"Our world is very different from the world our founders sought to address, in ways our forebears in the 1950s could have hardly imagined. Yet we remain what we have always been at our best, a people bearing witness to a grand moral vision rooted in the Bible and the person of the crucified and risen Christ, and a people of spiritual audacity prepared to risk old assumptions for the sake of new possibilities." - John H. Thomas, former General Minister, and President, United Church of Christ This best-selling, newly revised and updated book shares the: History of the United Church of Christ; Background on its predecessor bodies; Information on its Covenanted Ministries; Explanation of its emblem; and Statement of Faith.

Vols. for Jan. 1819-Dec. 1820 include a section called: Missionary herald.

The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a denomination that reflects the pluralistic story of American Protestantism. Created in 1957, the UCC has brought together ecclesiastical bodies rooted in English Puritanism, American frontier revivalism, and German religious history. In this book, the contributors attempt to move beyond the four main streams of the UCC—the UCC "historical orthodoxy." This collection of essays expands knowledge about the diversity of the UCC, and connects the UCC with many significant developments in American religious and ethnic history. It explores such areas as: Native American Protestantism; black Christian churches; a schism in the German Reformed Church; Armenian congregationalism's missionary beginnings; German congregationalism; blacks and the American Missionary Association; Deaconess ministries; the Schwenkfelders; the Calvin Synod (Hungarian); women's work and women's boards; and Japanese-American Congregationalists. Contributors include Clifford Alika, Percel O. Alston, John Butosi, William G. Chrystal, Clara Merritt DeBoer, Sally A. Dries, Serge F. Hummon, Martha B. Kriebel, Miya Okawara, Ruth W. Rasche, John C. Shetler, Vahan H. Tootikian, and Barbara Brown Zikmund.

"Growing Toward Unity" considers the theological and political pressures, both nationally and globally, that drove the ecumenical movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, up to and including the formation of the United Church of Christ. Edited by Elsabeth Slaughter Hilke, with a Postscript by Thomas E. Dipko. Series editor Barbara Brown Zikmund.

Nestled along the shore of the Penobscot River, Orrington, Maine became the home of a small group of worshippers called by God to organize into a Congregational Church in 1833. From that humble beginning and being declared destitute in 1837, this church grew to become the largest church in the Congregational Christian Council of Maine. Drawing on original documents and interviews, this history of the East Orrington Congregational Church delivers a well-researched, fascinating look at the struggles and triumphs of this church and her congregation. The Rev. Dr. David H. Lester traces the churchs original small membership under the guidance of Rev. Cyril Pearl in 1833 through its struggle to keep the doors open in the mid-1970s to its current status as one of the biggest congregational churches in the area. Through a true commitment to time, trust, and thankfulness, this group of dedicated Christians held fast to the resolve to be the Body of Christ outside the walls of the meeting house. A History of East Orrington Congregational Church, Orrington, Maine serves as a worthy testament to their unwavering faith in God and his direction for their ministry.