Queer and LGBTQ Welcoming Congregation
Welcoming atmosphere for all genders
At Edmonds Unitarian Universalist Congregation (EUUC) we encourage an accepting, openly welcoming atmosphere for people of all genders, and we make our support visible to the wider community.
Our congregation completed the Welcoming Congregation program of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) in 1996. The UUA provided materials for a series of workshops. Members and friends of EUUC attended several of these workshops designed to reduce prejudice and to increase understanding among people of different sexual orientations. After we completed the program in 1996, the congregation voted to become an official GLBT Welcoming Congregation.
As a Welcoming Congregation, we are recognized by the Unitarian Universalist Association. This means we affirm and include people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer at every level of congregational life—in worship, in program, and in social occasions—welcoming them as whole people.
As a Welcoming Congregation we have 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.