St. Louis Area Open & Affirming Congregations of the United Church of Christ

​Rainbow Comma T-Shirts

Gateway ONA now offers year-round online t-shirt sales! We have a RedBubble account where you can order the classic rainbow comma logo, or the UCC's new "3 Great Loves" rainbow comma logo. Standard shipping is 5-9 days, the products are delivered straight to your home, and we have all sorts of shirt styles as well as mugs and other items!

Classic Rainbow Comma

"3 Great Loves" Rainbow Comma

We are selling the shirts at cost, so Gateway ONA makes no profit on them. You pay only for your shirt and its shipping cost.

Due to limitations in Redbubble's interface, some of the shirt styles allow you to select white or grey background colors. We ask that you choose a "rainbow" color as the background color of your shirt. This is both so that the white writing on the shirt is readable, and so that we look colorful in the PrideFest parade.

Thank you, and please contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

Gateway ONA Resource line
​(314) 690 - 1435

2020 Convocation!

Open & Affirming:
​Life Changing and Life Saving

Gateway Open and Affirming welcomes you to our ninth annual Convocation!

Registration begins at 8:30 AM
Coffee, Pastries and Fruit will be Available
Displays will be Open

Registration $20 per person/includes lunch or
$120 per church with 6 or more attending

If you are an Open and Affirming congregation, talking about Open and Affirming or thinking about starting the conversation, if you want to explore how to be effective allies, there will be something for you and your church. Come be in conversation with others, learn what it means to be Open and Affirming and how to fully express extravagant welcome to all God’s children.

Open and Affirming (ONA) is the United Church of Christ's (UCC) designation for congregations and other settings of the UCC which make a public covenant of welcome into their full life and ministry to persons of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions.

There will be some new workshops and some new leaders as well as some returning leaders.

This year, we welcome Rev. Dr. Sarah Lund as our preacher/keynoter. Dr. Lund is the United Church of Christ’s Minister for Disabilities and Mental Health Justice.

Our worship leader will be Rev. Tom Ressler, pastor at St. Paul United Church of Christ in St. Louis.

In addition to the workshops, we will have the Eden Theological Seminary Bookstore and other displays, as well as fellowship, food, and fun!

The morning worship will include the sacrament of Holy Communion. An offering will be received on behalf of the (National) United Church of Christ Open and Affirming Coalition.

Additional information will be emailed to all registered participants just prior to the event.

Please pre-register for Gateway ONA’s ninth annual Convocation. The registration deadline is February 29.

Click below to download the registration form:
gona_2020_convocation_registration_form.pdf
File Size: 232 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
gona_2020_convocation_registration_form.docx
File Size: 37 kb
File Type: docx
Download File

Donations

As a non-profit group, we welcome and appreciate any donations you wish to send. Checks can be made payable to "Gateway ONA" and sent to:

Mr. Greg Schmelig, Treasurer
Parkway United Church of Christ
2841 North Ballas Road
Saint Louis, MO 63131

Other communications may be sent to

Gateway ONA
3510 Giles Avenue
Saint Louis, MO 63116

WE  ARE  UCC

The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a distinct and diverse community of Christians that come together as one church to join faith and action. We believe in a God that is still speaking, a God that is all-loving and inclusive.  We are a church that welcomes and accepts everyone as they are, where your mind is nourished as much as your soul.  Our faith is over 2,000 years old...our thinking is NOT.

WE  ARE  OPEN  &  AFFIRMING

To say that a UCC church is “Open and Affirming” means that it has publicly and specifically declared that those of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions (LGBTQ) are welcome in its full life and ministry. ONA congregations offer a spirit of hospitality and show a willingness to live out that extravagant welcome in meaningful ways.

WE  ARE  GATEWAY

Gateway ONA is a coalition of LGBTQ Open & Affirming congregations of the United Church of Christ (UCC) in the St. Louis area.  We provide support to our member churches, run a resource hotline, host annual events to educate on LGBT issues and have a presence at PRIDE.