Karen Connolly and Pam Archer

Karen: When we started looking for a church, we knew what was important to us: faith beliefs that aligned with ours, music that elevated our spirits, and social views that supported our LGBT rights. At Boulder First Congregational Church, we’ve found everything we were looking for and more.

Pam: FCC is a church anchored in the teachings of the bible but without telling us what we must believe in or who our God must be. Its message is of God’s love and inclusive grace and a call to live out our faith through justice and service. This was not my experience growing up as the child of a fundamentalist Christian missionary or in the various churches I attended sporadically before FCC. My faith journey since then has been to find a healing and loving God of my understanding. As a congregation, we are theologically diverse and have a deep respect for the individual and the uniqueness of each of our spiritual journeys. We love the FCC affirmation that “God is Still Speaking.” This really resonates with us because it makes us stop and think about what God might be saying to us right now, at this very moment.

Karen: A strong music program is another foundational piece of our church. I was raised by classically trained musicians and my mom was a serious church organist during her whole playing career. Church just isn’t church to me without a pipe organ and a choir. And I value the opportunities for instrumentalists like me to participate in the service now and then. What surprises me the most is not just the quality of our music but also the diversity of musical selections and styles. Recent services have included classics like Bach and Mozart but also popular music by Leonard Cohen and Pink. We never know what we will hear, which brings such joy and excitement. There is no doubt that God speaks to us through music.

Pam: As a same-sex married couple, we value the love and acceptance at FCC. We are proud and grateful that Boulder FCC was one of the first churches in the country to formally adopt a covenant as an Open and Affirming congregation. We feel loved and seen for who we are, not as who we should be. Never have we experienced a lack of acceptance here. FCC makes us feel safe and protected and valued and loved. We are so grateful to God for bringing us to this place which we now call Home.