United Church of Christ

The United Church of Christ came into being in 1957 with the union of two Protestant denominations:  The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches.  Each of these was, in turn, the result of the union of two earlier denominations. 

The German Reformed church in the U. S. followed Calvinist beliefs. In 1725 the German immigrants established congregations in the U.S.   In 1793 the Synod of the German Reformed Church in the U.S. was formed.   Later, people from Switzerland and other countries began constructing churches. In 1867 the name German was dropped from the title.

The Evangelical Synod of North America followed both the Lutheran and the Reformed beliefs. In the 1800s German immigrants who had been a part of the Evangelical Church in Germany, a merger of Lutheran and Reformed Churches, came to the U.S. and established churches in the Midwest.  In 1872 those churches organized into the German Evangelical Synod of North America.  In 1927 the name German was dropped from the title.

These two churches united in 1934 to form the Evangelical and Reformed Church. 

The Congregational churches followed Calvinist, Pilgrim, and Puritan beliefs.  In the 1620s Pilgrims (Separatists) and Puritans came to Massachusetts and united to begin North American Congregationalism.  In 1892 the Congregational Methodists joined.  In 1925 the German Congregationalists joined.

The Christian Church was formed by persons who wanted to unite all Christians into one group. These included the North Carolina Christian group, formed in 1793, the First Free Christian Church in Vermont, formed in 1801, and the Kentucky Christian group, formed in 1804.  In 1820 these groups joined together as the Christian Church.  Stressing congregational freedom, these churches united in 1932 to form the Congregational Christian Church. 

In 1957 the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Church joined together to form The United Church of Christ, a denomination committed to Christian unity and cooperating with other Christians with different backgrounds to proclaim our oneness in Jesus Christ. 

Through the years, other groups such as Native Americans, Afro-Americans, Volga Germans, Armenians, Hungarians, and Hispanic Americans have joined with the four earlier groups. The United Church of Christ celebrates and continues a wide variety of traditions in its common life.