Open and Affirming: a designation for congregations, campus ministries and other bodies in the United Church of Christ which make public statements of welcome into their full life and ministry to persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

In 1985, the Fifteenth General Synod of the United Church of Christ passed a resolution “Calling on UCC Congregations to Covenant as Open and Affirming”.

Members of our church community, aware of the General Synod resolution, of the Maine Conference action and of the increasing number of local UCC churches becoming ONA requested that First Parish, too, begin a process of study and discernment. The Church Council responded by creating an ONA committee. For some months, facilitated by the ONA Committee, the congregation has been invited and encouraged to participate actively in the discernment of what it would mean in the life of First Parish to declare itself as Open and Affirming. The ultimate goal has been to develop and ONA statement for the congregation’s approval. We have reached that goal.

The ONA Committee offers for your prayerful consideration the following statement:

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:28.

We, the community of First Parish Congregational Church, United Church of Christ of Yarmouth, Maine, declare ourselves to be an Open and Affirming congregation.

We believe that as one people of God, we are called to be open to and affirming of all God’s children, including people of any race, gender, age, physical and mental ability, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, marital status, family structure, gender identity and expression, national and religious background.

We invite all people to participate in the full life and ministry of the church, including but not limited to: sacraments of baptism and communion, rites of confirmation and ceremonies of marriage.

We believe that in diversity is our strength, that being part of something larger than ourselves increases out faith, that inclusiveness brings us closer to following Christ’s call to love one another, as we love ourselves.

As an Open and Affirming church, we celebrate all relationships founded on the principles of God’s love. We embrace the responsibility to work against all forms of discrimination and to promote the understanding of God’s inclusiveness in this community or faith.

On March 21 there will be a congregational meeting to discuss this statement. Among other questions, we might ask if it reflects who we are at First Parish and what God is calling First Parish to be. There will be a motion offered asking the congregation to vote on the following question” “Are you ready to vote on this statement at the Annual Meeting of First Parish on June 20, 2010?” The answer to that question will determine the next steps of the ONA process.

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ONA Family Forum

Following worship on Sunday, February 21, 48 members and friends of First Parish Church shared a powerful and moving 90 minutes together as four members of our church family shared their personal experiences of being gay and lesbian and of having gay loved ones.

The Family Forum was the latest in a series of events planned as part of the Open and Affirming process as First Parish prayerfully considers whether to seek ONA status, the United Church of Christ’s designations for congregation that welcome gay, lesbian, transgendered, and bisexual people into the full life and ministry of the church.

One member spoke of the torment and discrimination his brother had faced as gay man and likened discrimination based on sexual orientation to discrimination based on race, concluding that as far as he was concerned it was “a no brainer” that a Christian community would and should welcome all God’s children.
A mother spoke of coming to terms with having a gay son. She stressed that ONA status was important to her because she wanted to be sure her son, and others who may seem “different”, would be welcome at First Parish with the full knowledge and acceptance of all that they are.

Another member, who has been in a loving and committed relationship with another woman for 35 years, spoke of her early years of activism and of settling in Maine because “it is a good place to be different.” She stressed that ONA status signals that a church is safe and welcoming not only to gay, lesbian, transgendered and bisexual people but to people who are struggling with their sexuality.

One of First Parish’s dearest friends told of trying to come to terms with his own homosexuality and of not being able to do so safely within his own community of faith.

When the four forum panelists finished speaking, Moderator Peter Haynes expressed the dominant reaction in the Chapel in one word – “Wow!”
There then ensued an open discussion during which many more First Parish members shared their stories of affirming gay and lesbian friends.

Some members have wondered why First Parish Church has embarked on the ONA process given that we gave our overwhelming consent in 1999 for our pastors to perform covenanting ceremonies for same sex couples. What many who attended the ONA Family Forum came to understand, not just in our minds but in our hearts, is that the 1999 decision was to allow our pastors to do something they felt call upon to do; the ONA decision will be about us.

Becoming an ONA church, as many UCC churches in Maine have done, is not just a matter of how we treat others, it is a matter of how we treat ourselves. Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” The ONA process asks the members of First Parish Church of Yarmouth, Maine, to answer the question, “Who do we say we are?”

On March 21, here will be a meeting after worship to discuss the ONA statement that members of the ONA Committee have drafted and to seek consensus about whether we are ready to take a vote on becoming an ONA church. If we are, a vote will be scheduled later in the year. If we are not, we will consider how to continue the ONA discussion.

Respectfully submitted,
Edgar Beem, FPC Clerk & ONA Committee Secretary

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It is the time of year when the Trustees begin to build the budget for the July 1, 2010-June 30, 2011 fiscal year.
As a result of our congregational meeting in January, when the almost 100 attendees confirmed the Trustees’ vision for the financial future of First Parish, the preliminary budget for the next year contains the following items:

1. An increase of $3,000.00 in the Building Fund to $12,000.00.

2. A line item of $12,000 for debt service on the existing Maine Bank & Trust line of credit. This may be reduced as payments come in to the Capital Campaign and is used to pay down the principal. Currently there remains an outstanding pledge balance of just over $90,000.00.

3. There has been a slight increase in the premium for building insurance and worker’s compensation premiums.

4. An increase of $1,000.00 for fuel. We were fortunate to have locked in a price of $2.129 for this fiscal year and will be watching prices carefully so we can lock in for the coming year.
We have asked the Stewardship Committee to raise $250,000 in pledges for the coming year to cover these expenses and this vision. Although this is the committee charged with providing the program for the annual campaign, it is important for the members and friends of First Parish to financially support the important mission and programs provided here.

The Trustees will be working on the budget at the February meeting with a plan to finalize these numbers.

Message from Stewardship

“Welcome Home” is the theme of our 2010 Stewardship Campaign. We hope that, like us, you do view First Parish as a home – one that some of us visit regularly and others only occasionally. And as at home where we take stock of our blessings, whether once a year at Thanksgiving or through daily prayer, it is time to reflect on all that First Parish means and offers to us and to our community. It is time to consider how we can support and participate in its mission.