We believe that we are beloved children of God, created in God's image. We live a faith rooted in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior. In that faith we are sustained by the Holy Spirit who inspires us, challenges us, comforts us, redeems us, and empowers us to be Christ's disciples.

We affirm that God speaks through all of us in the congregation. That's why we're called a Congregational church. All important decisions in our faith and practice are made by the congregation as a whole.

We put a high value on the freedom of individual conscience. There is no creed to which the people of the church are required to subscribe. There is no checklist of doctrines that you need to accept to be a member of the First Congregational Church. That's not to say that we don't stand for anything. We are gathered around the core affirmations of ecumenical Christianity. We believe that our diversity of perspective and expression around those affirmations helps us to listen more carefully to each other and to God, and ultimately helps us to be more faithful.

Our church is part of a nationwide denomination called the United Church of Christ. The name itself tells you a lot about what we believe. See the United Church of Christ website for a fuller explanation of what we affirm as a congregation in the UCC. As part of the UCC, we live in covenantal relationship with thousands of other churches across the country. Together, we strive to proclaim the Good News of God's Reign in both word and action.

Scripture rests at the heart of our faith community. We turn to the Bible to hear God's word speaking to us in our lives and in our life together. Also central in our faith life are two sacraments: Baptism, the sacrament of entrance into Christ's church, and Communion, or the Lord's Supper. Baptism is open to all who desire to begin a life in Christ for themselves or for their children. Communion is open to all baptized Christians (regardless of what church they received baptism in). In practice, we welcome anyone of any age to participate in the Lord's Supper if they have a sincere desire to grow in relationship with Christ. The table is Christ's, after all, not ours.

All are welcome in this church family, whatever your life experience, wherever you are on your faith journey. We've found that the Spirit of God has worked among us all, transforming and renewing us through our shared life of faith. And we trust that God will continue to transform and renew us by the Spirit alive in you.

A web page can't really do justice the question of "what we believe," but we hope that it gives you a start. We believe that a living faith is a growing faith. If you are growing spiritually, or want to begin a journey of spiritual growth, we encourage you to share your questions and your struggles, along with your insights and your experiences with us. Join us for worship or talk to one of the ministers about how you can share in our community of faith.

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