At Community Congregational United Church of Christ (CCUCC), we are all people of God, without exclusion or discrimination, and without judgment. Regardless of your age, gender or race, your socioeconomic place, your physical capabilities or limitations, and regardless of your sexual orientation or gender identity, you are welcomed by this congregation in the Spirit of Christ.
Open & Affirming
We celebrate the inclusive nature of our church. As an Open and Affirming church, we have publicly and specifically declared that those of all “sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions” (or “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender” people) are welcome in our full life and ministry.
Staff
Church Council (2024)
We Believe…
Creator, resurrected Christ, the sole Head of the church, and the Holy Spirit, who guides and brings about the creative and redemptive work of God in the world.
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.
and that each of us is at a different stage of that journey.
engendering love, strengthening faith, dissolving guilt, and giving life purpose and direction.
No matter who – no matter what – no matter where we are on life’s journey – notwithstanding race, gender, sexual orientation, class or creed – we all belong to God and to one worldwide community of faith. All persons baptized – past, present and future – are connected to each other and to God through the sacrament of baptism.
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.
“That they may all be one.” (John 17:21) “In essentials–unity, in nonessentials–diversity, in all things–charity,” The UCC has no rigid formulation of doctrine or attachment to creeds or structures. Its overarching creed is love.
and to be good stewards of the earth’s resources. ‘To believe is to care; to care is to do.’
As in the tradition of the prophets and apostles, God calls the church to speak truth to power, liberate the oppressed, care for the poor and comfort the afflicted.
and work for nonviolent solutions to local, national, and international problems.
In the UCC, members, congregations and structures have the breathing room to explore and to hear … for after all, God is still speaking…
Community Congregational United Church of Christ Los Alamitos. We are the small church with a large name.
When we first began meeting in a sugar beet factory in 1896, our church was the only church in the community. That is why our first name was “Community Church”.
Time passed, and Community Church joined the Congregational Churches of America. The Congregational Churches were organized when the Pilgrims of Plymouth Plantation (thus Mayflower Preschool) and the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony united. These ancestors not only sought freedom of religion, but they supported the abolitionist movement, and built schools (Harvard) to educate the community. To this day, the UCC is a progressive, informed denomination that is on the forefront of issues of social justice.
Many of the Congregational Churches voted to form the United Church of Christ in 1957. Along with 3 other denominations, Christian, Evangelical, Reformed, the
United Church of Christ was born….our motto “that they may all be one” says it all.
We are still here! As more people settled into Orange County, this wild west town grew into a fine community. More churches were built. More choices became available to people seeking a church home. Yet, to this day, Community Congregational United Church of Christ of Los Alamitos (CCUCC), provides a progressive, informed, thoughtful choice for those who are seeking God, wanting to include all, and wishing to serve others.
In 1994 with the help of the Interfaith Coalition for Affirmation and our sister church, First Congregational Church of Long Beach, Community Congregational UCC began the discernment path to welcome all into our midst. The result of which was our congregation voting to become an Open and Affirming church. As an Open and Affirming church we have publicly and specifically declared that those of all “sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions” (or “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender” people) are welcome in our full life and ministry (e.g. membership, leadership, employment, etc.).
Since our decision to become Open and Affirming, CCUCC has welcomed couples who wished to have their commitment ceremonies conducted within the life of the church. In light of the recent Supreme Court decisions concerning DOMA and Prop. 8, CCUCC will be honored to perform all marriage ceremonies, no matter the gender or sexual orientation of the couple.
CCUCC, Los Alamitos is a Just Peace Church. What does being a Just Peace Church mean for members of its congregation?
Just Peace is defined as the interrelation of friendship, justice, and common security from violence and opposition to the institution of war. This pronouncement is based on insights from all three of the historic approaches of Christians to issues of war and peace—pacifism, just war, and crusade—but attempts to move beyond these traditions to an understanding rooted in the vision of shalom, linking peace, and justice.
The Fifteenth General Synod affirms the United Church of Christ as a Just Peace Church. The General Synod affirms the following as marks of a Just Peace Church, calling upon each local church to become:
We Are A Community Of…
- Hope, believing a Just Peace is possible, working toward this end, and communicating to the larger world the excitement and possibility of a Just Peace.
- Worship and celebration, centering its identity in justice and peacemaking and the Good News of peace that is Jesus Christ.
Biblical and theological reflection, studying the Scriptures, the Christian story, and the working of the Spirit in the struggle against injustice and oppression. - Spiritual nurture and support, loving one another and giving one another strength in the struggle for a Just Peace.
- Honest and open conflict, a zone of freedom where differences may be expressed,explored, and worked through in mutual understanding and growth.
- Empowerment, renewing and training people for making peace/doing justice.
- Financial support,developing programs and institutions for a Just Peace.
- Solidarity with the poor, seeking to be present in places of oppression, poverty, and violence, and standing with the oppressed in the struggle to resist and change this evil.
- Loyalty to God and to the whole human community over any nation or rival idolatry.
- That recognizes no enemies, willing to risk and be vulnerable, willing to take surprising initiatives to transform situations of enmity.
- Repentance, confessing its own guilt and involvement in structural injustice and violence, ready to acknowledge its entanglement in evil, seeking to turn toward new life.
- Resistance, standing against social structures comfortable with violence and injustice.
- Sacrifice and commitment, ready to go the extra mile, and then another mile, in the search for justice and peace.
- Political and social engagement, in regular dialogue with the political order, participating in peace and justice advocacy networks, witnessing to a Just Peace in the community and in the nation, joining the social and political struggle to implement a Just Peace.
We are truly a community church that welcomes all and is engaged locally in the communities of Los Alamitos, Cypress, Cerritos, Norwalk, Rossmoor, Stanton, Long Beach, Seal Beach, Garden Grove, Westminster, Anaheim, Santa Ana and beyond.
