Progressive Christianity
First Congregational Church of Berkeley is a progressive Christian church sharing a message of love and inclusion in the community and the world. This page will provide resources for those who are interested in learning more about progressive Christianity. We are also connected to other progressive Christian organizations with similar goals. We will also provide links to other sources of information and inspiration.
GTU President Addresses InterFaith Issues
On Sunday, September 6, Dr. James A. Donahue, president of the Graduate Theological Union was our guest preacher. The GTU is an ecumenical and interreligious crossroads, building bridges among Christian denominations and other faith traditions, and dedicated to educating students for teaching, research, ministry, and service. He addressed interfaith issues and the ways that we can approach dialog with people of other faiths.
Many members of First Congregational Church of Berkeley have ties to Pacific School of Religion and the Graduate Theological Union as students, faculty, staff, and as alums.
Listen to Dr. Donahue’s sermon, “Interreligious Dialogue: Understanding Our Own Otherness.”
Science and Religion at First Congregational
First Congregational Church of Berkeley and the United Church of Christ have a long-standing commitment to an open and fruitful dialog between religion and science. Our congregation is blessed with many scientists, including the Rev. Dr. Robert Russell, who is a member of our church and also the director the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences at the Graduate Theological Union. Bob is in a Four-Way Ministerial Convenant with First Congregational which means that we honor and support his work as a minister in this special setting. Bob founded CTNS in 1981.
Bob preached at First Congregational on June 8, 2008 and did a wonderful children’s sermon with Senior Minister Patricia de Jong.
Listen to Pat and Bob talk to the children about how many stars there are in the sky.
Find out more about the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences.
Read a pastoral letter from the General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ, Rev. John Thomas, on the dialog between science and religion.
Church Trends: A Sermon Series
One of the hallmarks of progressive Christianity is an engagement with the world as it is and how it affects religious life and practice. Over the course of several weeks in May of 2009, FCCB looked at trends in church life in the US. Patricia de Jong preached two sermons on trends in membership and worship practices and style. Phil Porter preached on church, faith and technology. The series continued with a dialogue sermon between Pat and Rev. Steve Sterner, who is the Executive Minister of Local Church Ministries for our denomination, the United Church of Christ. Finally, Browne Barr Seminary Intern Geoffrey Gaskins challenged the congregation to imagine how a progressive Christian perspective is articulated both within the church and outside its walls.
Listen to Pat’s sermon “You Are Witnesses” from April 26, 2009.
Listen to Pat’s sermon “Larger Than Life” from May 3, 2009.
Listen to Phil’s scripture reading for May 10: Words Not in the Bible and Favorite Words That Are that are collected from his friends on Facebook.
Read the entire list of words that Phil collected from Facebook: Words That Aren’t in the Bible and Favorite Words That Are.
Listen to Phil’s sermon “00011100101101011” on church, faith and technology from May 10, 2009.
Listen to Rev. Steve Sterner and Rev. Patricia de Jong reflect on the “Past, Present and Future” of First Congregational and the United Church of Christ, from May 17, 2009.
Listen to Kate Noson’s wonderful version of “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” sung during the service on May 17, 2009.
Listen to Geoffrey Gaskins preach about progressive Christianity from May 24, 2009.
FCCB Actively Promotes Marriage Equality
Progressive Christian churches often take specific stands welcoming gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people into the lives of their congregations. First Congregational Church voted to become an ”Open and Affirming“ church in 1994. Based on that stance, the church voted in 2008 to oppose California State Proposition 8 which would deny the right to marry to same-gender couples. It was the first time that the congregation had taken a congregational stand on a political issue.
Read more about the church’s powerful and transforming journey as it engaged this controversial topic in 2008 and 2009 on the Marriage Equality Newspage.
UCC Clergy Most Supportive of Marriage Equality
An recent article on mainline Christian clergy’s views on lesbian and gay issues reports that UCC clergy are the most supportive of gay marriage compared to clergy of other mainline denominations. The chart at the right shows the results of a question about the support of same-sex marriage. The survey was done by Public Religion Research. Read the whole study here.