From Jerry Carden, Chair of the LGBTQ Welcome Team:

We received notice on March 1 that we successfully completed the Five Practices of Welcome Renewal for 2020. The UUA now requires annual application for this designation. We first became a Welcoming Congregation in 1999. The requirements are listed in bold text.

Our most recent application included information about our two LGBTQ themed worship services, ‘Stonewall 50: Where We Are Now’ and a ‘Transgender Day of Remembrance Service.’ We recognized over six Welcoming Days of Observance in either our services or our newsletters. We had attendance of over 10% of the congregation at an LGBTQ- themed education offering. Our education offering was the online class series ‘Transforming Hearts Collective.’ The series goal is to educate about how to make our congregations more welcoming for trans and non-binary persons. The class series is still available and highly recommended. We also supported an LGBTQ community organization or project by donating our June shared offering to Uniting Pride of Champaign County, and also offered the UP Center space to broadcast their Zoom oriented September Pride Weekend programming.

A huge thank you to all those that helped us achieve the goals above! We can expect to receive a poster for display, and can officially list that we are an LGBTQ Welcoming Congregation on our website and other materials.