PILGRIMSUCCWEB

The members of Pilgrims United Church of Christ are proud to be a progressive Christian voice in the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitian area. We are a congregation commited to the concepts of radical hospiltality and extravagant welcome. We are an "Open and Affirming", "Just Peace" and" Earthwise" congragation. We welcome everyone no matter who you are or where you are on life's journey. We are a congregation that believes in the importance of "Social Justice" both in our own community and throughout the world.

The United Church of Christ was established in 1957 with the with the union of two American protestant denominations - the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches. The United Church of Christ is the denominations of firsts. We were the first to ordain an African American Pastor (1785), a woman (1853), an openly gay person (1972) and the first to affirm same sex gender marriage equality (2005). As members of the United Church of Christ, we respect your freedom, with God's help, to make your own faith journey. We respect and expect a diversity of views about matters of faith. In fact we believe that "GOD IS STILL SPEAKING" and that there are an infinite number of ways to listen to GOD'S word. To learn more about the United Church of Christ please visit the website UCC.ORG.

The members of Pilgrims United Church of Christ voted to become an “Open and Affirming” congregation in mid 1990's. This means that our congregation has publicly and intentionally declared that those of all “sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions” (or “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender” people) are welcome in its full life and ministry (e.g. membership, leadership, employment, etc.) of our church. It speaks of a spirit of hospitality and a willingness to live out that welcome in meaningful ways. We as members of Pilgrims United Church of Christ are not only welcoming and supportive of those who are gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual but believe each person is part of the the diversity that God intends for the world.

We believe God calls us to have a passion for justice and a commitment to peace. We believe that people everywhere have a God given right to have their basic needs met. These basic needs include the right of every person to: food and clean water, adequate health care, decent and affordable housing, meaningful employment, basic education, participation in community decision-making and the political process, freedom of worship and religious expression, protection from torture, and protection of rights without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or national or social origin.

We also believe that these commitments extend to the non-human parts of GOD's creation.

Pilgrims UCC Maple Grove is an Earthwise Congregation! As people of faith, we are called to be earth loving and earth wise. We are committed to green practices and the sustainable stewardship of God’s creation. Pilgrims UCC demonstrates its committment to being an Earthwise congregation by: using CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs) to reduce energy use, unpluging or using power strips to turn off electronic items when they are not being used, using non-disposable cups, plates, silverware etc.,abstaining from the use of chemical fertilizer and weed control on church property and recycling whenever possible.