1. Organized around a covenant
2. 900 ministers
3. Happy medium for different faith backgrounds
4. Extraordinary worship
5. High standards in Christian education
6. What do we believe?
7. What's Congregationalism?
8. What's our history?

Around a covenant

Diversity is a primary strength of Congregationalism. We combine our different gifts and understandings of God as we walk and work together. Our covenant unites us and directs our efforts. This is our covenant:

"We confess our love for God, for Jesus Christ, and for our fellow men and women. We covenant with God and with the Church to live in the fellowship of the Gospel, to walk in the ways of the Lord - known and to be made known to us, to share in the worship and work of the Church, to cooperate with it in all good enterprises and to promote its service, its maintenance, its purity and its peace."

We are convinced that we can follow God better and more effectively working and living in community than we could individually. Part of the advantage comes with any synergy of effort, but part of it comes from the mutual support and encouragement we can provide for each other. If, as a congregation, we are doing something that does not fit with the covenant, then we need to change what we are doing!

A covenant is a set of mutual promises between people. A covenant is not a contract. In a contract, if one party fails to live up to its part of the contract, the rest of the contract can be considered null and void. In a covenant, even if one party drops their end of the agreement, the other side is still bound by its promises. One good example of a covenant commonly used today is the marriage covenant. Perhaps the best example is God's relationships with us: though we may give up in our commitment to God - may do all sorts of the things we know go against God's hope for us - God never gives up on us!

900 Ministers

Each member of North Shore Congregational Church is a minister! In God's eyes, we are all equally His children, all equally (but differently) gifted to serve. As Paul writes, there are many gifts, but one Spirit who gives them. All the gifts God gives are equally important to building up the church (Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12).

A major purpose of North Shore Congregational Church is to strengthen and equip its members for the "real," high impact ministry they do throughout the week, in the workplace, at home, in school, at church projects, etc.

Happy Medium for Different Faith Backgrounds

Because our congregation is organized on a "way of living  together" and not on a "way of believing," we often attract families from a "mixed" faith background (Catholic - Protestant, Episcopal - Methodist, Lutheran - Presbyterian, etc.) What you believe is between you and God. If what you believe includes following Christ, you will feel right at home with us, regardless of your religious or denominational background.

Extraordinary worship

If you are looking for an authentic experience of the Living God, you will find it in our midst! Every Sunday (without fail in our 50 years of existence) we celebrate what God is doing and wants to do in our lives.

Our worship is fresh and rich in meaning, yet also has music and preaching of the highest quality. Our order of worship (liturgy) is powerful and elegant in its simplicity, yet full of spontaneity and warmth.

The Congregational tradition has long emphasized the importance of reading and understanding for oneself, of applying its timeless principles to our changing times. Thus, preaching is an important part of every time of worship.

High Standards in Christian Education

We have a truly excellent Sunday School program for toddlers, pre-schoolers and grades K-12. We have caring and competent care for infants. We have probing, intriguing and challenging adult education led by pastors, lay members and outside speakers.

What Do We Believe?

As Christians living in the Congregational Way, we have and respect many different beliefs and understandings of God. We do, however, generally agree on several things:

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the bible captures the essence of all Truth. While God can and often does reveal Himself directly, the Bible is the most authoritative witness we have, not only about the history of God's people, but about who God is, how God works and how we should live in light of all God does for us.

Caring community is necessary for growth.

Community gives faith purpose and focus. Being a part of our church family means being surrounded by a group of caring people who help us up when we fall and who give us opportunities to serve God. As we serve others and are served in return, we continually rediscover and grow in Christ.

Who can worship with us? Who can take communion?

Anyone who wants to know God better. We invite to the communion table anyone who seeks to make Jesus Christ Lord of his or her life.

What's Congregationalism?

Congregationalism finds one of its strongest organizing principles in Jesus' words, "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:20)

Congregationalism describes how Christians can work and relate together for God. It is more a way of organizing (a "polity") than a way of believing (a "theology"). That's why we can have a wide spectrum of beliefs and still worship and care for each other: we are united by our purpose and our covenant.

Congregationalism assumes that each member of a church has a personal relationship with God that is a motivating force in his or her life. In Congregationalism, we acknowledge that while we each have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we also need the support of a loving community to grow to full maturity in Christ.

Congregationalism expressed the freedom people of conviction have always had to gather together, to support each other's ministries, to love each other in tough times, to rejoice together in good times, and to work together for God's purposes. It also stresses the desire people of conviction have always felt to depend on God for all their hopes and needs.

Fundamental Principles of Congregationalism*

1. Christ is the head of the Church. No one else has the last word over how a local church chooses to serve God - not a Pope, diocese, presbytery or synod. As well-intentioned as some of the efforts may be, too often they are out of touch with what God is going in the local area. Congregational Churches can often respond more quickly and energetically to the call of the Holy Spirit in meeting local needs.
2. A gathered fellowship of believers is the Church. Each church is given the spiritual gifts necessary to be complete and responsive to God. The earliest church was sufficient in itself and so is each church today.
3. The Church is in fellowship with like-minded Churches. Thought by God's grace internally sufficient, Christians (and Churches) benefit from relationships with other churches, particularly in the areas of fellowship, service and missions.
4. Reliance on the Holy sprit. Congregational Churches depend heavily on the Spirit's leadership and inspiration.

*These principles are drawn from Principles and Practices: The Congregational Way of the Churches of the National Association, Revs. Karl Schimpf and Lloyd Hall, Jr., published by the National Association for Congregational Christian Churches. Copies of this booklet are available in the Information Rack outside the church Office.

History of the Congregational Way

The Congregational tradition traces its roots back to the earliest church formed by Jesus, inflamed by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and led by those who had known Jesus. The earliest churches were autonomous, local churches who answered the call of God and cared for the needs of their members and the needs of the marginalized people in their communities. When larger issues and needs confronted them, these local churches banded together to meet them.

In England, King Henry VIII withdrew the English churches from the Roman Catholic Church and established the Church of England (ca. 1529). Many of the offensive practices continued, however - formalized liturgy that lacked freshness and creativity, lack of focus on the spoken Word (preaching), elaborate worship dress worn by the clergy that distracted from the worship experience, and corrupt and unqualified clergy appointed by the King for political not religious reasons.

One group that formed in response called themselves "The Lord's Free People." They drew strength from Matthew 18:20 "For wherever two or three come together in my name, there am I with them" and looked to the earliest church for their organization. They met for the first time in 1606 at the Postmaster's House in Scrooby and, after the King began to persecute the group, they went to Holland, and later received permission to colonize the New world.

The group (which now called themselves, "Pilgrims") disembarked from their ship, the Mayflower, in 1620, calling their colony Plymouth.

For more details about the last 300 years of Congregational history, please ask in the church office.

History of North Shore Congregational Church

In April of 1949, a group of people met in the living room of the Von Grossmann's home to sign the charter and own the covenant under the leadership of Dr. Pat Flynn. The first worship service held at Country Day School (now the Jewish Community Center) drew 350 people! Later the church built its primary building in 1955 and added to it in 1958.

Currently, NSCC has roughly 850 members. Sunday attendance is generally 350-400 adults and children, drawn from communities as far south as Shorewood, as far west as Elkhorn and as far north as Richfield.