Open and Affirming Covenant

We, the members of First Congregational Church in Williamstown, Massachusetts, recognizing our need and desire to be a household of God where people may enter, be welcomed and grow in the body of Christ, covenant with God and one another to receive and accept persons as members, employees and friends without fear, prejudice or discrimination due to race, gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith tradition, nationality, marital status, physical condition, or financial situation.
Jesus calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mk.12:31); to do for others as we would have them do for us (Matt.7:12); and to not be judgmental or contemptuous of others (Matt.7:1, Lk.18:9-14). As we seek to embody this character of love and accceptance, we further realize in our lives the proclamation of Christ we claim whenever we celebrate the Sacrament of Communion: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind; to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Lk.4:18-19)
(By vote of the congregation on October 4, 1992)