Steps to becoming an Affirming Congregation

This week the Affirm committee is pleased to share some resources from the Affirm United website, including the recognized steps in becoming an affirming congretation. 

The United Church of Canada has a dedicated website devoted to this important work of love, hope and reconcilliation. Click here to explore more. 

Here is an exerpt from the website, explaining the process. 

Becoming Affirming isn’t a quick journey, because it’s a process of love, discernment, and transformation. The stories we hear from Affirming ministries often use the words “transformation” and “unexpected”. Expect the unexpected in your process, but always expect it to change you.

In order to become an Affirming Ministry, your ministry will work with an educational/discernment process. It’s designed to help you reflect on what it means to be inclusive; it evaluates your ministry’s openness to the ongoing work of being intentional about how it includes others within the life and work of your ministry.

We expect that you will look at a variety of areas that may be barriers to those coming to your community – age, gender, race, ability, class, economic status and, in particular to the Affirming ministry, gender identity and expression, and sexualities.  The advice we have received from many Affirming Ministries is that this discussion should include as many groups within your ministry as possible, from your governing body to you staff, choir, adult groups, spirituality groups, youth, children, outreach, and more.