Date: Sun, 6 Nov 1994 14:35:30 -0600 (CST) From: Kevyn Jacobs Reprinted from the Newsletter of the First Unitarian-Universalist Church of Wichita October 1994 ============================================== PEOPLE ARE STILL ASKING..... WHAT DO WE MEAN BY "WELCOMING CONGREGATION"? Read On. Quoted Passages are from the UUA Manual, The Welcoming Congregation: Resources for Affirming Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Persons. "Citing the first principle of our Unitarian-Universalist faith - that we 'covenant to defend and promote the inherent worth and dignity of all persons' - the delegates to our denominational General Assembly in 1989 voted to initiate the WELCOMING CONGREGATION PROGRAM recommended by the Common Vision Planning Committee. It was a step to making our congregations truly welcoming places for people of all sexual orientations." Commitments to inclusiveness and actions for achieving those commitments were adopted by the delegates to the 1989 General Assembly as the outline for the Welcoming Congregation. UU Congregations which work through the WC Program monitoring their progress by means of these guidelines may obtain formal recognition as a Welcoming Congregation. Many have already completed this process. THE WELCOMING CONGREGATION manual, materials and workshop series developed by the UUA "will help people of any faith tradition examine their homophobia (conscious and unconscious) and move toward new and more inclusive attitudes and behaviors that will make gay, lesbian and bisexual people in congregations feel genuinely safe and at home." The introduction describes the workshop series as "an introspective and interactive educational journey into the issues surrounding the lives of lesbian, gay and bisexual Persons." The effort to be welcoming and open to all people is not new to this church. THE WELCOMING CONGREGATION program now being initiated here is an intentional process furthering this effort. The first step was to gather a committed and diverse WC committee to analyze and adapt the guidelines to our local circumstances, offer events and learning opportunities, and to initiate action. A WC committee is now at work. The second step on which the committee decided was to go through the UUA-designed workshop series ourselves for our own growth and for possible modification before making it available to the congregation. The WC Committee will complete the workshop series in November and means to present it in early 1995 for congregation members and friends who wish to participate. Welcoming Congregation Committee members are: David Brewer, Joe Brewer, Jed Clossen, Dave Cook, Tom De Petro, Jim Hammer, Patt Herdklotz, Kathy Hull, Carolyn Lawrence, Bethel Stout, Latris Studer, Sigrid Trombley, Fern Van Gieson - Co-Chair, Trina Wheeler - Co-Chair.