Contact: Bill Smalley or Nil Clark

The Unitarian Universalist Association's 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. Congregations who publicly and successfully welcome bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender people have the following qualities:

• Includes and address the needs of GBLT persons at every level of congregational lifein worship, in programs, in social occasions, and in rites of passagewelcoming not only their presence, but the gifts and particularities of their lives as well.
• Assumes the presence of GBLT people and celebrates this diversity by having inclusive language and content in their worship.
• Fully incorporates the experiences of GBLT 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 GBLT community in its advertising and by actively supporting GBLT affirmative groups.
• Offers congregational and ministerial support for union and memorial services for GBLT 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 GBLT 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.