CCB is part of a denomination called the United Church of Christ (UCC), which was founded in 1957, but is made up of churches that have been around a lot longer than that — going back to the first Pilgrims in America in 1620.

The UCC is known for its welcoming stance toward all people. You can see that goes back a long way when you read the list of the things we did first. Ours was the first historically white denomination to ordain an African-American (in the 18th century), the first in the modern era to ordain a woman (in the 19th century), and the first to ordain an openly gay man (in the 20th century). We were in the forefront of the anti-slavery movement. We founded the first institutions of higher learning in America (Harvard, Yale) and were among the first to establish schools and colleges for newly freed slaves (Fisk, Dillard). We were early leaders in the Social Gospel movement, taking seriously Jesus’ commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

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Each UCC church belongs to both a larger group of churches (known as a conference), as well as a regional association. The purpose of both the conference and the association is to support, challenge, and strengthen local churches, bringing them together in community and mission and in relation to the larger church and society.

Learn more about the national office of the United Church of Christ.

CCB-UCC belongs to the Detroit Metropolitan Association of the UCC, a member of the Michigan Conference of the UCC.