Though the words "progressive" and "liberal" may mean many things (or even mean nothing at all), Pilgrims' was begun in 1990, by design, to be a progressive/liberal alternative to the "Bible Belt" religion of our surrounding area. We take the Bible seriously, but not necessarily literally. We believe God's love is a truer and more defining characteristic than a set of rigid rules or a narrow piety. We have no desire to change other churches or overthrow their witness, but we do attempt to assert our alternative vision of who God is and what God wants for our lives and relationships.

And not just Pilgrims'--the entire Flordia UCC Conference is committed, as one of its purposes, to be an alternative denomination in Florida, to reach and minister to those turned away from other churches and denominations or made to feel unwelcome elsewhere.

Many, if not most, of our congregation affirm the "8 points" of progressive Christianity as formulated by The Center for Progressive Christianity and/or "The Phoenix Affirmations" as formulated by CrossWalkAmerica.

When you finish your visit to our website, we invite you to visit some friends of ours and see what they have to say about Christians living "theologically progressive" and socially responsible lives.

www.tcpc.org (The Center for Progressive Christianity)
www.crosswalkamerica.org (another progressive movement)
www.sojo.net (Sojourners)
www.interfaithalliance.org (The Interfaith Alliance)
www.au.org (Americans United for Separation of Church and State
www.stillspeaking.org (UCC "God is Still Speaking" Initiative)
www.splcenter.org (Southern Poverty Law Center)

As part of a new educational endeavor, called Pilgrims' Institute for Religious Enquiry and Theological Study (PIRETS), we are offering courses with serious theological and educational content for those who want much more than the classic "Sunday School experience." These courses are of different lengths and are offered at different times.

Some of our courses have a "DVD component" whereby our "faculty presenters" include world-class theologians, pastors, and teachers. This faculty includes: John Cobb, Tex Sample, Walter Brueggemann, John Dominic Crossan, John Shelby Spong, Nancy Ammermann, and Emilie Townes.