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Plymouth’s Identity Statement
We celebrate that everyone deserves a house of God to call their own and to perceive the voice of God at every gathering. We value the opportunity to question our beliefs and to seek the presence of God in our daily lives. We strive to be an extravagant voice for love and acceptance and to enrich and serve our wider community.
Our Four Voices
Progressive Theology
The belief that each person can think, question, and form their own understanding of God.
An openness to God, church, and creation that stretches the traditional understanding beyond dogma, doctrine, or creed.
An awareness through study, reflection, and dialogue that the traditional forms of understanding God may not fit our 21st century enlightened minds and hearts.
Referring to God in inclusive language.
Contemplative Spirituality
Provide resources and opportunities for a deeper search for the spiritual in our personal and communal lives.
Create spiritual growth through contemplative ways of experiencing God.
Encourage people to deepen their relationship with God in their everyday lives through silence, readings, and worship.
Integrate the church building into opportunities for contemplative spirituality such as building an outdoor labyrinth and creating bird feeders to connect us to God in nature.
LGBTQIA+ Acceptance
Publicly welcoming those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) into the full body of Plymouth United Church.
Provide safe space for those who are LGBT through overt and subtle ways – respecting the need for some to remain private about who they are because of family and/or occupational needs.
Advocate and educate the wider community regarding the unjust discrimination and violence directed toward those who are LGBT.
Serve as a voice of compassion in the wider community for those who are LGBT and their families.
Social Justice
Serve those who have the least in the wider community through already existing ministries within the church and wider community.
Educate and dialogue amongst ourselves about the injustices enacted around us in our community, state, nation, and world.
Financially support those organizations that serve the least of these in our community, state, nation, and world.
Work toward changing the institutional and intellectual structures that enable injustice and discrimination to continue.
A Brief History of Plymouth
Early History
Plymouth United Church was created in 1978 to serve the Spring, Texas community. Spring is a suburb of Houston, Texas. The founding members of the church were primarily Congregationalists (one of the original denominational strands of the United Church of Christ) from the New England area who moved to Houston because of their jobs in the oil and gas industry. In the 1980s, the oil bust hit Houston and brought immense devastation to the area. Plymouth was one of many churches affected by the oil bust. Some members retired and moved back to New England while new native Texan members joined the Plymouth community.
Open and Affirming
In December 2004, the UCC aired a commercial publicizing the extravagant welcome of the UCC, that all people are welcome. Plymouth benefited tremendously from the commercial as new members joined the church. There is a rich diversity and beauty to the Plymouth community which mirrors God’s reflection here. In 2006, Plymouth voted to become Open and Affirming (ONA), which means that we welcome all people regardless of their ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical or mental abilities, and place in life. Plymouth is proud to be one of six ONA UCC churches in the Houston Association.
Serving the Wider Community
From its birth, Plymouth has been a faith community committed to serving its neighbors in Spring, Texas. We are one of the founding congregations of the Northwest Assistance Ministries (NAM), and have offered leadership in its programs such as the food pantry, Interfaith Hospitality Network, and the NAM garden. We are also active participants in the Spring area Interfaith Dialogues with other faith traditions.
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