What
does it mean to be a WELCOMING
CONGREGATION?
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 affection 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.