Print this page St. Paul's United Church Of Christ Our History

St. Paul’s founded in 1973 is part of a spiritual tradition which began in 1600’s with the Pilgrims who, seeking religious freedom, left Europe for the New World. Their Pastor, John Robinson, urged them to keep their minds and hearts open to new ways. God, he said “has yet more light and truth to break forth out of his holy Word.” The Congregational churches founded by the Pilgrims along with three other traditions – Christian, Evangelical and Reformed blended in 1957 to form The United Church of Christ. The Congregationalists advocated self governing congregations which elected their own ministers and promoted democracy. They were among the first to take a stand against slavery and organized the first anti-slavery society in the U.S. with multiracial leadership. These antecedents of the UCC had many other firsts and notable accomplishments among them are –

1773:	First published African American poet – Phillis Wheatley
1777:	A Reformed congregation saved the Liberty Bell
1785:	The first African American pastor was ordained
1839:	Congregationalists organized the campaign which went to the Supreme Court and freed Africans who broke their chains and seized the schooner Amistad. It was a defining moment for the abolitionist movement.
1840:	The Lutheran and Reformed traditions unite becoming the first united church in US history – the Evangelical Synod
1853:	Antoinette Brown was the first woman to be ordained as a Christian minister and pastor of a Christian congregation. She was perhaps the first so elected since New Testament times.
1943:	Evangelical and Reformed Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr introduces the world famous Serenity Prayer.
1952:	Evangelical and Reformed Theologian Paul Tillich published “The Courage to Be”- One of the best books of the 20th Century.
1957:	The United Church of Christ is born when the Evangelical and Reformed Church unites with the Congregational Christian Church. The new community embraces rich spiritual traditions and embraces believers from all ethnic groups and nationalities.
1972:	The United Church of Christ ordains the first openly gay minister in a mainline Protestant denomination. In the years to follow, UCC General Synod urges equal right for homosexual citizens and calls on congregations to welcome gay, lesbian and bisexual members.
1976:	Rev Joseph H. Evans becomes the first African American leader of an integrated mainline church in the United States.
1995:	The UCC publishes “The New Century Hymnal” – the only hymnal released by a Christian church that honors in equal measure both male and female images of God. Although its poetry is contemporary, its theology is traditional.