WELCOME! WE ARE AN INCLUSIVE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH IN SARASOTA welcoming persons of every gender, race, nationality, sexual orientation, age and ability.

We celebrate God’s diversity, Christ’s embrace of all, and the Spirit-led good news of love, peace, joy, and hope into our daily lives.  Inside our church you will find people of diverse races, sexual orientation, age, religious upbringing, and belief.  Inside our hearts, we deeply desire to grow into the disciples of Jesus.  We don’t want to just talk about good news for ourselves, we want to be the good news.

Maybe you’re new to our church, new to Sarasota, or new to church altogether. Whatever brings you here, we’d love the chance to get to know you better. Please know Pastor Wes is available to talk with you and help you connect in meaningful ways with our community of faith.

During times such as these, we are aware that many in our community are facing challenges.  If you are in need of prayer or care, please let us know.

We invite you to explore this site to see what makes our church alive and vibrant.  We pray you will discover how First Congregational UCC can help you grow your faith.

To be a diverse and caring congregation fully equipped to render service to God in promoting justice for all living beings and the earth.

God proclaimed through Isaiah that we don’t have to be stuck or stymied in the past.  God is still speaking, creating, renewing, reconciling, and at work in our world.  God is doing a new thing.  God is calling us to bridge chasms and canyons of race.  God is calling us to be hope in a hurting world.  God is calling us to imagine that there is more than what is.  While some may cynically point to the brokenness, we know that from the very beginning God created out of chaos.  We set our hearts toward God’s vision of bringing about God’s just world for all created beings.  We work faithfully and prayerfully for the healing and wholeness of Creation ~ God’s first testimony of love.  We work faithfully and prayerfully to end discrimination against our LGBTQ brothers and sisters.  We work faithfully and prayerfully to discuss American’s original sin of racism and that everyone is made in God’s image.

We encourage and invite you to join us in this faithful, loving work for today.