Aware that many negative attitudes, deep prejudices, and profound ignorance about bisexual, gay, and lesbian people, which resulted in the exclusion of bisexual, gay, and lesbian people in churches the delegates of the 1989 Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to initiate the Welcoming Congregation program to educate its members.
Each congregation adapts the program to best meet its goals and each unique situation can bring positive changes to individuals and congregations. The UU church of Muncie began our Welcoming Congregation Program in 1998. After a series of workshops and discussions not much was done until a Welcoming Congregation Committee was formed in 2002. The congregation then engaged in a series of workshops developed by the UUA. The goal of the workshops was to reduce prejudice by increasing understanding, awareness 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. The church has also invited people to speak during our Sunday morning worship services on gay and lesbian activism and intergender issues.
We proclaimed by Congregational Vote in May 2003 that "Our congregation is welcoming to all people including gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons." And we were officially recognized as a Welcoming Congregation by the UUA office of Bisexual, Lesbian, Gay, and Transgender Concerns in 2003.
We continue to look for ways to promote the well-being of bisexual, lesbian, gay and transgender people in our church and in the larger community. We affirm the principle of marriage equality. To learn why marriage equality matters click on this link and read about the 1,138 rights and privileges that are denied gay and lesbian couples.
