Welcoming Congregation

It is our intention that everyone feel very welcome at First Parish. That includes children, adults, and families.

In April of 2002, we officially became a “Welcoming Congregation,” a congregation that is intentionally inclusive and expressive of the concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) persons at every level of congregational life. We welcome all people to worship with us, particularly those who have felt unwelcome in other religious places.

We proudly hang our rainbow flag as a sign to the local community that everyone is welcome here.  In 2020 we began working toward re-certifying our Welcoming Congregation status with the UUA, intentionally incorporating the five practices of welcome renewal into our worship and church life.

We also want to be welcoming to people of racial, ethnic, religious, economic, class, and other diversities, and are committed to doing additional meaningful exploration and work to be welcoming.

We carefully consider our “Welcoming Congregation” status in all of our religious education planning. Being a welcoming congregation means striving to have our actions support our promise.  This includes offering programs that teach about different cultures, religions, and lifestyles in ways that are positive and affirming.

We recognize that there is bias in our mainstream culture and we hope that First Parish can empower our members to overcome such negative messages to be a community in which everyone is recognized as the important and valuable people they are.