The news regarding the state of Christianity and church life in the United States is all bad, for those who still attend some kind of church. In a newsletter series offered by The New York Times, Jessica Grose has written extensively about the continuing significant shifts in the religious landscape of the United States, from the massive “dechurching” that’s been in process for the last half century to new categories that describe “nones.”

In Hallowell, Maine, we don’t need to read about the shifts in the religious landscape. We are right in the throes of it all. In this tiny city just south of the state capital, the Episcopal church closed in 2020 and the United Methodists are about to start sharing 1.5 clergy in a cluster of six area churches. Several of Old South’s most active members are people who were members of another UCC church, a couple of towns south. That church closed almost fifteen years ago.

As I continue to read the troubling media coverage of the decline in attachment to and participation in Christian communities, I’m often struck by the associations, and assumptions, people appear make about Christianity and its various denominations and churches. Some people have left the “Church” because of the sexual abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church. Some people have left because of the lack of welcome to those in the LBGTQIA community. Some people have left because of the treatment and status of women. Some have left because they have doubts and questions around traditional systems of belief and are troubled by literal interpretations of the Holy Bible. Many of these people, it appears, have left a “church,” without regard to the wide variety of churches that exist.

Not all Christian churches are the same, nor do all Christian churches maintain the same practices or adhere to the same doctrines and dogma. There’s a reason why most towns and cities across this country have multiple churches. They are different!

Although the denomination in which I hold my ordained standing and in which I serve as clergy, the United Church of Christ, is experiencing not only the same decline, but in some cases a more aggressive form of decline, I sometimes just want to vent my anger and frustration. The UCC ordains women and welcomes women in all aspects of leadership. We are proudly welcoming of all sorts of people, with many UCC churches waving their pride flag(s) and we’ve been welcoming the LGBTQIA community in ordained leadership as well as in other forms of leadership for a very long time. We also welcome people with doubts and questions, and, as the theologian Karl Barth declared, we “take the Bible too seriously to take it literally.”

The UCC is far from perfect, to be sure, but among those who have left a church, but miss church community, we check a lot of the boxes that those people claim that they want. So, where are they?

As a small Mainline Protestant denomination, the United Church of Christ, is not found in every small town, or even in every county across the United States. So, some people have a good excuse not to check us out or even to be aware of our existence. But, there are plenty of UCC churches in the Northeast (New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, etc) and in pockets of the Midwest as well as scattered along the West Coast. For those who want to maintain a connection to the Christian faith, who wish for a more welcoming environment, who yearn for equity and far fewer scandals involving clergy abuse of children, we are right here. We may be harder to see, since we are shrinking at an alarming rate. Still, we are here. And ready to welcome and offer community, a place to experience and be reminded of God’s love for all.