Murray Unitarian Universalist Church

We are a Welcoming Congregation

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.

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.

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Our Mission Statement

We are a group of concerned members of the Murray Church congregation who are exploring our thoughts, feelings and knowledge about sexual orientation and gender identification with the goal of raising the awareness of the congregation about these issues and identifying ways to reach out to the gay, lesbian and transgender community.

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Murray Church's Action Steps on becoming a Welcoming Congregation

• The winter of 2002, a core focus group of 8 members formed Toward a Welcoming Congregation, (TAWC for short).
• Immediate goals were to create a mission statement, host videos series to make people think about what they know about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, and how they learned it. Workshops were used to educated and express our opinions in a safe environment. We discussed the common elements of oppression, gender socialization and homophobia, religion and homosexuality, and how homophobia hurts us all.
• Newsletter articles, Sunday bulletin and oral announcements were created to generate interest to join us and to keep church members informed about our progress toward becoming a Welcoming Congregation.
• Our bulletin board displays guidelines and actions. Our "welcoming congregation in process" labels attached to our nametags can identify members of TAWC.
• Murray Church is listed as a place of worship in Options magazine that reaches the gay community.
• Tabletop rainbow flags were placed in the John Murray room, on the welcoming table in our sanctuary, foyer, and at the table in the Unity room during coffee hour. This is a gay symbol of unity.
• An attitude questionnaire surveyed congregation’s opinions. Results showed most people were familiar with gays and lesbians as young adults but weren’t as informed about bisexual and transgender issues until later in life.
• Congregation members were encouraged to take action through website www.lethimstay.com to voice opinion on a gay Florida foster care family’s right to adopt. Also encouraged people to visit www.massequality.org to contact legislators to prevent a vote to allow a mean spirited ballot question to be placed on Nov 5, 2002 ballot. This question would have legally defined marriage as a union between a "woman and a man". Letters to the local newspaper were also encouraged.
• In December 2002, guest speakers shared some of their experiences with us. They were a parent from PFLAG, a lesbian, a transsexual and a bisexual.
• Rev Sandra and Diane Beauvais were interviewed for a Sun Chronicle article about churches being more open to gays. A follow up story interviewed Eric Volk.
• The Board of Governors was very receptive to a request for some minor changes to make Murray’s bi-laws language inclusive.
• When some members were offended that Murray celebrated Scout Sunday, a dialog immediately began around the issue of Boy Scouts of America’s discriminating policy against homosexuals. Derek Belt lit a candle of concern expressing his feelings, others wrote comments on index cards, which were forwarded to the BOG.
• Monday October 20, 2003 Murray hosted the greater Attleboro community to discuss civil marriage for same sex couples. Guest speakers from Equal Marriage Coalition discussed why it’s important for same sex couples to have equal rights, not special rights that most of us take for granted every day.
• Our journey toward becoming a Welcoming Congregation reached an exciting milestone. Murray UU Church officially voted to become a Welcoming Congregation on April 11, 2004. The congregational vote was an exercise in democracy that allowed us to formally state our desire to be intentionally welcoming to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and/or transgender persons by intentionally accepting their contributions to our congregational lives.

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Additional Resources

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What is Interweave?

Interweave: Unitarian Universalists for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns) The mission statement for Interweave reads as follows: "Interweave is a membership organization affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association. It is dedicated to the spiritual, political, and social well-being of Unitarian Universalists who are confronting oppression as lesbians, gay men, bisexual persons, transgender persons, and heterosexual allies. It celebrates the culture and lives of its members."

Interweave membership is open to all interested UUs of any sexual or affectional orientation. It has chapters in many Unitarian Universalist congregations and districts, as well as a Continental chapter. Membership in Interweave involves two primary goals:

• the creation of local groups for bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender Unitarian Universalists for support, socializing, and sharing life issues, and

• outreach to the larger bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender community to publicize the religious alternative offered by Unitarian Universalism.

Interweave is an affiliate organization of the UUA. At both its annual Convocation and the UUA's General Assembly Interweave sponsors worship and workshops that address b/g/l/t issues and their interrelationship with other forms of oppression. Interweave also produces a quarterly newsletter. For more information about the organization please write to the address listed above.

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 Symbols

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For more information, contact the Church Office.

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