Open & Affirming (ONA)

Open & Affirming (ONA)

Open and Affirming (ONA) is the United Church of Christ’s (UCC) designation for congregations, campus ministries, and other bodies in the UCC which make a public covenant of welcome into their full life and ministry to all persons.

Our ONA Statement

At a special congregational meeting on February 21, 2010, the Monroe Congregational Church, United Church of Christ became an open and affirming congregation by vote of the membership. The text of our statement is as follows:

Resolved:

1. Monroe Congregational Church is an open and affirming congregation, welcoming all who earnestly seek faith and fellowship in Christ to share in the life, leadership, ministry, membership, fellowship, worship sacraments, responsibilities, blessings and joys of our church. We invite and welcome into our community persons of every age, race, ability, economic and social status, nationality, faith background, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, marital standing and family structure.
2. By adoption of this resolution, Monroe Congregational Church declares itself an Open and Affirming church. The Moderator is directed to communicate this resolution on behalf of the congregation to the Fairfield East Association, the Connecticut Conference, and the ONA Program Office of the UCC Coalition for LGBT Concerns, requesting that Monroe Congregational Church be listed publicly as an Open and Affirming (ONA) congregation in the UCC, in accordance with procedures defined by the coalition.

The Monroe Congregational Church is publicly listed as an ONA congregation in the United Church of Christ.

ONA Resources:
Open & Affirming in the UCC
Open & Affirming Coalition in the United Church of Christ
Our Whole Lives
Institute for Welcoming Resources