We are overjoyed to announce that Vine Street Christian Church has officially been accepted into the AllianceQ network of Open + Affirming ministries! Your Open and Affirming Task Force (Christy Brown, Joyce Crowell, Amanda Dixon, Heather Hendrickson, Kathy Zamata and Quentin Flowers) developed a series of educational opportunities that helped Vine Street analyze our welcome and commitment to and the LGBTQ+ community, within and without our walls. After conversations, lectures, movies screenings, book study, and a survey, we voted to adopt our new Welcome Statement, which reads as follows:
“Knowing we are all created in God’s image, we celebrate our human family’s diversity. At Vine Street we welcome every race, ethnicity, age, faith history, economic status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical and mental ability, and educational background. Here, everyone has a seat at God’s table.”
We join our Nashville siblings Eastwood Christian Church and New Covenant Christian Church as Open + Affirming ministries. We express our gratitude for the wisdom and guidance we have received from those congregations during this journey.
From AllianceQ:
It is with great joy that we officially welcome Vine Street Christian Church as part of the Open + Affirming family.
We are grateful not only for the outcome of your process, but for the intentionality with which your congregation approached this journey. Your story reflects a community that has long welcomed LGBTQ+ persons into the life, leadership, worship, + ministry of the church, while also recognizing the importance of making that commitment visible, public, + explicit.
We are especially appreciative of the work of your Open + Affirming Task Force and the thoughtful fifteen-month process of study, education, conversation, + discernment. The opportunities you created for learning—from conversations with biblical scholars to films, book studies, panel discussions, + congregational surveys—demonstrate a deep commitment to faithful engagement and communal discernment.
Your congregation’s vote on June 14, 2026, marks an important milestone, and we celebrate the adoption of a Welcome Statement that proclaims what so many people need to hear: that every person is created in God’s image, that diversity is a gift, + that everyone has a seat at God’s table.
Thank you for your faithful witness. We are honored to walk alongside Vine Street Christian Church as you continue living into your Open + Affirming commitment.