Calendar | Weekly Bulletins | Monthly Newsletters | Contacts | Committees Growth News | Programs | Sermons | Rental Policy | Directions Bylaws | Operations Manual | Links | Home A WELCOMING CONGREGATION

Speech Given to Port Townsend Pride 2005

To be welcome is to be greeted with pleasure. Hi, my name is Julia Cochrane, and I want to share with you what being a member of a Welcoming Congregation is all about.

Unitarian Universalism has been on record as supporting the rights of bisexual, gay and lesbian people since 1970. UUs have advocated against job and housing discrimination as well as against sodomy laws. We have advocated for ceremonies of union and same-gender marriage, the right to serve in the military, the right to lead congregations as ministers and religious professionals and the right to be parents. The Unitarian Universalist Association is now on record as supporting the rights of transgender people.

Port Townsend's Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship has been a Welcoming Congregation for over five years. A Welcoming Congregation denotes a congregation that has not only voted to welcome gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals and couples, but has participated in a period of study and investigation of alternative sexual orientation. Through a period of educational workshops, our congregation got to know gay issues and gay people. Instead of the vote being liberal self congratulation, it was an informed mature statement of our support of the gay community and a genuine welcome to gay individuals, couples and families. There is still homophobia and heterosexism, and the process is continuing. In the near future, I am hoping that we will deepen and expand our "Welcoming" status with a set of workshops titled "Living the Welcoming Congregation."

So what does all this mean to the GLBT members of QUUF? I can only talk about what it has meant to me. In 1997 I joined QUUF because my daughter wanted a "real" church. She wanted music and children's programs. I was somewhat intimidated because I was coming to terms with who I am and didn't want yet another environment to cope with wearing a mask. I went to their first service in their new building and saw many people I knew, including some out lesbians who seemed totally accepted there. That gave me courage.

After several years, I entered into a partnership and not only felt welcomed as a couple with several children but their minister was invaluable to me during some very rough times. My daughter was not only supported in dealing with a changing family but educated about the full range of human sexuality in a program called Our Whole Lives. QUUF was a Welcoming Congregation even before going through the process, doing the workshops, taking the vote and making it official. It has been a supportive environment for me and my daughter.

Part of being a Welcoming Congregation is a commitment to the community to expand the protections and rights of all people, and to be a visible force to end oppression based on sexual orientation or affiliation. We all are who we are and as UUs we are called upon to recognize the inherent worth and dignity of all people. Our quest for spirituality is not confined by a rigid creed, but instead urges a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. Unitarians were in the forefront of the fight to abolish slavery, the civil rights movement, and the cause of equal rights for women. We are proud of our liberal heritage and wholeheartedly welcome members of the gay community to our Fellowship and QUUF will work towards ensuring equal civil rights for all people, regardless of membership!