Our Mission
"The Montana - Northern Wyoming Conference works to bring people of diverse perspectives into a community as members of the body of Jesus Christ.
Shaped by scripture, tradition and personal experience, we covenant together to proclaim the transforming word of the gospel, to nurture and affirm one another, and to seek justice for all creation. "
Our Conference History
The Montana-Northern Wyoming Conference (UCC) is one of 39 Conferences of the United Church of Christ, a 1.5 million member Christian Protestant denomination of the "reformed" traditions - and our heritage includes that of the Puritans, as well as others. We are in mission with 33 congregations scattered across Montana and northern Wyoming. In our area sometimes people recognize us by the term 'Congregational' churches, referencing the name some churches hold. Some of the churches in our Conference have a specific German or Russian heritage.
Our Conference, or region, was begun in 1882 when Superintendent Delaven L. Leonard of the American Home Missionary Society visited Montana. The first 4 churches were started that year, including Butte, Billings, Fort Benton and Glendive. (Congregational Montana, June 1934, pg. 9)
Over the years, over 100 congregations were formed, more than 30 of which survived to this day, with the latest addition the new church starts at Kalispell in 1997, and in Hamilton in 2007.
(Thanks to Dr. Lawrence F. Small for this background from his book, RELIGION in MONTANA: PATHWAYS TO THE PRESENT)
Our Conference Today
The UCC has a new information campaign designed to help people recognize and learn about the denomination. While many members are proud of their heritage in the UCC, many members of the UCC join this denomination upon seeking a church which is active in social justice issues and which welcomes people from a wide kaleidoscope of backgrounds, activities, and interests.
Our 33 congregations today represent approximately 5500 members scattered across our region. We celebrate our partnership in the "CUIC," or Churches Uniting in Christ, which is a formal working agreement among 9 denominations, and our regional partnerships with the Montana Association of Churches and with the Wyoming Church Coalition.
Our Conference office is in Billings, Montana, where staff members coordinate Conference-related ministries. We are working toward the day when we will no longer be called a "mission Conference," or receiving special funding from the national UCC Church to under-gird our Conference budget. This is due, in large part, to our extraordinary success in the national UCC "Make a Difference" capital fund drive and our own "Mission Forward" capital campaign at the turn of this century, setting up realistic endowment funds to support our work into the future. In addition, we now receive individual gifts in an 8th Day of Creation Initiative - gifts which enable the Conference to continue its mission.
