A GREETING FROM THE PASTOR

Worship Location and Mailing Address:
1017 Elliott Avenue
Charlottesville, VA 22902-6218
(Corner of Elliott and Monticello)

Worship at 9:30 a.m., coffee and fellowship afterward.

Phone: (434)-977-1481

E-mail: Churchoffice@sojourners-ucc.org

Web: http://www.sojourners-ucc.org

Our Journey
In the winter of 1992-93, with the support of the wider United Church of Christ, a small group of believers began gathering regularly, seeking a religous experience open to diversity. In the Fall of 1993, the Reverend Lee Walters began providing leadership for worship. Members and friends took an active role in worship, providing music, scripture reading, prayers, and activities for children, a practice that has become an integral part of Sojourners identity.

With intention and purpose, this growing group developed a mission statement celebrating the strength of the collective understanding of God, made up of the rich variety of individual visions and experiences.

The congregation called the Reverend Marie LaMarre Ford who began her ministry in August 1995. Marie led the church through its early years of growth, and when she left in 1998, the church was larger in numbers and strong in its sense of identity and commitment. After an interim period the congregation called Rev. Jim Bundy to serve as pastor. He began his ministry in February 2000.

In November, 2004 Sojourners completed the purchase of a building in the Belmont area of Charlottesville at the corner of Monticello Avenue and Elliott Avenue, the former home of the Charlottesville First Church of the Nazarene. We began regular worship services there on February 6, 2005.

Numbering more than 100 active members and friends, Sojourners is now able to support itself financially. A leading concern, racial injustice in Charlottesville, helps to focus our efforts toward social justice. Please contact the church office to be included in the communication network.

The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a uniting church that strives to incorporate many traditions into its life of worship and service. The UCC is a national denomination whose spirit is expressed by the phrase "in essentials, unity; in non-essentials, diversity; in all things, charity".

Come join us in creating an inclusive church that seeks to respond to the needs of this community.

"We work together to move beyond mere tolerance to a celebration of our diversity. We see this as an opportunity for better understanding God's unlimited love and following the example of Jesus Christ...."

—excerpt from Sojourners UCC Mission Statement