Foxborough Church Begins First Step In Receiving 'Welcoming Congregation' Certification
For more than 35 years, the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (UUA) has adopted policies and Social Justice statements with the particular aim to end all discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation. In 1989, the UUA General Assembly initiated the Welcoming Congregation Program to educate it's members about bisexual, gay, and lesbian people and help people explore their attitudes towards those of different sexual orientations than themselves.
The Welcoming Congregation Program is a completely voluntary program for congregations that want to become more inclusive towards bisexual, gay, lesbian, and/or transgender (BGLT) people. This adult religious education curriculum consists of a series of workshops developed by the UUA. The goal of the workshops is to reduce prejudice by increasing understanding and acceptance among people of different sexual orientations. The Foxborough Universalist Church, a Unitarian Universalist congregation, is holding their first "Welcoming Congregation" interactive workshop at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, September 23. Some of the upcoming workshop titles include: How Homophobia Hurts Heterosexuals; Connections to Other Forms of Oppression; Gender Socialization and Homophobia; and Biblical Perspectives on Homosexuality.
While the Foxborough Universalist Church voted to support the signing of the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry's Declaration of Religious Support for SameSex Marriage in Massachusetts, Rev. Fayre Stephenson officiates at same gender unions and weddings, and the church welcomes all, becoming a Welcoming Congregation is another step in the church's ongoing commitment to publicly and successfully welcome bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender people into their spiritual community. By confronting our prejudices in a non-judgmental, non-threatening group, workshop participants are allowed to explore the origins of their prejudices and offers an opportunity to replace those prejudices with knowledge. Understanding our prejudices leads to individual spiritual growth and congregational unity, and will act as a catalyst to both learn more about ourselves and to end exclusion. Only when we are truly open to the wealth of diversity in our world will the inherent worth and dignity of every person be affirmed with a large voice.
The Foxborough Universalist Church, a Unitarian Universalist congregation, is located at 6 Bird Street (on the common/Route 140); directions and additional information about the church, UUA, and "The Welcoming Congregation" can be found on-line via www.uufoxborough.org.
