We welcome and celebrate the presence and participation of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered persons here. Our “Welcoming Congregation Team” seeks to educate the congregation about GLBT issues and help make our Society truly welcoming and inclusive.

History:
In 1989, the UUA voted at our General Assembly to initiate an educational program within our congregations in order to address the prejudices, misinformation and homophobia that so often resulted in gay and lesbian people feeling excluded from faith communities.  The Welcoming Congregation was a volunteer program which helped congregations see the need to be more explicitly welcoming and inclusive toward bisexual, gay, lesbian and transgender people. Some of the Welcoming Congregation program goals were to:

•Include and address the needs of b/g/l/t persons at every level of congregational life—in worship, in programs, in social occasions, and in rites of passage—welcoming not only their presence, but the gifts and particularities of their lives and families as well.

•Include an affirmation and nondiscrimination clause in our by-laws and other official documents affecting all dimensions of congregational life, including membership, hiring practices, and the calling of religious professionals.

•Attend to legislative developments and work to promote justice, freedom, and equality in the larger society.

•Speak out when the rights of bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender people are at stake.

•Celebrates the lives of all people and their ways of expressing their love for each other.

Present:
Our Society successfully completed the Welcoming Congregation program shortly after it was developed and became an official Welcoming Congregation;  a Welcoming Congregation Team was put in place and has met on a regular basis to share ideas and concerns.  (Please contact Beth Simon via the UUSGS office for more information.)

The Welcoming Congregation process was a template for us in assessing and confronting exclusion based on race, gender, physical ability and other issues of oppression.  To find out more about these efforts, please contact us.