A century and a third after its founding, Lake Oswego United Church of Christ still gathers at 1111 SW Country Club Road in Lake Oswego, a suburb of Portland. From the sanctuary built in 1959, an intergenerational and openly progressive congregation lives out a faith that takes scripture seriously but not literally, welcomes every person without reservation, and works to repair both human and ecological relationships. Members call the church LOUCC, and they have earned five distinct designations within the United Church of Christ: Open and Affirming, Just Peace, Earthwise, Creation Justice, and Immigrant Welcoming, each voted by the congregation over more than three decades.
From an 1888 Deed to a 1959 Sanctuary
The story begins in 1888, when John C. Tullinger, owner of Oswego township, deeded two lots to the Rev. George Atkinson, Superintendent of Congregational Missions in Oregon. The first church building rose in 1891 at the corner of Fourth and D Streets in the First Addition neighborhood. By 1959 the congregation had outgrown that home and built the present sanctuary on Country Club Road. Seven years earlier, in 1957, the national merger that created the United Church of Christ had already changed the congregation's name to Lake Oswego United Church of Christ, Congregational. The building has remained; the mission has continued to widen.
Five Declarations That Name the Mission
LOUCC's identity is shaped by five covenantal votes, each taken at a different moment of cultural change.
In June 1993 the congregation became Open and Affirming, committing to welcome, affirm, and advocate for the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer persons. The statement has been revised twice, in April 2008 and again in October 2018, to extend that welcome to all people of any age, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, racial or ethnic identity, immigration status, socioeconomic status, or physical or mental abilities.
In 2011 the church unanimously voted to become a Just Peace church, pledging to oppose war and pursue economic, racial, sexual, and environmental justice. Members describe themselves called to be a beacon of hope, a zone of freedom, a voice of protest, and a body of laborers.
In April 2010 the congregation earned Earthwise status under a UCC General Synod resolution, agreeing to reduce global warming pollution, urge governments and businesses to respond, and act as a voice of hope in the climate crisis.
In June 2018 the church declared itself an Immigrant Welcoming Congregation, committing to deepen connections between immigrant and non-immigrant members, educate the wider community, advocate for humane immigration policy, and accompany immigrants at their request through hearings and other immigration proceedings.
In June 2024 members voted to become a Creation Justice Church, pledging to reach out to all of God's creation, restore the land beneath their building to native conditions, and address abuses of the natural world linked to race, class, and global inequality.
Sunday Mornings at 10:30
Worship is the center of life at LOUCC. Sunday services begin at 10:30 a.m. in the sanctuary and are livestreamed on YouTube. The order of worship follows a familiar arc: gathering music, a centering silence, prayers and a hymn, a passing of Christ's peace, readings, a message from the day's speaker, and a closing song with blessing. Services last about sixty minutes. Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month with gluten-free bread and grape juice, and all are welcome at the table.
Throughout the year the church also marks the seasons of the Christian calendar: Christmas Eve, Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Easter, and Pentecost, along with an Earth Day service in April, an outdoor worship, and a Longest Night service of comfort each December. The sanctuary is wheelchair accessible, with hearing-assistance devices, large-print bulletins, and all-gender ADA-compliant bathrooms.
What to wear is up to the visitor. Most attend in what the church describes as "business casual" attire. A name tag and a brief orientation await at the entry. Coffee hour in the Fellowship Hall follows at 11:30 a.m.
Music That Spans Centuries and Cultures
The music program, directed by Gary Skye, draws from a variety of traditions and cultures. Congregational singing uses The New Century Hymnal and Sing! Prayer and Praise alongside contemporary sources. Members sing in the choir, ring in a three-octave handbell choir that rehearses during Advent and Lent, and play instruments. Guest musicians from the wider community augment the mix, and beginning bell ringers are always welcome.
Children, Youth, and a Pray-Ground
Children begin each service in the sanctuary with their families. A "pray-ground" at the front of the sanctuary offers age-appropriate materials and an attending adult; the space invites young children to engage with worship in their own way. The first Sunday of each month is intergenerational, and all stay in worship together for storytelling, music, and art.
After the scripture reading and a Children's Moment, children ages three and older leave for Church School, where teachers use Sparkhouse curriculum to explore Bible stories and faith values. Nursery care is offered every Sunday for infants and children up to age five. Teens gather with a devoted group of adult mentors who lead discussion and activities around their questions and interests. Each summer a number of LOUCC students head to camp at the church or at Camp Adams, the UCC Central Pacific Conference camp in Oregon.
Adults on the Path
Adult spiritual formation at LOUCC takes several shapes. Centering Prayer gathers on Tuesdays at 11:15 a.m. on Zoom for a brief check-in and twenty minutes of shared silence. Dwelling in the Word meets Tuesdays at noon on Zoom to listen, reflect, and dialogue with the texts for the coming Sunday. A Contemplative Practices Group gathers on the last Wednesday of each month to explore how spiritual practices deepen faith. Periodically the church hosts book discussions on titles ranging from Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny to Mariann Edgar Budde's How We Learn to Be Brave.
For men, an informal Wednesday morning gathering on Zoom has been a long-running tradition. Sojourners, an adult discussion and prayer group, meets the first and third Thursdays at 1:00 p.m. on Zoom. Crafty Fellowship gathers in the Weidman Room on Thursdays from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. for a shared project or personal handiwork. A Woods Work Day on Thursdays at 1:00 p.m. cares for the woods on the property.
Caring for One Another
The Congregational Care Team coordinates meals, rides, cards, and visits during times of need. A Prayer Shawl Ministry has, since 2006, knit, blessed, and distributed shawls to members and others who need a tangible reminder of God's love. A Grief and Loss Peer Support Group meets Wednesdays at 5:00 p.m., and an Anxiety Group led by LOUCC member Nancie Potter Wamser gathers on the last Sunday of each month at noon in the library.
Rev. Jennie Ott, who has served as pastor since June 2010, is available for pastoral visits, counseling, and consultation. She holds a Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School and lives in Portland with her wife, the Reverend Hilary Martin Himan, also an ordained minister in the UCC, and their two children.
LOTSM and a Wider Welcome
LOUCC is a tithing church, giving ten percent of pledged income and offerings to mission. Half of that sum goes to Our Church's Wider Mission, the global mission of the UCC; the other half supports nonprofits aligned with the church's three outreach priorities: hunger, housing, and community and family.
The signature partnership is the Lake Oswego Transitional Shelter Ministry, founded in September 1988. Seven Lake Oswego churches, Clackamas County Social Services, and the Annie Ross House joined with LOUCC to open a rent-free shelter apartment inside the church building for families moving from homelessness toward stability. In 2001 LOTSM earned nonprofit status and a HUD grant and built a dedicated transitional shelter apartment adjacent to the church, with a second apartment opening at Lake Oswego United Methodist Church in 2005. Each apartment hosts a single family for three to twelve months; volunteers help with medical care, transportation, parenting skills, budgeting, job leads, and the basics needed to move into a home of their own. The church also supports Operation Nightwatch, a Portland ministry that befriends unhoused neighbors.
Youth raise funds for and volunteer at the Oregon Food Bank. Among other organizations LOUCC supports financially are Going Home II, Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice, Hygiene4All, Outside In, Innovation Law Lab, and Hunger Fighters.
The church also shares its building. Beit Haverim, a Reform Jewish congregation, holds weekly Shabbat services in the sanctuary at 7:00 p.m. on Fridays and offers religious education on Sunday afternoons. A wide variety of support groups also meet at LOUCC, including Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Adult Children of Alcoholics, Overeaters Anonymous, and Weight Watchers.
Caring for the Land
Environmental work runs through every layer of the church's life. In addition to its 2010 Earthwise designation and 2024 Creation Justice vote, LOUCC has earned Clackamas County Leaders in Sustainability gold certification and Backyard Habitat gold certification. A bioswale and rain garden on the property capture roof and parking-lot runoff that once flowed unchecked into Nettle Creek and Tryon Creek; any overflow is filtered before reaching the storm drain.
The Earth Justice Team has guided the removal of invasive plants in favor of native species and the restoration of the small creek on the property to a free-flowing natural state. A Land Acknowledgement names the Clackamas Chinook, Willamette Tumwater, Wasco-Wishram, Multnomah, Tualatin Kalapuya, Cayuse, Molalla, and other Chinookan peoples and bands as the original inhabitants and pledges the congregation to work toward reconciliation through action and education.
The Pastoral Team
Lake Oswego United Church of Christ gathers at 1111 SW Country Club Road in Lake Oswego, Oregon. The pastoral team includes the Rev. Jennie Ott as pastor, the Rev. Averyn Payne as associate pastor for faith development and intergenerational ministries, and Gary Skye as director of music ministry. Beth Stuart serves as office administrator. The office is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.