Kirkland Congregational United Church of Christ is a community of faith with a rich past and a promising future that invites you to experience the Christian faith through our worship, fellowship, educational programs, music ministry, and outreach ministries.
We are:
Followers of Christ: We are a Christian faith community that takes the bible seriously, but does not read it literally. We know God most clearly through the person of Jesus as revealed in the testimony of the bible. We seek to follow the teachings of Jesus and to trust in the winds of Holy Spirit as we do so.
Covenant People: We understand ourselves to be a community, the People of God, the Body of Christ. We are not a gathering of individuals searching to meet our own needs, but a congregation committed to each other and the call to carry on the ministry of Jesus. We are married together--for better or worse.
An Inclusive People: We don't live our lives by declaring who is in and who is out. We are not a club of the saved. We believe that Jesus reached out to all people with God's love, and we seek to do the same. We welcome people of all ages, races, sexual orientations, gender expressions, economic classes, and abilities as sisters and brothers in Christ. We strive to live out the United Church of Christ slogan, "Whoever you are, wherever you are on life's journey, you are welcome here!"
Sacramental People: We celebrate two (2) sacraments: baptism and communion.
- Baptism: We baptize infants, teens, and adults as a way of sharing a visible sign of God's grace and welcoming them to this community of faith. When infants are baptized the sacrament includes parental promises about guiding their child to grow in faith until the time of confirmation, when they can claim this faith as their own. Teens and adults who choose to be baptized will do so with their own commitment to grow in and nurture their faith.
- Communion: We celebrate communion at least monthly, typically on the first Sunday of each month. We gather at the communion table to remember the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In sharing the communion feast we celebrate that Jesus Christ's ministry is now our ministry, and that in the bread and cup we are offered sustenance for our journey of faith. The communion table is open to all who come seeking to know God's love, the story of Jesus, and be transformed by the Holy Spirit--whether you are member of our church, a member of another church, or a member of no church at all.
People who Know God's Grace: We recognize evil in the world, but the focus of our faith is not on human sin. We affirm that all people are created in the image of God, filled with gifts for ministry, and entrusted with the obligation to live responsibly in the world. We recognize that we fall short of the model of faith we know in Jesus. To that end we rely on the promise of God's grace to give us the courage to boldly live our faith, to fail sometimes, and to remain committed to always seeking to follow Jesus.
Committed to Religious Diversity: Christianity is our tradition, but we recognize that our way is not the only way, and thus, we celebrate the gifts of other Christian congregations and other faith traditions. We seek ways to honor and learn about the faith traditions and practices of our Jewish, Muslim, Unitarian, Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, and Native American sisters and brothers and we celebrate the gifts of ecumenical and interfaith work.
Committed to Generous Living: Jesus teaches us to share the gifts of God with those around us. To that end we are committed to living a generous faith; generous with our time, talents, money, and resources. We are proud to say that our building hosts two(2) dozen recovery groups, is home to three (3) congregations of varied Christian traditions, and is a place where many drop by to pray and simply seek contemplative space. We are also proud to have served as host for tent encampments multiple times as a way of supporting those who are without permanent shelter in our area.
A Congregational Church: We are in covenant with our denomination, the United Church of Christ and with our conference, the Pacific Northwest Conference, but all decisions about our ministry are made solely by the members of our congregation. We are not a dogmatic church that demands theological uniformity. We believe in freedom of conscience and cherish discussion and intellectual integrity. Our pastor leads us in worship, but like all others has just one vote in the decisions that our church makes about its life together. We believe that this is God's church, and we each have a part is listening to determine what God wants us to do...together!
A Work in Progress: The story of our faith did not end when the bible canonized. Instead the story of our faith continues to be written in the lives of individuals and in churches like Kirkland Congregational United Church of Christ. We hope your journey will intersect with ours as we seek to faithfully live and write the next chapters of our faith story!
