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Who We Are in worshiping God, in being in community together, and the body of Christ in service to the world! We consider your presence here or at our services a gift to us, and we invite you to explore further using the links from the Home Page or from this page, the Church Calendar, or any of our Sunday or other gatherings! University Congregational, United Church of Christ is a progressive, Protestant church. We see ourselves as an inclusive church, open to diverse people and beliefs, and rooted in God's extravagant love, mercy and justice. We are a covenantal church, not a doctrinal church. This means that members of our church agree to work together toward certain shared principles. We are a member church of the United Church of Christ and the Montana-Northern Wyoming Conference of that denomination, and have been in Missoula for 115 years, from our beginnings as a mission church of the Congregational Christian Church. We are about 650 souls, from babes to elders and are an Open and Affirming congregation. We have two pastors who have been with us since 1981 and 2001, respectively, and other administrative staff. In 2006, Rev. Janice Springer joined us to lead summer retreats and in 2008 was called as our Minister of Spiritual Formation. Janice advises us from Iowa during the academic year and is with us during each summer. We consider all the members of the church to be ministers and have committed to a model of 'shared ministry'. We do our 'work' of the church through four main Ministry Areas: Congregational Life(fellowship and life of the church), Faith Development (faith education and formation for all ages), Worship and Spiritual Life (worship planning and spiritual deepening), and Justice and Witness (reflection, education, dialogue, and action for social justice in our community, which is global, local and familial). Each of these ministry areas is guided by a permanent staff member and an elected, rotating team of congregational members. Within and without these areas, smaller fellowship groups and task forces also operate. We offer as a service to the community the University Congregational Children's Center Preschool, a non-profit, parent-involved, professionally-staffed school offering classes for children ages 3-5. We are governed by an elected Church Cabinet. We worship together whenever we meet, but formally at two Sunday services for most of the year and at one Sunday service during the summer. A Contemplative Prayer service is also offered weekly. We have a vibrant Music Program, with many opportunities for participation on all levels. We offer meeting space to many community organizations and are located in the heart of the University district, two blocks from the University of Montana.
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