Welcoming Congregation
The Hopedale UU Community was recognized by the UUA as a Welcoming Congregation in 2007. We are grateful to Members Robert Bell and Amy Lamborg for assisting the congregation throughout the process.
Welcoming Congregations who publicly and successfully welcome bisexual, gay, lesbian, transgender, and questioning people have the following qualities:
- Includes and address the needs of LGBTQ 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 particulars of their lives as well.
- Assumes the presence of LGBTQ people and celebrates this diversity by having inclusive language and content in their worship.
- Fully incorporates the experiences of LGBTQ 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 LGBTQ community in its advertising and by actively supporting LGBTQ-affirmative groups.
- Offers congregational and ministerial support for union and memorial services for LGBTQ 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, questioning, and heterosexual persons and to create deeper trust and sharing.
- Encourages the presence of a chapter of Interweave.
- Affirms and celebrates LGBTQ 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, transgender, and questioning people are at stake.
- Celebrates the lives of all people and their ways of expressing their love for each other. º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸,ø¤°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°
Cincinnati Pride Events and Interfaith Pride Service
The Social Justice Committee participates in the annual Cincinnati Pride Parade and Festival. A Cincinnati church also hosts an Interfaith Pride Service each year. This special event celebrates the blessings our LGBTQ friends bring to our community. There are many exciting events taking place during Pride Week. Visit http://www.cincinnatipride.org to see the latest list of events.°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸,ø¤°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°
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Resolution of the Board of Hopedale Unitarian Universalist Community:
- WHEREAS “Ethical Eating” was selected at General Assembly in 2008 to be the Congregational Study/Action Issue for 2008-2012; and
- WHEREAS the Board of Hopedale Unitarian Universalist Community believes that the Hopedale Community benefits from our association with and enactment of the priorities of the Unitarian Universalist Association; and
- WHEREAS the Hopedale Unitarian Universalist Community is proud of our status as a Green Sanctuary, and strives to enact that status in as many of our programs as possible; and
- WHEREAS the Board perceives that the Hopedale Unitarian Universalist Community has considerable resources that we could devote to enacting the spirit of “Ethical Eating”, as defined by the UUA CSAI and by our Community; and
- WHEREAS the Board perceives that such a venture could be an important mechanism for turning our congregation’s vision outward, helping to meet significant needs in the Oxford and Hamilton areas, and reinforcing a social justice orientation to our identity in local communities;
- BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board of Hopedale Unitarian Universalist Community encourages our congregation to make enactment of the Congregational Study/Action Issue “Ethical Eating” a significant focus of our activities for at least the period April 2009- June 2010. This would include the appointment of a Task Force to coordinate Hopedale Unitarian Universalist Community efforts. We would encourage “Ethical Eating” to be taken up as a significant focus, perhaps one of several, during Sunday services, by adult and children’s Religious Education, by the Green Sanctuary committee, and by our Social Action committee.
Resolution passed by HUUC Board, March 2009
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