How We believe
At Hancock United Church of Christ, belonging is as important as believing. What holds us together is not that we all agree on what we believe, but rather our covenant of membership: we all belong to one community together. Jesus once asked his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” Our believing and our belonging is our answer to this question. To belong to Hancock means that each of us seeks to strengthen our beliefs, and we do this through several important practices:
- We worship together, seeking to understand God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit through prayer, preaching, singing and witnessing.
- We study and learn as we are able: reading the Bible, engaging in Christian Education programs, talking and sharing faithfully with each other.
- We engage in good works together, reaching out to the sick and the lonely, the poor and the powerless.
- We gather together for friendship, fellowship and kindness toward one another.
As we do these works, the truths described in our UCC Statement of Faith become increasingly powerful in our lives. We do not have to believe every part of the statement. It is not a creed that establishes the last word on what must be believed; rather, it is a witness, the first word in our on-going conversation with one another about our common life together.
At Hancock we can and do believe in a variety of ways. We take the Bible seriously as a witness to God’s interaction with human beings, but we never read it literally. We celebrate the use of human reason, and regard science and faith as equally essential and highly compatible. Each of us is responsible for growing in our understanding of faith and belief, and no member is compelled to agree with any other member. Our ministers do not speak for us, but bear witness to us.
But even when we disagree, especially when we disagree, we belong together. We listen, we respect, we witness, we grow. We create room for the graceful change of mind, will and life. We engage in the quest to determine our beliefs while belonging to a community of others who are engaged as we are.
Hancock is an Open and Affirming Church Community.
All gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are welcome in our community of faith. We affirm the full inclusion of all God’s people in the life and ministry of the church. In harmony with Massachusetts law, our congregation also strongly supports the civil right of all free and consenting adults to marry.
We welcome all who seek to know God. We believe that, although we are many members, we are one body in Christ. We have been called as well as challenged by God to respect and reconcile our differences. We recognize and love each individual as a child of God. We welcome, respect, support, and lovingly encourage people of every race, ethnicity, creed, class, gender, sexual orientation, age, and physical and mental ability to join us on our journey of faith. This faith journey indeed calls Hancock Members not to be silent in the face of prejudice, injustice, and exclusion, but to express our faith, in word and deed, for justice and inclusiveness for all humanity. As Paul wrote to the Galatians, “In Christ there is no longer Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for all are one…”