Affirming Ministries at United (since 1999)

1999 / 2001

• March 27, 2001 - A Task Force was formed to host a series of educational classes, conversations and explorations the "open and affirming" policy development.
• 2001 - On Annual Congregational Report and Meeting, the document "Toward an Open and Affirming United Church of Hyde Park - Conversations on Welcoming Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered People" was submitted by Outreach Committee, and adopted by the Church Council.
• 2000 - On Annual Congregational Meeting, the internal survey shows (1) 93% of the people completing the survey do not think homosexual orientation is a sin, (2) 96% of the people completing the survey think homosexuals are entitled to all of the civil rights others are entitled to, (3) 90% of the people completing the survey know at least one homosexuals, and (4) 79% of the people completing the survey do not think the church should adopt any restriction toward homosexuals.
• 1999 - Outreach Committee was assigned the task of drafting the confidential questionnaire to the congregation, to know the concerns from various denominational backgrounds.

2016

• An internal survey shows that (1) 100% of the people completing the survey felt the UCHP should adopt a policy that openly welcomes LGBTQ people to attend our church, (2) 94% openly welcome them as church members, and (3) 83% of those completing the survey believe that LGBTQ people are entitled to all the civil rights to which others are entitled.​

2021

• Dec 13 - "Collaboration beyond limits - conversation with Rev. Britt Cox" (Zoom event) has 8 folks tuned in. "What does ONA/RMN look like, what does that mean, and what are the needs of the LGBTQ+ in Hyde Park?" were the core topics we discussed (video recap).
• Nov 28 - "Open and Affirming Statement" was presented to the whole congregation. This Statement was drafted by Open and Affirming Team (Nov 1) and approved by the Church Council (Nov 23). 
• Nov 21 - "Open and Affirming in-person concert with the Wild Blue Ukulele Orchestra" has 35+ folks presence. The progress of the Affirming Ministries was debriefed during the intermission. We had a great time!
• November 8 - "Layperson led big movement - our Open and Affirming experience" has 14 folks tuned in. (video recap)
• October 11 - "Our Lives Matter - Living LGBTQ+" (Zoom event) has 12 folks tuned in. (video recap)
• September 26 - The banner in the sanctuary was upgraded from "fishers of men and women" to "fishers of people" to express our interpretation of Matthew 4:19 is  from progressiveness to fabulousness.
• September 13 - "Those Ambiguous Scriptures" (Zoom event) has 16 folks tuned in. This event illustrated different interpretations of the so-called anti-gay scriptures (clobber texts).  (video recap)
• August 24 - The Church Council approved to join Chicago Coalition of Welcoming Churches (CCWC).
• August 22 - ONA Core Team and ONA project were announced by the senior pastor, Rev. Charlene Hill, during Sunday Worship.
• August 11 -  ONA Core Team met and formed.
• July 27 - The Church Council approved to begin the official verification of Affirming Ministries in three denominations that UCHP affiliates with, executed by ONA Core Team. They are (1) Open and Affirming Coalition (UCC), (2) More Light Presbyterians (PCUSA), and (3) Reconciling Ministries Network (UMC).

2022

• November 13, Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) and Candle Lightening Service (link to the video). The service program is available here (link). (* Resources for Observing TDOR,
  Trans & Diverse Genders Working Group, MCC, https://mccchurch.org/files/2017/11/TDOR-Toolkit.pdf )
• November 12, HBO Documentary, The Trans List, and our responses event was held in the church library,
• July 26 - The Church Council approved to publicizing the inclusive wedding ceremonies on July 26. The wedding page is now available (link to the inclusive wedding page). 
• July 1 - Rainbow flag is now at the main entrance (link to the photo)!
• June 26 - We participated in the Pre-Pride Worship Service (recap link) and Chicago Pride Parade with the Chicago Coalition of Welcoming Churches, officially for the first time!
• June 20 - A rainbow flag is now by the church main entrance (link to the photo)!
• June 12 - Open and Affirming Celebration was held in the fellowship hall (link to the video recap).
• May 24 - Mandarin version of the Open and Affirming Statement is available on the website (link) during Asian American Heritage Month.
• May 17 - Korean version of the Open and Affirming Statement is available on the website (link) during Asian American Heritage Month.
• Feb 23 - We received the official certificate from Reconciling Ministries Networks.
• Feb 14 - We received the official certificate from Open and Affirming Coalition, United Church of Christ. We are #1744 in this affirming community!
• Feb 11 - We received the official recognition letter from More Light Presbyterians.
• Jan 30 - The Congregational Meeting unanimously passed "Open and Affirming Statement of United Church of Hyde Park." (download PDF)
• Jan 10 - ONA Team approved the amended Statement to resonate with the church's Guiding Vision, by adding "Our congregation behaves like the disciple of Christ; therefore, we declare this Statement." to the beginning of the Statement.
• Jan 8 - The anonymous intention poll shows 100% of the folks who completed the poll will vote "Yes" on this Statement. The Statement will be on the congregational agenda, which will take place on January 30.

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2022 Chicago Pride Parade and Pre-Pride Worship Service.

Event recap

Some folks said there are six scriptures in the Bible that caused controversial understanding regarding LGBTQ issues. We will run through all those ambiguous scriptures via historical lens, text criticism, and form criticism.
Speaker: Ryn Thelen (she/her/ella).  Download Slides (PDF).
* Listen on Spotify (external link) or Apple Podcast (external link).

What are the challenges of living as a LGBTQ+ Christian? In this Zoom event, two of our friends will share their stories from their intersectional contexts. You will reaffirm the importance of being an Open and Affirming congregation and how/what we can move forward.
Storyteller: Myles Markham (he/him or they/them) and Rev. Jon Gilbert Martinez (él, he, him, his).
* Listen on Spotify (external link) or Apple Podcast (external link).

Guest speaker: Frank Schneider (Sr.) was a member of UCHP between 1968 and 1993, now a member of Church of the Three Crosses, a Federated Church (UCC & UMC), in the Old Town-Lincoln Park neighborhood on the north side.
​* Listen on Spotify (external link) or Apple Podcast (external link).

​Guest musicians: The Wild Blue Ukulele Orchestra is comprised of both amateur and professional musicians, all ukulele enthusiasts. The group features the full range of ukuleles and performs orchestrated arrangements of songs across a broad spectrum of genres, including original compositions. The Wild Blues seek to share their joy of the ukulele through developing new repertoire, fun and engaging performances and community outreach. 

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Guest speaker: The Rev. Britt Cox is an ordained Elder in the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church. She serves as pastor at Church of the Three Crosses, a UCC and UMC congregation located in the Old Town neighborhood of Chicago. Britt is a member of the Northern Illinois delegation to General Conference and Jurisdictional Conference and has served in a number of organizing capacities to bring legislation for full LGBTQ+ inclusion. She also has served as an organizer for Reconciling Ministries Network and has walked with churches as the enter into the Reconciling process.

* Listen on Spotify (link) and Apple Podcast (link).

June 12, 2022. We celebrated our achievement of becoming (and continuing) Open and Affirming congregation.

November 13, 2022. We hosted Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) and Candle Lightening Service. First time in our congregational history.