What We Believe

St. Stephens is a member of United Church of Christ. The UCC is an apostolic church - which means it tracks its connections and its history back to the earliest followers of Jesus. It is also a Protestant church, having evolved from churches resulting from the 16th century Protestant reformation. Therefore its fundamental beliefs are those which have been handed down by faith throughout that history. We affirm the great statements of faith made in the Apostle's Creed and the Nicene Creed, for example. And...we also have our own "United Church of Christ Statement of Faith."

What should be mentioned about our church's relationship to the creeds, however, is that for us they stand as a statement of "what is commonly held among us." They are statements of what most of us believe, but are not statements to which anyone joining with us must agree in order to become part of our fellowship. In the United Church of Christ there is a general agreement on matters of belief. But there is also a certain range of beliefs, and different congregations may express faith in different ways.

It is safe to say, however, that the most central beliefs of the church include the following:

• We believe in God (and that, acting in love, God is ever active in the world.)
• We believe in Jesus Christ (through whom God has come, conquering sin and reconciling the world to divine love. Christ is the only head of the church.)
• We believe in the Holy Spirit (as God's continuing presence and activity in the world)
• We believe in The Trinity (that God who is creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit are one God.)
• We believe in the Church (a group of people in Christ through worship, work, and witness.)
• We believe in Salvation (that forgiveness, grace, and eternal life are promised to those with faith.)
• We believe in the authority of scripture (that God's word can be found in scripture, and that word is authoritative for Christian life.)
• We believe in doctrinal freedom (that individuals and churches have the freedom and responsibility to search scripture and confess faith as revelation is given to them by God.)
• We believe in Christian Unity (that all Christians are sisters and brothers in Christ and called upon to live out that relationship.)
• We believe in bearing witness (that we are called to be disciples sharing our faith in word and deed.)
• We believe in redefining faith (that each generation is responsible for re-thinking beliefs and understanding God's will as applied to changing conditions.)
• We believe in serving others (that the mission of the church is to work for justice for all and establish God's rule in the world.)