Mission Statement
Plymouth’s Mission is to nurture our congregation and the wider community with acts of love and a vision of God’s image in all things.
Our History
Congregationalism in Helena goes back to 1883, when First Congregational Church was organized with 9 charter members. A second congregational church was founded west of Last Chance Gulch in 1892. These congregations endured many hardships, and as time went by, the congregations began to shrink. In 1931, what was once two congregations had gone down to only 12 members, who voted to dissolve, most of them moving to the Presbyterian Church.
By the 1950s, Helena’s churches had developed a reputation for being quite conservative, so in 1960, a group of Helena residents, realizing that Helena was the only state capital that did not have a congregational church, decided that should change. They held their first service in the Van Orsdel Chapel at the vacated Intermountain College on January 8, 1961. By the end of the month, they adopted the name Plymouth Congregational Church, as a member of the United Church of Christ, with 76 members present at their first “joining service” on Palm Sunday, March 26. They broke ground in May of 1963 for their own church building, which was completed in February 1964. The education wing was added in 1969.
A wave of fundamentalism swept across the nation in the 80s, and some people began to question whether or not it was a good thing to have a church where everyone didn’t believe the same thing. And, the congregation said, absolutely! More than ever, they needed to be a place where people could go and feel included, even if all of their beliefs weren’t exactly the same.
In 2005, the United Church of Christ launched their “God is still speaking” campaign, with a big red comma as the logo, and the slogan “Never put a period where God has put a comma.” It was a controversial campaign, featuring a same-sex couple, and some TV stations refused to air the ads, which only drew more attention to them.
Open and Affirming
Plymouth Congregational Church Voted in 2015 to be an Open & Affirming congregation, which means that we affirm the full inclusion of queer people in the life and ministry of the church.
Our Staff
Our Denomination
For over 400 years, the United Church of Christ has been the church of firsts, weaving God’s message of hope and extravagant welcome with action for justice and peace. We are a church where Jesus the healer meets Jesus the revolutionary, and where together, we grow a just and peaceful world.
Our history is filled with ways our faith and call for justice have effected change in our communities, and our response to the demands of our faith is woven into the history of our country.
