On February 2, my reflection at the Sunday morning service was based on Micah 6:6-8, which is comprised of a question and an answer. 

            Question:       What does the Lord require of you? 

            Answer:         to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God.

As with many profound sayings, they are simply worded but difficult to accomplish.  The reflection focused on doing justice, and in particular, welcoming.  We all like to think that we are welcoming of others, open to all people.  But are we really?  One way to determine how welcoming we are is to embark on the educational process of becoming an Affirming congregation.

Within the United Church of Canada, an Affirming Ministry is a congregation, presbytery, conference, educational institution and other ministry that has publicly declared their commitment to inclusion and justice for all people, regardless of sexual orientations, gender identities, appearance, culture, class, age, race, social economic status, ability/disability … the list goes on. 

The Affirming Ministry Program began in 1991 as a network of United Church congregations that publicly affirmed and supported people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.  On February 26, 1995, Augustine United Church in Winnipeg became the first Affirming Congregation in the United Church. The last time I checked the Affirming Ministries web site, there were 83 congregations, 4 educational centres, 4 educational institutions, and 8 presbyteries and conferences who were recognized as Affirming Ministries. 

Maritime Conference embarked on this educational process at its May 2013 annual meeting.  Chignecto Presbytery started on this process last fall.

What does the process look like?  There is a document entitled Open Hearts: Resources for Affirming Ministries in The United Church of Canada to help guide the process.  The first step is education, to become aware of what becoming an Affirming congregation actually involves.  It means talking to local groups.  It means gathering together to discuss such topics as “What the Bible says – and doesn’t say – about homosexuality.”  Through discussion, discernment and reflection, it means discovering what it means to be inclusive and justice seeking.  It means developing a vision statement and action plan that sets out our ongoing commitment to work for justice on a variety of issues.  A necessary part of the process is to submit vision statements and action plans to Affirm United to ensure that the criteria in their guidelines are met. The process can take one to two years.

As I mentioned at the beginning, Micah’s message may be easy to say, but it isn’t always easy to do.  What does the Lord require of you?

Val Chongva