"We believe Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer are children of God. We believe the United Church of Hyde Park will be one of the best open and affirming congregations for everyone. Let us work together. Join us."

Open and Affirming Statement
​of the United Church of Hyde Park

​Our congregation behaves like the disciple of Christ; therefore, we declare this Statement.

Our congregation welcomes, celebrates and affirms diversity.
We are persons of different ages, education, races, ethnicities, abilities, economic circumstance and nationalities.

We believe the time has come to join other congregations responding to the call of the 15th General Synod (1985) of the United Church of Christ to be open and affirming to all people, including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.

We also recognize and endorse the Statement of More Light Presbyterians, which is “Following the risen Christ, and seeking to make the Church a true community of hospitality, the mission of More Light Presbyterians is to work for the full participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people in the life, ministry and witness of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and in society.”

We also recognize and endorse the Statement of Reconciling Ministries Network, which is “We celebrate God’s gift of diversity and value the wholeness made possible in community equally shared and shepherded by all. We welcome and affirm people of every gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, who are also of every age, race, ethnicity, physical and mental ability, level of education, and family structure, and of every economic, immigration, marital, and social status, and so much more. We acknowledge that we live in a world of profound social, economic, and political inequities. As followers of Jesus, we commit ourselves to the pursuit of justice and pledge to stand in solidarity with all who are marginalized and oppressed.”

We acknowledge that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people have often been scorned and devalued as persons and discriminated against, both in society at large and by many denominations and congregations; and therefore we affirm the following:

----- we believe that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people share with all others the worth that comes from being children of God;

----- we welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people to join our congregation and to participate fully in the life, liturgy, spirituality, employment and leadership of our congregation;

----- we acknowledge the existence of ignorance, fear and hated predicated on differences in sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, not only in our culture, bur also within our denominations and many of our congregations; and we therefore covenant not to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation; but, at the same time, we seek to include, welcome and support those whose personal or religious convictions differ from these views on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression;

----- we seek to address the needs and advocate the concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people in our congregation, in our denominations and in our society; and would actively encourage our three denominations, both nationally and in all their various instrumentalities, to adopt policies consistent with this statement; and

----- we join together as a covenantal community to celebrate and share the reassurance that we are worthy recipients of the love and grace of God.
 
January 30, 2022
* Read the Statement in Korean (link)
"그리스도의 제자로 행동하는 우리 교회는 이와 같이 선언합니다. "

* Read the Statement in Mandarin (link)
"海德園聯合教會–開放與支持聲明"
2022 Chicago Pride Parade and Pre-Pride Worship Service.

Affirming Ministries at United

2022
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).
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.

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.
November 13, 2022. We hosted Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) and Candle Lightening Service. First time in our congregational history.
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).
June 12, 2022. We celebrated our achievement of becoming (and continuing) Open and Affirming congregation.
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).
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​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. 
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).

We are United.

Our Information

Office Hours: M-F: 10 am to 2 pm
1448 East 53rd Street
Chicago, IL 60615
(773) 363-1620
uchp1448@yahoo.com
Thursday 11:00 am (online)
    --Contemporary Issues Class 
Sunday 9:30 am (hybrid)
    --Lectionary Bible Study 
Sunday 11:00 am (in-person)
    --Youth Connect (2nd and 4th week)
Sunday 11:00 am (hybrid)
  --In-person worship service   
  --live on YouTube / Facebook
Associated with the Open and Affirming Coalition, Reconciling Ministries Networks, and More Light Presbyterians. Member of Chicago Coalition of Welcoming Churches.​
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