Who Are We?

Our congregation numbers about 61 members from Deering, Weare and surrounding towns. We are diverse in age, political persuasion, and religious background. Theologically we tend to be on the more liberal or progressive end of the United Church of Christ’s spectrum. Many of our members were raised outside the United Church of Christ and joined us from Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopal, and also unchurched backgrounds.

We revel in this diversity and hope that eventually we might have more of a mixture of races, ethnicities, classes and sexual orientations. We pride ourselves on our support of a wide spectrum of beliefs and practices and think pluralism is not only the best moral course, but also expands our horizons and greatly enriches our lives. We are a warm and friendly church, very much wanting to connect to God and each other.

We have a small but active Christian Education program. We are especially eager to have more children and teenagers in our midst. We delight in the way our children motivate and inspire us.

We are a physically accessible church and very much welcome people of different strengths and abilities. We look forward to sharing our leadership with newcomers, yet if you prefer just to participate in Sunday worship, you are welcomed to do that also.

In 2011 we did some short term planning and long term visioning to better define what our church is being called to do both for its individual members and for the communities it encompasses. We want to keep in mind that this is God’s church with Jesus Christ as our leader. Our Council, under Moderator Bryan Terry, will take the leadership in this planning. We want to get all of our members as well as community folks involved. We are the only church in Deering and have always wanted to be a beacon of light for the population whatever their faith (as well as those not identifying as believers). We want to work together to make our church a more significant presence in the community as well as encouraging community groups to use our building. We hope our church can serve as a quiet haven in a tumultuous and often painful world. We most welcome your input.

What We Remember

Download or play a recording of the panel discussion on August 1, 2010 about Deering Community Church at Old Home Day celebration–participants spoke in this order: Hazel Vogelien, Don Johnson, Bob Harvey, and Ray Petty, Discussion leader.