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WHO ARE WE AND WHAT ARE WE ABOUT?
by Rev Mark Dowdy
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We are a federation
of two mainline Protestant denominations: Presbyterian Church (USA)
and the United Church of Christ. Before 1916, we were First Congregational
Church of Olympia and First Presbyterian
Church of Olympia. In 1916 our two
groups (having invited others) got together for mission, service, education,
and worship as The United Churches of Olympia. We have been “married” ever
since
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The
United Church of Christ part of our church is “Open and Affirming.” **
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When
one “joins” our church there are three options: to affiliate with either
the Presbyterian Church (USA) or the United Church of Christ or to join
just The United Churches of Olympia without denominational affiliation.
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We
are by mainline protestant standards a liberal group of about 500 Christians
who love God, follow Jesus Christ, are empowered by God’s Spirit, and serve
in the larger community as socially active folks.
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We
exercise our individual ministries to which we believe God has called us,
inside and outside the institutional church in hundreds of different ways
in our week-day jobs, social contacts, neighborhoods, schools, and homes.
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Most
of us believe that God loves all people and wants us to be as whole and
healthy as possible in as many ways a possible. Most of us do not take the bible literally, but we certainly take it seriously
and find God’s word to us and to all humanity contained in the bible. We also believe that God’s word crawls out of the pages of scripture and moves
into our lives and through us into the lives of others.
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n
all our worship experiences we attempt to use inclusive language out of
respect for the many diverse ways people today view God. We respect a diversity
of approaches to God and to faith and hold in high regard others who call
themselves Christians along with all of various other “faith” communities.
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We
question many of our culture’s values and expectations and attempt to speak
to the culture instead of being dictated to by the culture. We believe God wants us to challenge the injustices, inequities, and the systems
of our world that take advantage of the marginalized, the disadvantaged,
the differently abled and those who cannot speak or act for themselves. We ask those who lie, cheat, and steal to stop.
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We
do not tolerate abuse in any form and stand by those who are abused. We
attempt to speak a word of hope to the abused and a word of challenge and
change to the abuser.
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Thus
we are the Church of Jesus Christ alive, attempting to be faithful to God’s
good news, and to speak a word of encouragement and hope as we continue to struggle with what it means to be “Christian” in an ever
and rapidly changing world.
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**"In keeping
with the life and teaching of Christ Jesus, we joyfully and unconditionally
welcome all people of any age, gender, race, culture, ability or
sexual orientation into our community of faith and affirm the worth of
all people as unique individuals made in God's image. We are open
to the special gifts that each person brings and invite each one to
participate in the life of our church." (Courtesy of the UCC Church in
Longmont, CO)
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