Open and Affirming

On Sunday, April 26, 2009, St. Andrew UCC took a vote and passed to become an Open and Affirming (ONA) church -- the first UCC church in the Kentuckiana Association of the Indiana-Kentucky Conference of the United Church of Christ to do so.

For more than 30 years the national setting of the UCC has been on a clear course of welcome and inclusion, calling for serious study of human sexuality, supporting the civil rights of LGBT persons, and in 1985 adopting the Open and Affirming (ONA) resolution.  To say that a setting of the UCC (a local church, campus ministry etc.) is "Open and Affirming" means that it has publicly declared that "gay, lesbian, bisexual" (GLB) people (or those of all "sexual orientations") are welcome in its full life and ministry (e.g. membership, leadership, employment etc.) It bespeaks a spirit of hospitality and a willingness to live out that welcome in meaningful ways.

The UCC Coalition for LGBT Concerns provides significant leadership in the ONA movement, developing resources and urging congregations to become ONA.  Since 1985, more than 760 UCC congregations have engaged in ONA study programs and voted to be ONA congregations and many of them are among the most vital and vibrant congregations in the UCC. Conferences, Associations, seminaries, and UCC-related colleges and universities are among the various other settings and related institutions of the UCC which have declared themselves to be Open and Affirming.

What has made all the difference in this movement is the churches and other settings which have not only declared themselves Open and Affirming, but have faithfully lived into the values of a church with an extravagant welcome.  

Scores of people have been transformed by the ONA witness of the UCC. It is a witness that is changing the world, saving lives and helping to build God's community of welcome, justice and peace.

For more information from the national UCC website about it, click on Open and Affirming (ONA)