THE UNITED CATHOLIC CHURCH

    Ecumenical, Inclusive, Non-Judgmental, and Independent;       

 About Us:  Introduction, Mission, & Church Statistics

 The United Catholic Church was founded and incorporated in the state of Florida in 1996 as both a denomination and an inter-church fellowship, in response to the request of a conclave of bishops to find a means of unifying.  The principles of unity on which this church rests are found in the What Does it Mean to be Catholic? A Call to Unity document located in the Faith section of this website.  

As a denomination, we are one of hundreds of independent Catholic churches in the United States.  We embrace ecumenical Catholicism and welcome all Christians to our Communion rail, and serve all, but our primary outreach is to three  groups: first, to people who hold that worship and the sacraments need to be validly apostolic in terms of historical belief and succession, but who are unchurched;  second, to the increasing number of Christians who have no single tradition background from childhood and who feel they can comfortably be neither Roman Catholic nor Protestant; and third, to the isolated, individuals who through age, sickness, or other impediment can no longer reach out to participate in a faith community and now find themselves alone.  To the outcast, we offer inclusion; to the rejected, acceptance; to the afflicted, comfort; to the sinner, forgiveness; to the despondent, hope; to the troubled, peace.  In pursuit of this healing mission the United Catholic Church actively sponsors both congregations where people can grow in Christ, and missions/chaplaincies following traditional and emergent church models.

Church Statistics

The United Catholic Church is a recognized denomination by the National Council of Churches, and is listed in their Yearbook of US and Canadian Churches.   Computing membership numbers can be a bit difficult since a part of this church's mission is to reach out to in a non-traditional, post-denominational and emergent church  way.   As such, while the church has  individuals that can be counted as members of the United Catholic Church in the traditional church counting fashion, due to its mission, it also has a large and active group of members who are unlabeled because they see themselves as post-denominational in some way.   The church also has a sizeable and growing emergent church model group of persons who are regularly supported by, and identify with, this church.

As of July 2010, the United Catholic Church had 2,184  full members,  along with 1,704  unlabeled members, and an additional 3,131 uncommitted individuals who regularly participate in the life of this church.  Taken together these numbers total  7,019  people served by this church's 30 ordained clergy persons in 11 parishes and 12 outreach missions/chaplaincies.

Historical Background Snapshot

The United Catholic Church is an outgrowth of the Old Catholic Church, which broke with Rome in 1870 over the declaration of the infallibility of the pope.  We are thoroughly catholic.  How this came about is traced in the History Section of this website.  Our Apostolic Succession, the validity of our orders, and the resultant efficacy of our sacraments are recognized as being present in both key dimensions:  we hold firmly to the faith of the Apostles that has been passed down through time, see our Faith Section, and we hold a traceable line of witness back to that same time; this is mapped out in the Lines of Succession page.