Lakewood United Church of Christ sits at 100 Carr Street on the west side of Lakewood, Colorado, where it has welcomed neighbors into a progressive, justice-oriented expression of Christian faith since 1953. Part of the United Church of Christ and a member of the Rocky Mountain Conference, the congregation is most readily identified by three commitments that run through everything it does: an Open and Affirming welcome that has been on the books since 2001, a Care for Creation covenant adopted in 2018, and a long history of showing up for the wider Lakewood community through organizations like The Action Center, the Delores Project, and Rose Stein Elementary School.
An Open and Affirming Congregation Since 2001
When members voted to become an Open and Affirming congregation in June 2001, they made a public promise that has shaped the life of the church ever since. Renewed and expanded twenty years afterward, the Open and Affirming statement now reads, in part: "In keeping with the life and teaching of Christ Jesus, we joyfully and unconditionally welcome and invite into full membership and participation in the life of the church all people of any race, ethnicity, language, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, physical ability, mental ability, neurodiversity, socio-economic status, family configuration, and faith background." The congregation celebrates all loving and committed relationships and has marched in Denver's annual Pridefest Parade as a tangible expression of that welcome.
Open and Affirming here means more than welcome. Anyone can be called into worship leadership, can sing in the choir, can teach faith formation, and can serve on boards and committees. Membership is non-creedal; creeds are treated as "testimonies not tests," and the United Church of Christ's broader motto, "No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here," is taken as a working frame for the community.
Sunday Mornings at 10:15
Worship is the center of life at Lakewood UCC, and it happens at 10:15 a.m. every Sunday both in person and online. An organ prelude usually opens the service, followed by a mixture of traditional and progressive elements: hymns and gospel songs, prayers and children's moments, scripture and a roughly fifteen-minute sermon that connects the biblical text to everyday life. The sermon is delivered by one of the pastors or a guest preacher and is intended to help listeners live freely, love boldly, and work passionately for justice and peace.
Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of every month and is sometimes called the Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist. The congregation does not require specific words or particular ministers for the sacrament; instead, the trust is placed in the Holy Spirit to make a real connection with Christ, with one another, and with the wider global church. Whether someone takes communion in the sanctuary or at home watching the livestream, it is still very much real communion.
Visitors are told, simply, "Please wear whatever is comfortable for you. Some of our folks wear suits and dresses, and some wear jeans and t-shirts. God doesn’t care. Neither do we." A fellowship time follows most services, and prayer requests can be shared in person, texted to one of the pastors, or posted in the YouTube chat during the livestream.
Music From Hymns to Gospel
Music sits at the heart of worship, and the church makes a point of saying that no one style of music is enough to praise God. On any given Sunday the music might range from classic hymns to gospel and folk, sung or played on a handsome eleven-rank pipe organ at the front of the sanctuary.
The Chancel Choir is an all-voices ensemble that generally sings once a month, with the soprano and alto group Higher Voices and the tenor and bass group Lower Voices alternating on the off months. All rehearse at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings. The Children's Choir is a no-rehearsal group that joins the Music Director in worship about once a month. The Bell Choir, affectionately known as "C to Shining C," rehearses on Mondays at 5:00 p.m. and generally performs the special music at one service per month, keeping handbells in rotation throughout the church year.
Music Director Nick Newman, a doctoral student in conducting at the University of Northern Colorado who also directs the One World Singers community choir in Denver, leads the choral program. Bells Director and Organist Alan Thompson, a Colorado native with a music degree from Union College and additional study at the University of Nebraska and Creighton University, brings more than three decades of experience from his prior work as Music Director and Organist at Antelope Park Church.
Nursery, Faith Formation, and Youth at Church
Children are present and welcomed in the life of the congregation from the very first Sunday they arrive. Nursery care is provided every Sunday morning from 9:30 a.m. until the end of the worship service for infants through five-year-olds, in the Nursery Room on the northeast corner of the building. Caregivers sign children in and out, and parents are welcome to pop in to see what is happening.
Sunday Morning Faith Formation for children from Pre-Kindergarten through sixth grade happens during the service on the first and third Sundays, September through May. Students begin in worship with their families, then head to class after about ten minutes during the Passing of the Peace. On all other Sundays, children stay with their parents in the sanctuary, where wiggle bags and Children's Moments make room for wiggles and wonder. The church building is nut-free, and parents are asked to bring any potluck dishes in with a list of ingredients.
Teenagers in seventh through twelfth grade are part of Youth at Church, or YAC, which meets most Sundays from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in the basement Youth Room, September through May. Activities rotate through team building, big-question discussion, service learning, and the kind of fun that just happens. Past service projects have included work at The Action Center, gifts for homebound members, and a full week of service learning in places like Pine Ridge, South Dakota and Albuquerque, New Mexico. During the summer, youth are encouraged to attend La Foret, the UCC camp and retreat center in the Black Forest, and to join the Denver-area Service Learning Trip.
Growing in Faith as Adults
Adult formation at Lakewood UCC is as much about friendship and conversation as it is about classwork. Pastor Curt leads a Wednesday morning Bible Study on Zoom at 10:45 a.m., drawing twenty to thirty members each week into a lively discussion about how to take scripture written at least two thousand years ago and apply it to life today.
The Prayer Group meets on the first Monday of the month from 9:30 to 11:15 a.m., sharing member updates, opening with a devotion or meditation, and reviewing prayer requests, most of which are honored for a month unless renewed. Members of the group also knit prayer shawls that are given to those in need. The Book Group meets on the third Sunday of the month following worship in the Conference Room, choosing books across many genres and letting the person who suggested the book lead the conversation.
Sacred Circles are groups of four to eight women who meet regularly for spiritual friendship, choosing their own schedules and rhythms: some meet in homes, others go out to lunch, others gather at the church. Some meet during the day, others in the evening. There is no wrong way to be a Circle.
A Men's Breakfast gathers on the second Saturday of each month at 9:00 a.m. at the Valley Inn Restaurant on South Wadsworth Boulevard in Lakewood for casual conversation with no particular agenda. A Grief Group, currently on hiatus, has been led by Barb Kamlet, a hospice grief counselor, Licensed Professional Counselor, and co-founder of Shimmering Wings, a nonprofit supporting those who experienced a death loss as children.
During Lent each year, an adult book or video study gathers the congregation for reflection, and special topical events throughout the year have addressed gun violence, creation justice, anti-racism, and embracing diversity.
Faith in Action Across Lakewood and Beyond
Lakewood UCC members often say, "When the worship is over, the service begins," and the church's outreach partnerships put that into practice week after week. Members were instrumental in founding what is now The Action Center, which provides food, clothing, counseling, job training, and financial assistance to neighbors in need. The church maintains an ongoing collection for The Action Center, with new donations coming in every week.
Team Delores partners with The Delores Project, an organization that offers safe shelter and housing for individuals working toward stability. Lakewood UCC members plan, cook, deliver, and serve meals there on a rotating schedule, taking a turn each month to put dinner on the table alongside their own volunteers. The Rose Stein Elementary School partnership, a Jeffco public school in the neighborhood, runs a school supply drive each July into August so that students and teachers can begin the year well-equipped.
Every other summer, a group travels to the Oglala Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation to volunteer with Re-Member, skirting trailers, installing bunk beds, and learning about Lakota culture in a week of cultural immersion that many participants return to again and again. The congregation has marched in Denver's Pridefest Parade as part of its Open and Affirming identity, and as a member congregation of Colorado Faith Communities United to End Gun Violence, it joins other faith communities in advocating for an end to gun violence in the state.
Special Sunday services during the year include the annual Blessing of the Animals, led by the Care for Creation Committee in the spirit of St. Francis, when children bring stuffed animals to be blessed during worship and a blessing station is set up afterward for live pets. A potluck lunch follows the late-summer Kick-Off Sunday, which welcomes back the choir, faith formation classes, and Youth at Church for the program year, and the congregation gathers in the park once each year for Worship in the Park at the Prospect Park pavilion in Wheat Ridge, complete with a gospel sing-along and root beer floats.
Caring for Creation and the Micah 6:8 Project
In January 2018 the congregation adopted a Care for Creation covenant that has shaped both the building and the church's public witness. The covenant affirms the divine gifts of creation, acknowledges that abuses of creation cause suffering, and commits the congregation to seek justice for the oppressed, work with partners who share those commitments, and live lightly in harmony with God's creation. A Care for Creation Committee keeps the work visible through education, advocacy, and recurring environmental programming.
The commitment shows up in the building itself. A 2022 capital effort, "A Good Foundation for Our Future," raised more than $217,000 toward solar panels, xeriscaping, more efficient heating and cooling, an improved sanctuary sound system, new flooring, a parsonage kitchen remodel, other maintenance, and mission grants. Ten percent of the campaign was set aside for mission projects in the wider community.
The Micah 6:8 Project, named for the prophet's call to "do justice, and love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God," makes grant funding available to members, friends, and community partners with ideas that promote social justice, equity, and inclusion. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis and are read by a committee that decides how the funds will be distributed. Youth are especially encouraged to apply.
The Christmas, Lent, and Easter Seasons
The church year at Lakewood UCC is shaped around the major seasons of the Christian calendar, with services designed to involve the whole congregation. Advent is kept across the four Sundays before Christmas, with each Sunday lighting a new candle on the Advent wreath, symbolizing Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy. Christmas Eve brings an intergenerational service at 4:00 p.m., with pre-service Christmas music at 7:00 p.m. and a candlelight service of carols at 7:30 p.m.
Lent opens with Ash Wednesday at 7:00 p.m., where worshippers are marked with the words, "You are dust, and to dust you shall return." Holy Week continues with Palm Sunday, a processional and brunch, then Maundy Thursday's simple supper at 6:30 p.m. and Tenebrae service at 7:30 p.m., during which candles are extinguished one by one until the sanctuary is in darkness. Easter is marked by a 6:00 a.m. sunrise service and the joyful 10:15 a.m. Easter service, and the season of Easter closes as the congregation wears red on Pentecost to remember the descent of the Holy Spirit.
World Communion Sunday, the first Sunday in October, is observed each year alongside Christians of many traditions, occasionally in multiple languages, as a celebration of the unity of the worldwide church.
Becoming a Member
There is no pressure to become a member before being part of the church, and most of the congregation's life is open to non-members. People can take communion, serve on boards and committees, teach faith formation, and sing in the choir without signing on as such. The biggest practical difference is that voting in congregational meetings on the budget, officers, and the calling of pastors is reserved for members.
For those who want to explore membership, the church hosts New Member Inquirers lunches several times a year, sharing a meal, telling the story of Lakewood UCC and the United Church of Christ, and getting to know one another. There are no attendance, participation, or giving requirements for membership, and the timing is entirely up to the individual. New members are received during a Sunday worship service several times a year, in a ceremony called the Reception of New Members, in which both the new members and the congregation make promises to walk alongside one another.
The Pastors and the Building
Senior Pastor Rev. Curtis Preston has served Lakewood UCC since 2008. A Colorado native, he previously served as Associate Pastor at the First Church of Christ UCC in Longmeadow, Massachusetts and as a Pastoral Intern at Rock Spring Congregational Church in Arlington, Virginia. He holds a B.A. from Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, and a Master of Divinity from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, and was ordained by the Metro Denver Association of the Rocky Mountain Conference UCC in July 2003.
Associate Pastor Rev. Mollie Landers Hatt was called in January 2018 as the congregation's first full-time associate pastor. She first sensed a call to ministry while on summer staff at a UCC camp in Pennsylvania, and went on to serve as a Bridge Pastor in two Rocky Mountain Conference churches, as Director of Outdoor Ministries for the New Hampshire Conference UCC, and as Associate Director of Outdoor Ministries for the Maine and New Hampshire Conferences. She is a graduate of Catawba College, Wesley Theological Seminary, and Andover Newton Theological School.
The congregation has gathered on Carr Street since its founding by Pastor Martin Murray Jr. and thirty-five charter members on June 14, 1953. The sanctuary was built in 1955 and remodeled in 1966, and the entire building was remodeled again in 2003. In 1960 the church joined the United Church of Christ, officially adopting the name Lakewood United Church of Christ in 1965. Today the building hosts not only the congregation but also a small group of community renters who share the space, including an early learning academy, a music teacher, a yoga studio, and a local business network chapter.
Office hours run Tuesday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., with remote hours on Monday and Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The church can be reached at office@lakewooducc.com or 303-233-4401, with giving available online and the livestream at 10:15 a.m. each Sunday on YouTube.