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 by Bishop Robert Bowman 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 no longer willing to attend a church that limits access to anyone seeking to come closer to God;  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 that reach out to the unchurched.

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 way.   As such, while the church has  individuals that can be counted as members of the United Catholic Church in the normal church counting fashion, it also has a large and active group of members who are unlabeled,  because they see themselves as post-denominational in some way, a distinction which is allowed by the United Catholic Church canons.  The church also has a sizeable group uncommitted persons who are regularly supported by this church through an outreach ministry.

As of August 2008, the United Catholic Church had 2,013 full members,  along with 1,032  unlabeled members, and an additional 2,725 uncommitted individuals who regularly participate in the life of this church.  Taken together these numbers total  5,770 people served by this church's 34 ordained clergy persons in 16 parishes and 8 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. 

Interchurch Fellowship

As noted above, in addition to being a denomination, the United Catholic Church is also an interchurch fellowship.  We recognize that the many independent Catholic churches exist for a reason.  While coming to unity in principle, is in many cases not usually a terribly difficult proposition, the human realities that spawned these many churches, coupled with the tendency today to adopt more limited definitions of church mission, make organizational unity difficult to achieve in practice.  We do not believe that pallid ecumenicalism is the answer; it is a start, but it doesn't go far enough.   The United Catholic Church has addressed the drive and desire for church communities and denominations to concurrently be independent, and a part of the United Catholic Church, through the Associate Church provision of our canons.   Associate Churches maintain their own identity, canons, and means of organizing, while they also join in covenant, in its full theological and practice sense, with the core United Catholic Church jurisdiction.  In the covenant level, responsibilities and rights are both given and received, each to the other, that allows both to come together, to work together, and to share deeply as trusted family to together build up the body of Christ and each other.  Information on this and the more typical communicating church relationship is found in the United Catholic Church Canons in the Documents section of this website. 

We also believe that post-denominationalism is the road of the future, and look for the day when the word catholic will truly return to its original meaning.  There are today many ordained clergy members from other denominations that agree both with our principles of unity and with ecumenical Catholicism and who seek to be a part of us, and a part of the Apostolic Succession in all aspects, while they also continue to serve and reside within their present denomination.  We welcome both them, and their churches to be a part of us as well, and have four active cross-denomination pastorates at this time.