In the 1989 General Assembly, the UUA voted to initiate the Welcoming Congregation Program (WCP). The original WCP was directed at the sexually marginlized within UU congregations, namely the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgendered, queer, or questioning (LGBTQ) community.
The program was brought about after a study was conducted detailing the “negative attitudes, deep prejudices, and profound ignorance about bisexual, gay, and lesbian people, which resulted in the exclusion of bisexual, gay, and lesbian people from UU congregations.”
After completing the necessary requirements, (including a unanimous vote at BBUUC), the UUA recognized us as a Welcoming Congregation in 2009. The Welcoming Congregation Ministry (WCM) is the group within BBUUC that operates the program. John Giordano is the current chair.
The WCM’s vision of the Welcoming Congregation goes beyond the original scope of making the LGBTQ community feel welcomed. In addition to the LGBTQ community, WCM is working to extend a welcoming hand to other marginalized groups within our congregation. The WCM will be working with other ministries in order to bring this vision to fruition.
Currently WCM is gearing up for the annual River City Pride Festival on October 4th and 5th. (See the article in this month’s Journey announcements.) In addition to the Festival, WCM also works with the Jacksonville Area Sexual Minority Youth Network (JASMYN) by sponsoring a dinner each year, usually after Thanksgiving.
If you would like to help strengthen the WCM, please attend one of the meetings on the third Sunday of each month at noon. For more information on how to get involved please speak with John Giordano or email him at lgbtq_welcoming@bbuuc.org.