The staff and congregation of Community United Church, 1011 W 38th St, Erie PA, warmly invite you to join us on Sunday, October 29, at 11:00 AM as we celebrate our fifteenth year as a nationally certified Open and Affirming faith community in the United Church of Christ. As an Open and Affirming Christian congregation, we boldly accept and affirm LGBTQ+ people and relationships. We proudly march in our city's Pride parade, and we also offer regular educational opportunities on LGBTQ+ inclusion. We are a faith community that grounds our understanding of God in unconditional love-and although we do not claim to be perfect, we do seek to embody that love through radical welcome, helping those in need, honoring boundaries, worship, study, small groups, and standing for restorative justice. Please join us as we celebrate our fifteenth year of Open and Affirming certification.

The staff and congregation of Community United Church, 1011 W 38th St, Erie PA, warmly invite you to join us on Sunday, October 23, at 11:00 AM as we celebrate our fourteenth year as a nationally certified Open and Affirming faith community in the United Church of Christ. As an Open and Affirming Christian congregation, we boldly accept and affirm LGBTQ+ people and relationships. We proudly march in our city's Pride parade, and we also offer regular educational opportunities on LGBTQ+ inclusion. We are a faith community that grounds our understanding of God in unconditional love-and although we do not claim to be perfect, we do seek to embody that love through radical welcome, helping those in need, honoring boundaries, worship, study, small groups, and standing for restorative justice. Please join us as we celebrate our fourteenth year of Open and Affirming certification.

More than two hundred guests were welcomed on the evening of Wednesday, June 22 at the Summer Art Show Opening at Community United Church, 1011 W 38th St, Erie PA 16508. The show celebrates eighteen artists and allies of the LGBTQ community, as well as the themes of liberation and freedom.

We had an excellent turnout for the coat and boot drive! We collected at Community United Church, 1011 W 38th St, Erie PA on January 19, 2022, over 35 pairs of men’s and women’s boots, and double that amount in winter coats. In addition, we received hats, scarves, gloves, and much-needed cans of ground coffee for Community Shelter Services. Diane Lazette, Executive Director of the shelter, was very grateful for the donation, saying there was an immediate need, especially for the winter boots. After we dropped off the donation, Diane invited us to take a tour of the shelter. It is hard to find the words for the emotions that we experienced that afternoon. Community Shelter Services provides a safe, clean, and warm place for people in need in our city. And there are many opportunities and ways to help support the shelter. Check out their website a communityshelter.org Participating organizations included TransFamily of NW PA, Erie Gay News, Community United Church, NW PA Pride Alliance, Greater Erie Alliance for Equality, Central Outreach Wellness Center Erie, and The Zone Dance Club.

The Erie LGBTQIA+ community will team together for the second annual Winter Coat and Winter Boot Drive on 1/19/22 from 6-8 PM at Community United Church at 1011 W 38th St in Erie PA. New and gently used coats and boots will be donated to Community Shelter Services. There is an urgent need for boots in men’s sizes 10-13 and women’s sizes 7-10. This event is organized by NWPA Pride Alliance, Greater Erie Alliance for Equality, Erie Gay News, TransFamily of NWPA, Community United Church, Central Outreach Wellness Center - Erie, and The Zone Dance Club.

The staff and congregation of Community United Church, 1011 W 38th St, Erie PA, warmly invite you to join us on Sunday, October 24, at 11:00 AM as we celebrate our thirteenth year as a nationally certified Open and Affirming faith community in the United Church of Christ. As an Open and Affirming Christian congregation, we boldly accept and affirm LGBTQ+ people and relationships. We proudly march in our city’s Pride parade, and we also offer regular educational opportunities on LGBTQ+ inclusion. We are a faith community that grounds our understanding of God in unconditional love-and although we do not claim to be perfect, we do seek to embody that love through radical welcome, helping those in need, honoring boundaries, worship, study, small groups, and standing for restorative justice. Please join us as we celebrate our thirteenth year of Open and Affirming certification.

On Monday, August 16. NW PA Pride Alliance, Greater Erie Alliance for Equality, Northwest Alliance, and Community United Church will host a Back to School Drive from 4 to 8 PM at Community United Church, 1011 W 38th St, Erie PA. Donated items will go to Safe Journey and Multicultural Community Resource Center

On Sunday, October 25, Community United Church will be celebrating their 12th Annual Diversity Service at 11 AM, recognizing their national Open and Affirming status as a Christian congregation. Here, LGBTQ people are warmly welcome! The event will take place at 1011 W 38th St, Erie, PA (masks and social distancing required) and also livestreamed from their Facebook page, so you may participate either in person or online

"Do you think that this is the end of the world?" As a Christian minister I have been asked this question on a number of occasions, and now more recently about COVID-19. Sure enough, a quick media search finds certain preachers proclaiming that this pandemic is a sign of the End Times. But you live long enough and you can reliably anticipate when the "end-timers" will show up in a crisis to make their scary predictions. (None of them have ever come true.) So my short and public answer to the end-times question is: "No! COVID-19 is not the harbinger of some supernatural end of the world." I remind people in my faith tradition that Christ himself said that he did not know the day or the hour of the end. It's a bit odd, then, for a follower of Christ to claim more esoteric knowledge than their Messiah possessed. That said, I do have another answer to the question. Namely, "it may not be the end of the world, but COVID-19 is an apocalypse." Let me explain. The word apocalypse means "to reveal"-and so anything that reveals deep truth and ultimate reality is an apocalyptic event. Seen this way, COVID-19 is an apocalypse-not of God, but of natural causes-and it is revealing so much. This apocalypse has revealed the strengths of human community in our caring for one another. But it is also revealing deep deficiencies in our economic systems and our access to adequate healthcare. But there is hope. When apocalyptic events pass-and they do-we have the chance to create a better world. That will be up to us-all of us, together.

On Sunday, October 24, 2010, Community United Church, 1011 W 38th St, Erie PA, held a Diversity Worship Service to celebrate the worth and dignity of all of God's children, including LGBT. The service was led by Rich McCarty, assistant pastor and who also leads the Spirituality and Sexuality Discussion Group that meets at the church. You can read a member's experiences at the service here. Photos are by Katie Schaaf of Community United Church and Michael Mahler, co-editor for Erie Gay News.

On October 24, our church celebrated our 2nd Annual "Diversity Sunday." This was a moving service led by Dr. Richard McCarty, our head pastor, Richard Moyer, and our wonderful director of music. As a congregational participant, I had an opportunity to experience the freedom we have in our church to worship a God whom has continued to surprise us with openness and acceptance, not just despite our differences, but rather because of our differences. At the same time, I was reminded that we have not yet "arrived."

Sexual ethics has long been dominated by narrow views that have excluded LGBT people, and have made straight non-married people to feel guilty for being active sexual beings. On March 16, we will discuss qualities of holy relationships and relationship boundaries that free us and encourage us to live and do well, as people who are both spiritual and sexual. We will explore how a concern for sexual morality and relationship integrity does not amount to moral or religious authoritarianism. Rather, we will ask what our experience teaches us about ethics, faith, and life at the intersection of spirituality and sexuality. We will explore how the "face" of God meets us in our sexual partners and beloveds. 7-8:30 PM at Community United Church 1011 W 38th St, Erie, PA. Community United Church is an open and affirming Christian congregation. All are welcome who wish to engage in honest, confidential, and safe conversation. Come join the discussion!

Community Health Net presented an informative and engaging program for World AIDS Day at Community United Church, 1011 W 38th St, Erie PA.