"What we perceive that God is calling the Northwest Ohio Association to become."

We, the Northwest Ohio Association, are a faith-filled community of congregations,  pastors, lay leaders, and believers of all ages. We are a community of communities within  the United Church of Christ, who covenant with each other embodying God’s promises and hopes.

We are a community of communities:  We proclaim and celebrate the Biblical story, through praise and worship. We inspire one another to act boldly, responsibly, and faithfully. Flowing from the same living water as our scriptural ancestors, we demonstrate God’s promises and compassion to others, as Jesus taught us through his own acts of mercy, healing, and justice. Though we are a people who may sometimes fall short of God’s mark, we are conscious of our inadequacies. We hold one another accountable for our actions, encourage each other to get back on the path, and forgive one another as God forgives us.

We are a community of communities:  We are agents of transformation — beacons of hope in a secular society of turbulent waters. Together and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are forged, tempered, and made stronger by acts of justice and liberation. We actively seek to spread the Gospel, including to those at the boundaries:  those who are hurting, the forgotten, the lost, and those shunned by society — we offer room at our tables of hospitality. 

We are a community of communities:  We give each other courage to confront the evil that assaults us and leads us astray from God’s love and God’s ways.  We are shaped and reshaped for mission as we prayerfully discern God’s will. As a community that is inclusive and accessible to all, we nurture and encourage each other’s leadership in Christ’s church. Recognizing God’s love for all, we listen to each other, and seek to enable each other to be all that God intends. 

We are the Body of Christ: a community of communities that freely shares of itself with others—a community that will shatter the complacency of this earth and bring God’s intended peace and justice to all.

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