In 1959, United Church of Hayward became part of the United Church of Christ. We are proud of that. The UCC has no rigid formulation of doctrine or attachment to creeds or structures. Our overarching creed is "to love” (Luke 10:27). We believe that God calls us to be active in and invested in our communities. We are called to be advocates in the service of others and to be good stewards of the earth's resources. One of our favorite slogans in the UCC is “To believe is to care; to care is to do.” In other words, believing in Jesus isn’t enough. Our faith in Jesus Christ calls us to action and to his work of kindom building in the world. 

We believe that the prophets, apostles, and ministry of Jesus in the scriptures call us to speak truth to power, to liberate the oppressed, to care for the poor and to comfort the afflicted. (Luke 4:18) We believe in the power of peace and work actively for nonviolent solutions to local, national, and international issues. (Matthew 5:9). We are a community where science is important, women have agency over our own bodies, and Black Lives Matter. 

We are deeply aware of and moving against systemic sins (hamartia/ἁμαρτία “missing the mark”) of white privilege, colonialism, corporate greed, victim-victimizer programing, misogyny, lack of integrity, white Christian nationalism, and cisheteropatriarchy of all kinds. We are also engaged in politics and in our communities while honoring the separation of church and state and being rooted in the values of Jesus Christ. 

At UCH we are also an intentionally "Open and Affirming" Community. We have intentionally chosen to lavishly welcome LGBTQIA+ people. (For more about what it means to be "Open and Affirming.") At UCH, the emotional and spiritual safety of those who have been spiritually traumatized and silenced is a high priority. We honor a behavioral covenant not to engage in “freedom of speech” that causes harm, nor to confuse the discomfort of unpacking privilege with actual oppression. As Jesus clearly puts it, “What you have done for the least of these you have done for me.” (Matthew 25:40).

At UCH, we believe that the best pronoun for God is “They.” We believe in God as creator, parent, and resurrected light of Christ embodied in Jesus and present in the holy spirit within us. We follow the example and teachings of Jesus, the “fully divine, fully human” (Nicene Creed: United Church of Christ) embodiment of God and root ourselves in his values of compassion, mercy, healing, boundary crossing, honoring and re-interpreting tradition, and advocacy for the voiceless and oppressed that he demonstrates repeatedly in the gospels. 

We believe that each person is on a spiritual journey, and we will support and care for each other as “Seekers Embracing the Journey.” We also believe that our persistent search for God deepens and aligns our relationship with God, our neighbors, and ourselves--so we engage in that work actively together. As we embrace this journey intentionally--of embodying love, strengthening faith, dissolving shame, and giving life purpose and direction (Luke 10:27), we intentionally enter into covenant that values each of us as part of “the body of Christ.” (I Corinthians 12:12-31). These covenants characterize our polity, structure, agreements, and behavior at United Church of Hayward and in the United Church of Christ.

Experience a Service

Sundays at 10:30 AM

Rev. Jeanne’s Latest Sermon (April 20, 2025)