Creeds & Affirmations in the UCC 100th Year

There is no longer Jew or Greek;

 there is no longer slave or free; 

there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:28 NRSVue -- is this the first Christian Creed? 

 This morning I'll make an announcement about the study group I'll be leading for the next three weeks at Trenton United. This is the 100th anniversary year for our denomination, so why not look at the creeds and affirmations that have provided "maps" for our faith through that century? 

We'll look at a couple of passages from the New Testament which may have been the first creeds, some of the historic heavy-hitters, and a couple of comparatively recent affirmations created by the UCC. In week two we'll consider the images created to accompany what has been called the New Creed, even though it's now more than 50 years old.

Are creeds just a yawner? I hope not! You're welcome to join us and if there is interest in an online component I'll make it happen. 

Mapping Our Faith: Creeds and Affirmations of Faith as the United Church turns 100

Do creeds, historical and recent, still matter for a 21st century Christian faith? Are they important in the United Church or we not a "creed crowd?" 

Why do we have a creed dating back 1700 years in our hymn book? 

Join us in for three Wednesday mornings of conversation as we explore these "maps" for our faith. 

Week 1 Dusting off the Mothballed Creeds 

October 23, 10 AM

Week 2 The Not-so-New Creed in Word and Images (1968)

October 30 10 AM 

Week 3 A Song of Faith, the Rodney Dangerfield of UCC Statements of Faith (2006)

November 6 10 AM 

We are not alone,
    we live in God’s world.

 We believe in God:
    who has created and is creating,
    who has come in Jesus,
       the Word made flesh,
       to reconcile and make new,
    who works in us and others
       by the Spirit.

We trust in God. 

We are called to be the Church:
    to celebrate God’s presence,
    to live with respect in Creation,
    to love and serve others,
    to seek justice and resist evil,
    to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
       our judge and our hope.

In life, in death, in life beyond death,
    God is with us.
We are not alone.

    Thanks be to God.

A New Creed is a brief and well-loved affirmation of faith used widely in our worship 

(1968; rev. 1980, 1995).

https://groundlingearthyheavenly.blogspot.com/2024/10/the-wild-robot-biodiversity-conference.html