Maquoketa United Church of Christ
Open and Affirming Statement
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Approved by consensus of the Open and Affirming Task Force September 9, 2014, approved for recommendation to the congregation by the council at its Oct. 14, 2014 meeting, approved by congregational vote on Dec. 14, 2014.
The United Church of Christ in Maquoketa, Iowa, is an Open and Affirming congregation. With our national church, we declare: No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here. We affirm the God-given dignity of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) persons, and we open our doors and hearts to their full participation in the life of this congregation.
We acknowledge and regret our past failure to be fully supportive of LGBTQ persons and the pain this failure may have caused. Before adopting this statement, we have prayerfully considered the biblical witness, as well as current scientific information and testimonies from LGBTQ persons and their families. From this process, we conclude that Christianity’s historic rejection of these persons is not God’s will for us today.
We understand that faith is a journey we take both individually and together, and we welcome all persons to journey with us in our worship, ministries and mission.
Task Force members include: Delaney Clark, Ronelle Clark, Cee Davis, David Manning, Karen Manning, Karen McClintock, Sue Sandberg, Bonnie Schwenker, Ann Sohl, Helen Stewart, and Pastor Stephanie. Emma Thiel Manning and Elizabeth Manning served as resource persons during the summer of 2013.
The statement above, along with basic information about our congregation and a description of the process of the adoption of the statement, will be sent to the UCC Coalition for LGBT Concerns.