The Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica

Interweave

Interweave, the UU group for bisexuals, gays, lesbians, and transgenders (BGLTs) and their family members, friends, and allies, is going strong since its re-formation in early 2001. Our goal is to promote the spiritual, political, and social well-being of BGLTs, and we welcome and encourage the participation of all who support this goal. Contact Judy Federick for more information.

In August, Interweave hosts an annual all-church Interweave picnic on the courtyard of the church (with donations going to a BGLT community service organization), and in October, Interweave hosts our Coming Out Day Sunday Service.

Welcoming Congregation Program

On January 8, 2002, our church board endorsed our efforts to become a Welcoming Congregation. The UUA Welcoming Congregation program started in 1989, after it was acknowledged that ignorance and prejudice about BGLTs had led to their exclusion from UU churches. Since then, more than 360 UU churches and societies have been officially certified as Welcoming Congregations.

After more than a year of Welcoming Congregation workshops and events, we fulfulled the UUA's requirements, and pledged to be welcoming, supportive, and embracing of bisexuals, gays, lesbians, and transgenders. Finally, on May 18, 2003, our congregation ratified this resolution, voting for our church to become an official UUA Welcoming Congregation:

We, the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica, having engaged in a process of self-examination and education in accordance with the Welcoming Congregation Guidelines of the Unitarian Universalist Association, do hereby declare ourselves to affirm bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender persons, to be responsive to their concerns, and to celebrate and be inclusive of bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender persons as members of our church community and our community at large; and we hereby request the Unitarian Universalist Association designate our Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica a Unitarian Universalist Welcoming Congregation.