The drive into Ledyard Center will soon get a flash of color, as the Ledyard Congregational Church will mark their 5th anniversary as an “open and affirming” church with a display of rainbow-colored doors representing the congregation’s inclusiveness of the LGBT community.

“Open and affirming” is the terminology of United Church of Christ congregations for codifying an LGBT-positive message in the church’s values. Much of the policy in UCC churches is set by the congregations, and in the case of the “open and affirming” declaration, Ledyard’s congregation discussed the issue for over a year before deciding to adopt it at their annual meeting in January of 2011.

The Rev. Catriona Grant, who joined the church just prior to the vote, went through the process of becoming “open and affirming” at her previous congregation in Wellesley, Mass., and began the discussion about commemorating their support of LGBT people earlier this year.

The idea for the rainbow-colored doors came from Christian Education teacher Lisa Curtis, who spotted the doors outside of a church in Mansfield. Curtis was struck by the symbol as a way to reaffirm the church’s commitment to their “open and affirming” declaration. It turned out Curtis wasn’t the only one: another member of the congregation had taken pictures of the doors after driving by, and thought it would be a great way to represent the church’s inclusiveness.

Constructed by the Rev. Jonathan Chapman of the Westfield Congregational Church as a “welcome mat” for the church, the doors have already traveled to a number of congregations in Connecticut and inspired similar projects in Rhode Island and Illinois. Chapman is in the process of applying for grant funding to create additional sets of doors.

“For the people that need to know they are welcome when they’ve been told time and time again they’re not, it’s been great,” Chapman said.

As she looks back on five years with the declaration, Curtis said the message of being “open and affirming” goes beyond tolerance, and is about making people feel supported.

“Not only do we tolerate and definitely accept … we affirm with that we’re here, we’ve examined this and we’re all on board, and no matter what we have this safe positive welcoming experience for you,” Curtis said.

And while that inclusiveness hasn’t significantly changed how the church operates – both Grant and Curtis said the church has always been welcoming – it has made the church think about how they can be supportive to LGBT people and beyond.

“At the beginning of our services we like to say ‘whoever you are, wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome’ and we’d like to really mean that,” Grant said.

The congregational church’s events will begin with a service at 9:30 a.m. Feb. 28. Following the service, there will be a re-commitment to the “open and affirming declaration” on the church’s lawn with the doors, and a luncheon.

n.lynch@theday.com

Twitter: @_nathanlynch