WHY ONA?
Why are we ONA? Well, Beloved, the main reason is because this UCC distinction lives into our faith – our welcoming statement – our purpose – – and our mission. It lives into the love each of us reveal everyday. However, to fully understand why ONA, we may wish to look at what other Christian communities are doing or saying. For, most people do not know the difference between the UCC and the Baptist, Methodist, or any other church denomination which follows Christ. Most people simply see all Christians as the same.
In May of 2022, our congregation voted to become an Open and Affirming Congregation. Below is the announcement from the Open and Affirming Coalition of the United Church of Christ.
Welcome the newest ONA church in the New Hampshire Conference!
Dear ONA family: Please join us in welcoming First Congregational Church in Salem, NH as a newly-certified Open and Affirming congregation! As ONA church #1764, First Congregational is now part of the largest and fastest-growing LGBTQ-affirming church movement in the world! We’re proud of FCC, and grateful to the church’s leadership for the hard work that led to this milestone in their history. The congregation will be added to the ONA map at openandaffirming.org/find. We’ve notified the UCC’s Yearbook office to assure the map of UCC congregations at ucc.org/church-finder also reflects their ONA status. Please join the entire Open and Affirming movement in celebrating First Congregational, and in prayer that their ONA covenant will be a blessing to their LGBTQ+ neighbors, and inspire new passion and energy for living the Gospel! Blessings,
| The Rev. Andy Lang Executive Director ed@openandaffirming.org Pronouns: he, him, his | The Rev. Derek Terry President office@openandaffirming.org Pronouns: he, him, his |
ONA Team Recycling Project
The ONA Team brainstormed ways to share with the greater community that we are now an Open and Affirming congregation. As a committee, we strive to purposefully embrace and promote that our church is a welcoming place of worship for all. We have started small by first adding our Open and Affirming Welcoming statement to the church website. In June, a small garden flag was displayed, and a banner now is displayed in Fellowship Hall.
We asked, how can we share this with the community in a way that is reflective of our ONA Welcoming statement- “All are worthy of God’s grace. No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.” How about a park bench in the front of the church? A bench:
- Is a symbol for friendship
- Creates a sense of belonging
- Lends a place for quiet contemplation
- Is a welcoming spot for conversation with a friend
What a wonderful representation of our church family as we are a safe place for all to worship. To achieve the goal of installing a park bench, the ONA Committee, supported by the VLT, was proud to sponsor the NexTrex Recycling Program. Through this program, we helped the environment and enough recyclable plastics were collected for Trex to donate a park bench. Members of the ONA Committee and the congregation then painted the bench. Above is the result. Plans are in the works to work with NexTrex again to get a second bench.
Pride Month
As an Open & Affirming Congregation, we have participated in the Windham Pride Festival since 2023. Below are a couple of pictures taken from Windham Pride 2025
