Who We Are

Welcome to the Northern California Nevada Conference!

We are the United Church of Christ in northern California and western, northern Nevada. We are 115 local churches (13,500 members) and about 380 ministers, from Eureka to Tulare, from Monterey to Reno, and everywhere in between. Some of our churches were founded during the early years of the California gold rush. All of us started with a desire to be people of worship, education, fellowship and ministry to our communities. Our mission is to unite ourselves as a covenant community and support and nurture each other as together we seek to make God’s gracious love known and real in our lives and in the world.

Each local church of the Conference has the responsibility to organize and manage its own affairs, as well as responsibility for each other’s well-being and the well-being of the whole of the United Church of Christ. We are diverse in our sizes, geographical locations, the faith/religious backgrounds of our members, theologies, and the kinds of communities in which we are located. Korean, Japanese, Samoan, English, Tagalog, Spanish, Cantonese, and American Sign Language are regularly spoken/used in worship in our congregations. Among us are congregations who affirm an ethnic identity: African American, Chinese-American, Filipina/o-American, Japanese-American, Samoan, Volga German. Others are intentionally and effectively multi-racial/multi-cultural in their constituency and their approach to worship and ministry. Almost two-thirds of us have committed ourselves to being open to and affirming of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgendered and queer persons, as well as open to and affirming of people of color and persons with physical and mental health challenges. We are a Just Peace, Accessible 2 All, and Jubilee conference.

We are partners in mission with 35 other regional conferences of the United Church of Christ, the General Synod and national setting of the church, ecumenical and interfaith organizations in this country and around the world. We take seriously our ongoing need for spiritual renewal. We, as does the United Church of Christ as a whole, have a history of social justice concerns and involvements. (In fact, a number of our cherished UCC “firsts” were right here in the NCNC!) We seek to extend the extravagant welcome of “no matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you’re welcome here.” We believe that God is still speaking, so we keep ourselves oriented to change and transformation and discerning of the future to which God is leading us.

Our Conference Covenant

We are people of God, a community of congregations diverse in our ethnicity, culture and lifestyle. We are the Northern California Nevada Conference, United Church of Christ.

We covenant with God and each other:

  • to worship God through Word and Sacrament,
  • to proclaim to all the world the Gospel of Jesus Christ through deed and word,
  • to be open to the movement of the Spirit in our midst.

We covenant with God and each other:

  • to speak of our dreams and visions,
  • to share our resources,
  • to draw strength from one another in the work of ministry.

We covenant with God and each other:

  • to affirm our journey together, in our diversity, for justice, peace and healing, throughout all of God’s creation,
  • to grow with one another, building our future out of past memories and present hopes.

We covenant with God and each other:

  • to love and support one another,
  • to listen to and learn from one another,
  • to forgive and trust one another,
  • to pray for and with one another,
  • to answer God’s call to be the body of Christ.

Conference Mission Statement

The Northern California Nevada Conference of the United Church of Christ seeks to be a community of diverse congregations which nurtures, supports and unites local churches in faithful covenant in Christ to carry out ministry and mission in the world.