:8)
Jesus said to love one another. There are NO exceptions.
New Church is a proud member of the Open and Affirming Coalition (ONA) of the United Church of Christ.
Sexuality and Our Faith
We live in a culture that is deeply conflicted about sexuality.
Our religious heritage compels and guides us in creating a safe environment where people can come to understand and respond to the challenges facing them as sexual beings. As a faith community, we promote justice for all people and we affirm the dignity of every individual, the importance of personal responsibility, and the essential interdependence of all peoples.
As Christians, we profess that we are created in the image of God. In this image, we make a lifelong journey toward deeper faith, faithfulness, and wholeness. As a church, we seek continually to integrate God’s ongoing revelation with new knowledge and understandings of our lives and times. In our religious education, we seek to equip the faithful for this journey in all its possibilities.
We affirm that sexuality and spirituality are intricately connected and that both are gifts from God.
The following principles of the United Church of Christ express what the people of New Church believe about faith, spirituality, sexuality, and justice:
Principles Guiding the United Church of Christ Commitment to Sexuality Education
Sexuality is a God-given gift.
The purposes of sexuality are to enhance human wholeness and fulfillment, to express love, commitment, delight, and pleasure, to bring new life into the world, and to give glory to God.
When making decisions about sexuality, the primary guide is God’s call to love and justice as revealed in both Testaments.
From a biblical perspective, sexuality is intended to express mutuality, love, and justice. In judging whether behavior is ethical or unethical, the norms of mutuality, love, and justice are the central criteria.
From a biblical perspective, sexuality is distorted by unethical behaviors, attitudes, and systems that foster violence, exploitation, infidelity, assertion of power, and the treatment of persons as objects.
In developing a just sexual morality, we need to avoid double standards and avoid using heterosexual and cisgender people, experiences, and relationships as normative for all people.
A responsible and mature sexual ethic respects the moral agency of every person. When faced with ethical decisions, each of us needs to be accorded the freedom and responsibility to choose.
The church, at all levels, ought to be a context for discussion about human sexuality.
The church ought to encourage and support advocacy with those who society, and even the church itself, have sexually oppressed or made the victims of sexual violence and abuse.
TELLING OUR STORY. . .
Stephanie Hudson
Marcos Tobias
Kelli Vaughn-Hebert
Malie Cox
Monica Bradley
WHAT WE BELIEVE
We are a progressive, open and affirming faith community. We believe that all people have worth, so you don’t have to be a member of this church or any church, or even know what you believe, to participate in the life of this community.
OUR VALUES
As a community passionate about following in the way of Jesus, we exist to serve others, particularly those most marginalized by society. Our hope is that you will feel extravagantly welcome here.
OUR HISTORY
New Church grew out of a small group of disciples who had been gathering together for fellowship and study.