The Welcoming Congregation Program

In the 1980s and 90s, when the word “welcoming” became a code word for lesbian, gay, and bisexual people, the Unitarian Universalist Association launched a Welcoming Congregation Program to help us learn how to undo homophobia—and later, transphobia (prejudice against transgender people)—in our hearts and minds, our congregations, and our communities.

Today, most Unitarian Universalist congregations are recognized Welcoming Congregations. The spiritual practice of welcome is a very important one to our faith community.  You can learn more about the UUA Welcoming Congregation Program here.

As a Welcoming Congregation UUFM has pledged to:

• honor the lives of all people and equally affirm displays of caring and affection without regard for sexual orientation.
• celebrate diversity by using inclusive language and content in worship.
• incorporate an understanding of the experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer persons throughout all of our programs, including religious education.
• affirm and celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer issues and history.
• affirm marriage equality and conduct same-sex weddings.
• advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people, promoting justice, freedom, and equality in the larger society. We speak out when the rights and dignity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people are at stake.

We recognize that there’s always something more to learn, and remain open to deepening our understanding about the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people.

In November 2022

Our Welcoming Congregations renewal application was approved! UUFM remains a Welcoming Congregation in good standing. Our commitment to thriving LGBTQIA+ lives is solid and recognized by the UUA.

In August 2020 we completed the Five Practices of Welcome Renewal.

Click here to read our Welcoming Congregation Letter

Through this process we reaffirmed our commitment and support of our original Welcoming Congregations Pledge.  As stated on the UUA’s website, the purpose of this renewal was: “To honor your original pledge, it’s essential that new people in the congregation (as well as people who were originally involved in the program) understand your congregation’s commitment to this work and learn about the current needs and concerns of LGBTQ+ people.”