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	First Church of Windsor, Connecticut

The First Church in Windsor is the third oldest Congregational church in continuous service worldwide. It is a direct descendant of the church that was set up on 20th Marc 1630 in Plymouth, England, just before John White's emigrants embarked on the Mary and John for the New World. The church was set up in Windsor in 1635 after a group from Dorchester, Massachusetts, moved inland to the wilderness of Connecticut. This group was lead by Roger Ludlow, who was among the charter members of the colony of Dorchester. In establishing a settlement at Windsor, Ludlow and the Dorchester Puritans not only had to compete with the dangers of the wilderness, but also Native American Indians, Dutch traders and settlers from the Plymouth plantation (established by the Pilgrim Fathers). Ludlow later wrote a book on the democratic procedures of Connecticut which furnished the outline of the Constitution of the United States. According to its website (August 2005), The First Church in Windsor currently has over 1,000 members and describes itself as 'a community of faith that seeks to respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed'. Its mission is 'to worship God, love our neighbor, and follow Jesus as we journey together in faith'. Though Congregational by tradition, The First Church in Windsor belongs to the 1.5 million member United Church of Christ (UCC), a Protestant denomination founded in 1957 as a union of several different Christian traditions. The UCC 'affirms the Bible as the authoritative witness to the Word of God, the creeds of the ecumenical councils, and the confessions of the reformation.  The UCC has roots in the "covenantal" tradition--meaning there is no centralized authority or hierarchy that can impose any doctrine or form of worship on its members.  Christ alone is the Head of the church.'

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