Hartford / Connecticut / United States
The Connecticut Conference is one of 39 regional conferences in the 1.5 million member United Church of Christ, a "united and uniting" Protestant denomination in the United States of America. Our membership descends from Congregational, Christian, Evangelical, and Reformed traditions, and dates its founding to June 25, 1957, the day the four denominations merged into one fellowship.In our "ground-up" polity, the Conference is the regional representative for UCC churches, and Associations of those churches, in Connecticut. It provides pastoral support, placement, and other support services to the local churches, and acts as a liaison between the churches and the national denomination.The Missionary Society of Connecticut ( MSC ) was established on June 21, 1798, when the General Association of Ministers in Connecticut adopted a Constitution for that purpose. In 1802, the General Association asked the state General Assembly to incorporate its 12 trustees " six "clergymen" and six "brethren""the better to enable them to execute the trust reposed in them." Abolitionism, evangelism, church growth, womens rights and economic equality are just some of the issues that have transformed the life of our churches in the more than two centuries that have followed. Our tradition is marked by an ongoing pursuit of social justice, which unites personal commitment to the teachings of Jesus Christ with progressive social change.Today, the Missionary Society is the fiscal and personnel instrument of the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ, which is comprised of 253 churches with 97, 000 members among them. The churches are each self-governing and in covenantal relationship with one another through the Conference, sharing in mission in Connecticut and in work to strengthen one another.The Connecticut Conference is the body in which the churches and authorized ministers hold membership. It is that body that meets to deliberate on the budget for the Missionary Society, and to adopt resolutions and other business. When the authorized delegates of the Annual Meeting or the Conferences Board of Directors pass a motion or resolution, its implementation is conducted through the staff and budgetary allocations of the MSC.
