A heritage of hope is born when…
the past is celebrated as a sign of God’s faithfulness
the present is affirmed as a gift of God’s creativity
the future is embraced as a journey of God’s leading
A heritage of hope is born when people believe that God not only has spoken,
but is still speaking.
If…
you know that God’s love embraces all persons equally, no matter where they are
on life’s journey
Then…
We invite you to explore the many ways that God is still speaking,
We welcome you to St. Paul’s United Church of Christ.
No matter who, no matter what, no matter where you are on life’s journey, you
are invited to share in our community of faith—our ongoing heritage of hope.
We love you. We strive to show our love to God by loving you.
We believe that you are created in God’s image.
We believe that we are called to follow Christ: in loving, in accepting, in
teaching, in forgiving, in serving, in sacrifice.
We believe that your story, added to ours, will make us more whole.
We believe that God calls us to be servants in the service of others and to be
good stewards of the earth's resources.
We believe that in Jesus Christ, we have found and experience the grace and
love of God.
We believe that each person is unique and valuable. It is the will of God that
every person belong to a family of faith where they have a strong sense of
being valued and loved.
We believe that each person is on a spiritual journey and that each of us is at
a different place of that journey. We trust that the search is a way of growing
into an authentic relationship with God.
We believe that all people of faith are invited to join Christ at Christ's
table for the sacrament of Communion. Just as many grains of wheat are gathered
to make one loaf of bread and many grapes are gathered to make one cup of wine,
we, the many people of God, are made one in the body of Christ, the church. The
breaking of bread and the pouring of wine reminds us of the costliness of
Christ's sacrifice and the discipleship to which we are all called. In the
breaking of bread, we remember and celebrate Christ's presence among us along
with a 'cloud of witnesses' – our ancestors, family and friends who have gone
before us. It is a great mystery; we claim it by faith.
God, Jesus Christ and the Spirit are our foundation. It means we are grounded
in the Bible, the sacraments of baptism and communion, and the liturgical
church year. It means we sing hymns old and new, accompanied by organ or piano,
in an architecturally traditional worship space. It means we are engaged in
faith formation throughout our whole lives. It means we honor our Christian
heritage without being bound by it.