Welcome FCC Coralville!
FCC Coralville, in Coralville, Iowa, formalized its Open & Affirming welcome on June 22. We welcome FCC Coralville as a part of our Open & Affirming ministries!
From Senior Pastor Rev. Jill Cameron Michel and Board Moderator Laurie Dahms:
“It has been a journey not of years, but of decades, that has brought us here. There is a woman in the congregation who tells her story of moving to Iowa City twenty years ago. Even before her partner joined her here, she began the journey of finding a church. She visited First Christian one morning and hear our then pastor stand at the communion table and say, ‘All are welcome. Gay and straight…’ She went home, called her partner and said, “I think I’ve found our church.” In the years since our congregation has celebrated same-gender unions and, when Iowa made it legal, marriages. We have welcomed LGBTQ people into leadership and supported their families. We have had conversations among leaders. We have participated regularly in our local PRIDE celebration the last few years. Meanwhile, it was not until the last couple of years that we decided we needed to have a congregation wide process of declaring ourselves Open & Affirming.
On March 30, 2019, we took a group of five people to the Becoming an Inclusive Church workshop. We then called together a team of people to lead our congregation through a process. Through worship, study, and sharing circles, we gave many opportunities for people at FCC to engage the conversation. These conversations also helped our team craft a welcome statement that felt faithful to who we are. The welcome statement was shared, people were invited to small group conversations around it, then the team finalized the language. It went to the board on August 13, 2019, and then the congregation voted to approve the welcome statement on September 29, 2019. Since then we have also adopted a non-discrimination policy which the board approved at the February 18, 2020 meeting.
Our welcome statement is proudly displayed on our website homepage as well as being placed on newsletters and bulletins from time to time to remind us of it. We had contracted with a local firm to create a video for us based on the welcome statement, but that work has been delayed due to COVID-19.
Our intention is to both encourage members to join AllianceQ and to take an annual offering for AllianceQ each June in conjunction with our participation in PRIDE.
While it has been in our DNA for some time, we are excited to finally be officially wearing the designation of an O & A Disciples congregation.”
FCC Coralville, thank you for sharing God’s love and welcome with all!
No matter where you are on the journey, you’ll find suggestions for increasing welcome. It is a graceful process, tailored for each context:
- learn how to become an Open & Affirming church or ministry,
- build an inclusive online worship experience (new resource!), or
- widen the welcome, being an Open & Affirming ministry.
Have you started the process? Consider continuing your journey toward O&A. Not sure where you’re at in the journey? Connect with our Executive Director + Minister or a regional team member in your area. Start here or email Rev. Guthrie Loy.