Purposes
To raise awareness and dialogue surrounding LGBTQ+ community
To work against anti-LGBTQ laws and policies in VA and nation-wide
To provide support and social engagement for LGBTQ+ people in our congregation and the wider community
We meet on the fourth Monday of each month at 7:30pm on Zoom to make progress on accomplishing our goals. Every quarter, we hold a Chosen Family Brunch on a Saturday morning for all LGBTQ+ members, friends, and allies. We also coordinate with the Women's Ministry Book Club to offer discussions of books by and about LGBTQ people. We serve the LGBTQ community at Arise Campus Ministry at George Mason University by providing them meals on the third Wednesday of each month. We coordinate participation in the DC Pride Parade in June. We partner with the Justice and Witness Action Network in Virginia to speak with our representatives about upcoming legislation. And much more! Please join this vibrant community to make a difference for LGBTQ folks in our corner of the world. You may contact us at ona@lrucc.org.
Little River United Church of Christ is committed to living out the Open and Affirming Statement we adopted in 2001.
The statement reads:
Little River United Church of Christ is an open and affirming church, embracing diversity in our congregation and community, and affirming the dignity and worth of every person as created in the image of God. We continue to honor our founding principle that discrimination is incompatible with Christ's Gospel of unconditional love
We welcome into full membership and participation in the Body of Christ persons of every race, language, age, gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, economic circumstance, marital status, and faith background.
We affirm and celebrate all loving and committed relationships.
We acknowledge the history of the institutional church in condemning and excluding gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgendered persons, and in condoning such discrimination by its silence. We commit ourselves to work diligently to end such oppression and discrimination.
Following the example of Jesus Christ, we hereby declare ourselves to be an Open and Affirming church.
Open and Affirming congregations in the United Church of Christ publicly declare that people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions are celebrated in the full life and ministry of the church. Intense debate about the place of LGBTQ+ people in our society continues, and widespread discrimination and hostility remains a reality. In the midst of this, we proclaim that God’s love, Christ’s church, and the Spirit’s power are for everyone! We march annually in DC’s Pride Parade, celebrate Open and Affirming Sunday, and support our LGBTQ+ members and friends in their daily walks.
Our commitment to being an Open and Affirming congregation means that we are always living between memory and hope – memory of where we started and how far we have come, and hope of bringing words and actions of healing, health, and change in our own congregation and in the world.
In January 2012 our congregation adopted a resolution urging support for Equal Marriage Rights for All.
Shelli Poe, Little River’s senior pastor, marches in the 2023 capital pride parade alongside other church members.
History
Our open and Affirming Journey
In 1985, the General Synod of the United Church of Christ passed a resolution encouraging congregations to become Open and Affirming. There was, at that time, little awareness of the issues at Little River, and LGBTQ members and friends had limited visibility in the congregation. From 1999 to 2002, Tom Collohan served as choir director and was known to be gay. (Other choir directors to follow were also LGBTQ.) In December 1999, Pastor Verne Arens delivered a sermon called “Breaking the Silence,” in which he addressed the issue of LGBTQ justice and preached that silence does not bring civil rights to the oppressed.
In 2000, Julie and Mark Holm wrote a letter to the church leadership asking them to consider leading the congregation in becoming an Open and Affirming community. In February or March of that year, Pastor Verne and Brian Payne (moderator) met with Westmoreland UCC to receive advice on the process. Shortly thereafter in 2000, on recommendation by the Board of Deacons, the Church Council authorized the Moderator “to establish a committee to guide a period of study, reflection, and prayer on what it would mean to adopt a statement on being an open and affirming church.” The committee consisted of 13 people who studied scripture, collected Open and Affirming statements from six Potomac Association congregations, invited outside speakers, organized listening and discussion sessions, and began drafting many iterations of a statement for LRUCC adoption. Several films, presentations, and sermons were delivered to the congregation. In October of 2001, those present at a special congregational meeting adopted the Open and Affirming policy statement that is shown above.
From 2001 to 2009, there was little action or visibility of the Open and Affirming committee at Little River aside from the church’s provision of free space for meetings of a local PFLAG chapter, several LGBTQ folks joining the church, and annual participation in the DC Pride March. In 2009, the ONA group was re-energized for a time due partially to Bob and Ann Lingo’s efforts, and in 2010 the request for ONA to be represented on Church Council was granted unanimously. In 2012, the UCC’s “Equal Marriage Rights for All” resolution was approved overwhelmingly at the annual meeting.
Reviving our Open and Affirming Ministry
We now find ourselves about 10 years later, and the time is ripe to reinvigorate our Open and Affirming Ministry. The astounding number of anti-LGBTQ bills that have been introduced in the last few years attests to the fact that although we’ve taken a few steps forward, we’re now seeing efforts to move the country quite a few paces back.
In 2023, we marched in the DC Pride Parade with other churches from the Central Atlantic Conference. We also celebrated Pride Sunday at Little River with great participation from many in our congregation. In our fall Tuesday Discussions on Feminist Theology, we read the work of a pioneering lesbian theologian (Mary Daly) as well as bits and pieces from a contemporary queer theologian (Marcella Althaus-Reid). In spring 2024, we held Tuesday Discussions of Queer Theology.
We are now providing community events for LGBTQ+ people and are look beyond our own doors in supporting the wider LGBTQ+ community. We have used the UCC’s ONA Coalition (https://openandaffirming.org/ona/)resources to evaluate where Little River stands at present in terms of ONA activities and identity, and we have begun to research areas where we might improve and take action at Little River.
Little River marched in the 2024 DC Pride Parade!
At the Fairfax City Pride Festival, we gave away crocheted hearts offering messages of affirmation.
Check out our recent and upcoming events!
Further Resources
Open and Affirming Coalition of the United Church of Christ
LGBTQIA+ Ministries of the United Church of Christ
Writings from our pastor:
We all have a part to play. What is yours? Contact the Open and Affirming Committee with thoughts and suggestions.