Open & Affirming
Since 2009, our church has been officially Open and Affirming regarding the diversity of sexual orientations and gender identities that our God has seen fit to endow humanity.
Our church community has been deeply enriched by the participation, testimony, and leadership of LGBTQ+ people of faith. Our ministers joyfully officiate same-gender weddings.
We know that Christianity and the church has so often been a source of profound hurt for LGBTQ+ people. There is much to grieve and to repent. As a church, we humbly wish to be a source of healing and service. You are beloved by God just as God has made you. You are worthy of love, respect, and dignity.
Contact Us for more information.
Resources for an Open & Affirming Faith
The Open and Affirming Coalition of the United Church of Christ
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 persons of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions.
The Open and Affirming Coalition is celebrating its 40th anniversary! It was formed in 1985 after a historic vote of the UCC’s General Synod to declare the national setting Open and Affirming, a first among American Protestant denominations.
Transmission Ministry Collective is an online community of transgender and gender-expansive Christians committed to growing faith, supporting each other, and healing the world. They offer everything from text-based chat servers, to video-based support groups, to online Bible study, centered around affirming trans and gender-expansive Chrisitanity.
Q Christian Fellowship is a diverse community with varied backgrounds, cultures, theologies and denominations, drawn together through a love of Christ and a belief that every person is a beloved child of God. They offer resource, conferences, community groups, and courses for LGBTQ+ Christians and allies.
The Transgender Faith and Action Network (TFAAN) is a collective of trans people of faith who recognize the value of being connected to one another and providing mutual support. TFAAN exists not only to change policies and raise awareness, but also to provide spaces for trans folks to network and heal. They work in close collaboration with Trans Seminarian Leaders Cohort, and the Freedom Center for Social Justice
Open and Affirming Statement of Welcome
We, the members of the United Church of Christ at Valley Forge, in response to Christ’s Gospel of unconditional love and command to love one another, welcome into full participation, membership, and leadership, followers of Christ of every race, language, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability and economic or marital status. We commit ourselves to building a community of faith that reflects this welcome, recognizing the call on our lives to submit ourselves to the transforming Spirit of God. Relying on God’s grace, we actively seek to extend Christ’s welcome into our worship, our prayer life, and our relationships with each other and the wider community.
(Adopted by Congregational Vote, September 2009)
