The ongoing celebration of First Congregational Church’s 150th anniversary pays tribute not only to what happens inside the church’s walls but also to the progressive congregation’s outsized impact on Colorado Springs.

First Congregational isn’t the city’s oldest church; that’s an honor held by First United Methodist Church, founded in 1871, the same year as the city.

But First Congregational has shaped the community from its beginnings in 1874. That same year members founded Colorado College. Jonathan Edwards, the college’s first president, was the church’s first pastor, and many early professors and board members were church members.

Some of the church’s 600 members have been busy compiling historical photos and details, writing new hymns, working with the city on banners that will adorn downtown, and designing anniversary shirts, mugs and water bottles.

The church’s current and two former lead ministers sat down for an August interview about the church’s past and future: the Rev. Jerry Jordan (1983-1987); the Rev. James White (1989-2005); and the Rev. Lee Ann Bryce (who graduated from Denver’s Iliff School of Theology in 2002 and was named lead minister in 2022).

All three leaders highlighted the church’s commitments to education, faith-based service to the community and social justice.

“This church has been an oasis,” said Jordan, whose pastorate is remembered for popular God-centered children’s sermons, some of which were published in a series of books.

“And this tradition has carried on into the 21st century,” said White, who said he had tried “to articulate and promote a prog Christian vision.”

Upcoming events include an October banquet and church tours.

Community focus

The church’s outward focus has been part of its spiritual DNA from the beginning.

“You are the First Congregational Church in Colorado Springs,” the Rev. James Gregg said in a 1909 farewell sermon:

“Aim to keep this church ever representative, not of any particular interests in the community but broadly of the city as a whole, including sympathetically in your fellowship all classes and conditions of the people, rich and poor, high and low, the learned and the unlearned. Do not allow this church ever to become an exclusive and therefore unchristian society but keep it always as inclusive of all persons as is the grace of God made manifest in Jesus Christ.”

The church has reaffirmed that commitment in one of the new hymns composed for the anniversary:

Within this place, the table’s spread

by sacred work, with wine bread.

Our grace-filled task, to welcome all,

to build a bridge and not a wall.

Church members include City Council member Nancy Henjum and former University of Colorado Colorado Springs Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak.

Education valued

America’s Congregationalists descended from England’s 17th-century Congregationalists, who worshipped separately from established churches.

Today’s Congregationalists have inherited a centuries-old tradition of congregational autonomy. Denominational leaders can’t tell local congregations what to teach or do.

Congregationalists founded Harvard and Yale and were among some of the earliest supporters of scientific inquiry, exploration and the theories of Charles Darwin.

In 1877, a crowd at First Congregational welcomed Colorado College professor James Kerr, who gave a lecture on his recent study, “Darwinism Not Necessarily Opposed to the Bible.” A church historian records the response:

“The final result of the discussion was a unanimous adoption of a resolution supporting the Darwinian theory of evolution and noting that they ‘anticipated nothing but help to Christianity from the discovery of any facts or the development of any truths from Science.’”

The Rev. R.T. Cross (1876-1881) was an enthusiastic local explorer who organized groups from the Sunday school to explore local canyons. On June 26, 1880, the group found the Cave of the Winds.

Service and social justice

After World War I, members fought the racism of the Ku Klux Klan, which was popular in Colorado in the 1920s and gained power in the state Legislature. After World War II, they adopted refugees victimized by that conflict.

Officially known as First Congregational Church United Church of Christ after a 1957 denominational merger between Congregationalists and the UCC, the congregation has helped address homelessness, hunger, mental health needs, and support for refugees and immigrants.

It was one of eight historic downtown churches to establish Ecumenical Social Ministries and it helped establish the Interfaith Hospitality Network, now Family Promise, which it supports by providing meals and shelter for children and families.

First Congregational has also opened its doors to other congregations, including Temple Beth El and a Korean church, and hosts a Sunday afternoon Buddhist gathering.

“Black Lives Matter” and gay pride rainbow banners hang near the front doors of the church building, which was built from Castle Rock stone between 1888-1889 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The church participates in the city’s annual Pikes Peak Pride events.

After Focus on the Family moved to the Springs in 1991 and promoted 1992’s Amendment 2 to restrict gay rights in the state, the Rev. White was one of the local clergy members who opposed the measure and provided a haven for LGBTQ+ people.

First Congregational officially declared itself an “Open and Affirming” congregation in 1999, and since 2005 has provided a home for the Out Loud Colorado Springs Men’s Chorus, which had been booted from another church.

Bryce fits right in. She was raised in a conservative evangelical church in Texas before coming out as lesbian and entering a same-sex marriage.

The UCC was one of the first American denominations to ordain gay pastors and to endorse “equal marriage rights for all people, regardless of gender.”

Defying denominational decline

The United Church of Christ denomination has shrunk by two thirds since it was formed: from 2 million members in 1957 to 712,296 in 2022.

But First Congregational has bucked these trends by holding steady and even adding members. The church welcomed 18 new members in August. One is a CC professor, and others were refugees from local churches that promote Christian nationalism and anti-LGBTQ+ activism.

“If you’re an evangelical in Colorado Springs, there are many churches you can go to,” Bryce said.

“But if you’re a progressive person, there are not as many choices.”

She explained that First Congregational offers believers and seekers a chance to ask questions in a supportive environment where they can “deconstruct and reconstruct” their faith.

“We have welcomed a lot of people who tell us that our church was their last stop before giving up on Christianity completely.”