Open Prairie is a part of the United Church of Christ, which has about 1.4 million members worldwide. The United Church of Christ was formed in 1957 as the union of several different Christian traditions, including the Congregational Churches, the Reformed Church in the United States, the Christian Churches, and the Evangelical Synod of North America. It has a proud tradition of spiritual and social activism, including a number of historic firsts: the first African American ordained by a Protestant denomination (1785), the first woman since New Testament times ordained as a Christian minister (1853), and the first openly gay person ordained as a Christian minister (1972).
The Church today remains diverse. Historic statements of Christian faith, such as the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed, are honored in the United Church of Christ. However, the Church respects freedom and diversity of individual conscience, and we do not use a creed or catechism as a test of faith for our members.
Open Prairie is part of the Prairie Association, which is part of the Illinois Conference of the UCC.
Open Prairie is an Open and Affirming church. That means that we make a public statement welcoming persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities into the full life and ministry of the church.