News from the Gay, Lesbian, and Affirming Disciples Alliance

Contents: December 2005/January 2006

UCC Open and Affirming Program Reaches 10% of UCC Congregations

This letter comes to us from the UCC ONA (Open and Affirming) Program Staff:

Dear Friends in Christ,

It is with great thanks and joy that we write to officially declare that 10% of the congregations of the United Church of Christ are currently listed with The UCC Coalition as Open and Affirming (ONA)!

"Currently" is a key word since the number of UCC churches does vary (due to churches that close, merge, leave or join the denomination). Given our understanding that there are now between 5,700 and 5,800 full-standing UCC churches and 585 of them are listed as ONA, we thought this an opportune moment to say, "Yes, we have reached the 10% milestone!"

As you know, this announcement has been some time in coming; it's been twenty years since the 1985 General Synod adopted the Open and Affirming resolution which began this denomination-wide witness to inclusion, affirmation, and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender/same-gender-loving (lgbt/sgl) persons. We have high hopes, however, that it won't be another twenty years before we can say 20% of our churches are listed as ONA! Indicators that this movement is growing and Spirited include:

• Our having listed 26 churches as ONA just since General Synod 2005!
• Our listing an increasingly wider scope of ONA settings:
  • ONA New Church Starts
  • ONA Campus Ministries
  • ONA Seminaries and Divinity Schools
  • UCC Conferences/Associations which have adopted ONA statements
  • Congregations in Conversation with the UCC (those not designated officially as "new starts" or that are coming in from other denominations)
  • ONA-Spirited Youth and Young Adults
• Our training of ONA Consultants who are now doing dynamic outreach on behalf of this gospel witness in more than a dozen UCC Conferences (with another training planned for spring 2006).
• Our awareness of the many, many individuals and settings which have been spiritually deepened and challenged by the ONA witness that God's love, Christ's Church, and the Spirit's power are for person's of every color, economic situation, age, ability, and ethnicity - whether lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

In this season when we are especially mindful of giving thanks, we extend our gratitude to every UCC person and setting, and our many ecumenical, interfaith, and secular friends for support of the ONA and wider lgbt/sgl-welcoming witness. The struggles for justice and peace continue. So let us be of good courage as, together in the Spirit, we continue to work for a church and world that are abundantly life-giving for all.

Blessings, Ann B. Day
Donna E. Enberg
ONA Program Staff
The UCC Coalition for LGBT Concerns