The UCC was begun as a united and uniting church. Covenant is an essential part of the Church's theological understanding. Just as God initiated a compact of mutual promise and obligation with Israel, and just as Christ is the promise and bond of obligation for Christians, so the Church is organized as a community built upon mutual promises and obligations among diverse people. Covenant is also a way of describing relationships within the whole created order between nature and humanity, nature and God. These covenants are expressed sacramentally through Baptism and Holy Communion, or the Lord's Supper.
Dialogue continually renews covenant.
It is in dialogue with one another and with God that we are able to comprehend our constantly changing world. As the UCC Constitution makes clear, each generation of the Church is responsible for making its historic faith its own. A Church that is called to be the servant of all finds its ministry in dialogue with all. Practical decision making in the United Church of Christ brings together the principles of freedom and responsibility with the practices of covenant and dialogue. For example, over the years, the biennial national General Synod of the UCC, made up of representatives from the thirty- nine regional conferences of the church, has taken positions on such issues as civil rights, equality for women, respect and dignity for gay and lesbian people, economic justice, urban life and rural life, accessible health care for all, support for the United Nations, and commitment to racial and ethnic diversity.