The following document is the Open and Affirming Resolution adopted at the 74th Annual Meeting of Country Club Congregational United Church of Christ on January 28, 1997. It has been filed away in the church archives for nearly 10 years during which time our congregation has grown beyond the words found herein. The Open and Affirming Task Force has begun a process to update this resolution to include transgendered persons. The welcome we all experience in this place from day to day, and week to week, is just one of the many blessings from an extravagant God, who is Still Speaking...

STATEMENT OF OPENNESS, INCLUSION AND AFFIRMATION OF GAY, LESBIAN, AND BI-SEXUAL PERSONS

God calls us to love one another. When we do so, we are being faithful to God´s self-disclosure in Jesus Christ, who personifies the new humanity. Knowing and acknowledging who we are is basic to the faith encounter with Jesus Christ, who sees, calls, and loves each of us as we are. It is as we struggle to recognize our identity that we begin to grow into the persons we will become in Christ. Made in God´s image, as persons loved by God, we are called to fully accept ourselves and our sexuality. Recognizing that our Christian faith is the foundation of our values in human relationships, we envision a community in which each and every person will grow up knowing, enjoying and having confidence in him/herself as a sexual being. Our sexuality is a gift of God which enriches our lives and deeply touches the reality of our own and other´s humanity; it is one channel through which we experience God´s abundant life.

Because gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons are often scorned by society and alienated from the church, we feel an obligation to state boldly and clearly that they are welcomed and affirmed as persons of dignity and worth within the life of this congregation.

Therefore, joining General Synod XV, July 2, 1985 of the United Church of Christ, and other congregations of our denomination, the Country Club Congregational United Church of Christ declares itself to be an Open and Affirming Church for all people, including lesbian, gay, and bisexual people.

We believe that people of all sexual orientations share the worth that comes from being unique and beloved children of God.

We welcome lesbian, gay, and bisexual people to join our congregation in the same spirit of Christian discipleship and in the same manner used in the acceptance of any new members.

We recognize the presence of ignorance, fear and hatred in our church and in our culture, and covenant to not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

We seek to include and support those who, because of this fear and prejudice, find themselves in exile from a spiritual community.

We seek to address the needs and advocate the concerns of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in our church and in our society.

We pledge ourselves to support and honor committed partnerships of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people, recognizing the difficulty of maintaining such partnerships in the absence of social validation and legal frameworks which do support heterosexual unions.

We expect and encourage people of all sexual orientations to share their talents, energy, and gifts in the general life, spirituality, liturgy, employment, and leadership of our congregation.

Country Club Congregational United Church of Christ further declares itself open to all persons, affirming of each person without regard to race, nationality, gender, age, sexual orientation, marital status, physical limitations, or mental ability.

We join together as a covenantal community, to share, to celebrate, and to witness to the fact that we are all created in God´s love, reconciled through Christ´s love and empowered by the Holy Spirit´s love.

Further, the Country Club Congregational United Church of Christ will:

• Implement programs that will involve members of the congregation in a serious study of their own sexuality.
• Develop and implement strategies to address homophobia and sexism in all its ministries and programs.
• Develop educational programs in church and community to further understanding and respect for gay, lesbian, and bisexual people.
• Condemn all acts of discrimination, intimidation, harassment, and violence (physical, emotional, social, political, and legal) against persons because of their sexual orientation, just as we condemn such acts against people because of race, nationality, age, gender, marital status, physical limitations, or mental abilities.
• Support guaranteed civil protections for gay, lesbian, and bisexual people in employment, housing, and child custody, enabling more of them to report homophobic crimes and to seek legal redress.