What does it mean: “God is Still Speaking?”
Here at Ankeny United Church, we’re constantly looking for what God said to people in olden times and trying to understand what it says to us today. It means that we want to find what God means by justice and mercy and love in today’s society as much as in the cultures of the past. It means we know we’re always on a journey, finding new understandings of how to be a follower of Jesus Christ and how that changes our lives. It’s also one of the mottos of our denomination, the United Church of Christ (the other one is “That they may all be one,” reflecting our call to not only be a united church, but also a uniting church).
United Church of Christ: What’s that?
The United Church of Christ (emphasis on United Church) is a church incorporating traditions from 17th century New England, 19th century Pennsylvania, Missouri, and the Carolinas, and 20th-21st century modern theologians. It’s a tradition emphasizing the accountability to one’s conscience and to God, rather than church authority. This led UCC churches to be in the vanguard for church leadership by African Americans and women, abolition, social justice, women’s rights, civil rights, and LGBTQ rights, even while the structures of the church continued to discern what this all meant. You know, living the questions. You can learn more at http://www.ucc.org
Our purpose: To love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22)
Our vision: To unite in Christ’s love, a just world for all.
Our mission: To unite in Spirit and be inspired by God’s grace. We welcome all, love all, and seek justice for all.
