Beyond "Welcoming": A New Model & Template for Modernizing Church Open & Affirming (ONA) Covenants

Over twenty years ago, hundreds of progressive faith communities - particularly within the United Church of Christ (UCC) - took groundbreaking steps by adopting Open and Affirming (ONA) declarations. In their era, these LGBTQ+ inclusive church statements were courageous line-in-the-sand proclamations: declaring that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals were loved by God and welcome in the life of the church.

However, theological understandings of human identity, grace, relationship diversity, and gender justice have expanded significantly since the early 2000s.

Today, many progressive congregations are discovering that their legacy ONA statements no longer reflect the full breadth of gender identity and expression, modern family structures, ethical non-monogamy (ENM), or the intersectional justice needs of their communities. If your church's ONA covenant hasn't been updated in a decade or more, it may be time for an intentional, courageous revision using a modern ONA statement template.

Below, we explore why legacy UCC ONA statements need modernizing, present a sample Open and Affirming covenant template for contemporary congregations, and break down why these structural updates matter for the future of LGBTQIA+ inclusive ministry.

Why Do Legacy ONA Statements Need an Upgrade?

1. Expanding Gender Identity AND Expression (Beyond the Binary)

   Early church inclusion statements typically focused on "sexual orientation" and occasionally mentioned "transgender people." Today, the UCC Open and Affirming Coalition and gender justice theologians emphasize that gender exists on a vibrant spectrum. Modern ONA covenants must explicitly affirm both gender identity and gender expression, creating explicit sanctuary for nonbinary, genderqueer, agender, intersex, Two-Spirit, and gender-expansive kin.
   

2. Affirming Relationship Diversity (ENM, Polyamory, & Family Formations)

   Historic church covenants often presumed that Christian relational health meant traditional monogamous marriage or nuclear family units. Contemporary progressive theology recognizes that God's love and grace operate in diverse relational structures. Including consensually/ethically non-monogamous (ENM/CNM) individuals, polyamorous relationships, single people, multi-generational households, and chosen families dismantles long-standing Christian shame surrounding non-traditional relationship styles.
   

3. From Passive "Welcoming" to Active "Covenanting"

   A "declaration of welcome" can easily become a static document framed like a hospitality sign. A living ONA covenant, by contrast, acknowledges historic spiritual harm through explicit confession, guarantees unrestricted access to church leadership, ordination, and sacraments, and commits the congregation to ongoing education and public justice advocacy.
   

4. Intersectional Justice in Progressive Faith Communities

   Oppression does not happen in isolation. Heteronormativity and cisnormativity intersect deeply with racism, ableism, neurodiversity, economic injustice, and immigration status. A contemporary church welcome statement frames LGBTQIA+ inclusion through an intersectional lens.

   
   

A Sample Open and Affirming (ONA) Covenant Template

Here is a proposed sample ONA covenant template that your congregation's ONA task force, church council, or social justice committee can adapt for study, discernment, and congregational vote:

Open and Affirming Covenant Template

[Church Name] - [City, State]

"So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us." - 1 Thessalonians 2:8"

In the beginning, God created humanity in the divine image, weaving a tapestry of vibrant diversity, and God called it very good." - Genesis 1:27, 31

[Church Name] strives to be a living sign and sanctuary of God's boundless love and extravagant grace. We celebrate the sacred worth of every person as an irreplaceable reflection of the divine (Imago Dei).

We affirm that God delights in the expansive spectrum of human identity, love, and relationship. Therefore, we declare ourselves to be an Open and Affirming Congregation in the United Church of Christ.

We Confess and Lament

• WE CONFESS that the Christian Church has historically preached and practiced judgment, exclusion, and spiritual violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, nonbinary, queer, intersex, asexual, and two-spirit (LGBTQIA2S+) individuals.

• WE CONFESS that religious dogmas have harmed people of diverse relationship styles and non-traditional family structures, exalting narrow norms over authentic, consensual, and loving human connections.

• WE CONFESS our past and present complicity - through silence, ignorance, fear, and systemic privilege - in perpetuating harm, heteronormativity, and cisnormativity within the Church and broader society.

• WE ASK God's forgiveness and grace as we actively work to unlearn prejudice, dismantle barriers, and repair trust.

We Affirm and Embrace

We affirm that every person's full authentic self is holy and beloved by God. We explicitly welcome, affirm, and celebrate people of:

• All Gender Identities and Expressions: including transgender, nonbinary, genderqueer, agender, intersex, Two-Spirit, and gender-expansive individuals.

• All Sexual Orientations: including lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, aromantic, queer, and questioning individuals.

• All Relationship Styles and Family Formations: including single persons, consensually/ethically non-monogamous (ENM/CNM) individuals and partners, polyamorous relationships, blended, multi-generational, and chosen families, and non-nuclear family structures.

• All Intersectional Identities: across every race, ethnicity, age, physical or mental ability, neurodiversity, mental health journey, citizenship or immigration status, economic circumstance, and theological background.

We Covenant and Commit

In response to Christ's call to radical hospitality and justice, we covenant together:

1. To Open Our Full Life and Leadership: We guarantee unrestricted access to the full communion, sacraments, membership, rites, employment, and lay/ordained leadership of our church to all people, regardless of identity or relationship structure.

2. To Practice Continuous Education and Care: We commit to ongoing learning, active listening, and intentional growth in understanding gender diversity, relationship ethics, intersectionality, and trauma-informed inclusion.

3. To Advocate for Justice: We promise to stand alongside marginalized communities in the public sphere - resisting legislative oppression, advocating for bodily autonomy, fighting racial and economic injustice, and defending human rights in our local community and beyond.

Our fervent prayer is that this congregation will always be a brave and sacred space where all people are enfolded in Christ's redemptive love, empowered to live authentically, and celebrated for who they are.

Key Theological Breakthroughs in This Modern ONA Model

When sharing this template with your church council, pastor, or ONA committee, highlight these three pivotal shifts in progressive theology:

1. Reframing Relational Ethics Around Consent & Care (Ethical Non-Monogamy)

   When churches discuss relationship diversity, ENM, and polyamory, questions naturally arise. The theological breakthrough of this model is shifting the focus of Christian relational ethics away from enforcing a two-person structural monopoly and toward relational ethics: honesty, mutual consent, emotional care, freedom from exploitation, and fidelity to covenants. Jesus consistently elevated intentional kinship and love over rigid institutional rules.
   

2. Moving from Passive "Welcome" to Shared Structural Power

   Notice the explicitly written guarantee regarding church leadership, ordination, and sacraments. It is one thing to invite marginalized folks to sit in the pews; it is another to explicitly state that transgender, nonbinary, or polyamorous individuals are welcome in the pulpit, on the church board, and officiating sacramental rites.
   

3. Confession and Repair for Spiritual Harm

   By starting with an explicit section of confession ("We Confess and Lament"), the covenant acknowledges that harm was done by religious institutions. For LGBTQIA+ survivors of spiritual abuse and religious trauma, starting with truth-telling is essential for genuine reconciliation and spiritual safety.
   

How to Update Your Church's ONA Statement: Next Steps

Updating an Open and Affirming covenant is not merely an administrative exercise; it is a spiritual renewal process for the entire congregation.

If your progressive church is considering an ONA update:

1. Form an ONA Task Force / Committee: Gather leaders representing diverse generations, gender identities, sexual orientations, and relationship experiences.

2. Host Educational Workshops: Run congregational forums on modern gender terminology (pronouns, nonbinary identities), neurodiversity in faith communities, and ethical non-monogamy (ENM) before holding formal votes.

3. Frame It as Ongoing Discipleship: Remind the congregation that covenanting with God and one another is a journey of continuous unlearning, expanding, and loving.

How does your congregation's current ONA statement hold up? Is it time for your faith community to step into a wider horizon of inclusion and justice?