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What
is a Welcoming Congregation???
The
Welcoming
Congregation Program is a completely volunteer program
for congregations that see a need to become more inclusive towards
bisexual, gay, lesbian, and/or transgender people.
It
consists of a series of workshops developed by the UUA. The goal of the
workshops is to reduce prejudice by increasing understanding and
acceptance among people of different sexual orientations. Some of the
workshop titles include: How Homophobia Hurts Heterosexuals;
Connections to Other Forms of Oppression; Gender Socialization and
Homophobia; and Biblical Perspectives on Homosexuality.
Many
congregations offer the workshop series several consecutive times as an
adult religious education curriculum open to all members and friends.
In some congregations the workshop series (and later the entire
program) is sponsored by a Welcoming Congregation Task Force/Committee
created for just this purpose, while other congregations sponsor the
workshop series through their Interweave chapters. In either case, the
workshops are best facilitated by those that have experienced the
curriculum.
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Congregations
who publicly and successfully welcome bisexual, gay, lesbian, and
transgender people have the following qualities:
- Includes 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 as well.
- Assumes the
presence of b/g/l/t people and celebrates this diversity by having
inclusive language and content in their worship.
- Fully incorporates
the experiences of b/g/l/t persons throughout all programs, including
religious education.
- Includes 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.
- Engages in
outreach into the b/g/l/t community in its advertising and by actively
supporting b/g/l/t affirmative groups.
- Offers
congregational and ministerial support for union and memorial services
for b/g/l/t persons, and for celebrations of...family definitions.
- Celebrates the
lives of all people and welcomes same-sex couples, recognizing their
committed relationships, and equally affirms displays of caring and
affections without regard to sexual orientation.
- Seeks to nurture
ongoing dialogue between bisexual, gay, lesbian, transgender, and
heterosexual persons and to create deeper trust and sharing.
- Encourages the
presence of a chapter of Interweave.
- Affirms and
celebrates b/g/l/t issues and history during the church year.
- Attends to
legislative developments and works to promote justice, freedom, and
equality in the larger society.
- Speaks 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.
To find out more about Unitarian Universalism's Welcoming Congregation
Program, please visit
this page.
Also, for information regarding the UUA's support of the Bisexual, Gay,
Lesbian and Transgender community, please click here.
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