Talk:Welcoming Congregation

Is Welcoming Congregation a UU-only program, or is it also used by churches like Community of Christ? If the former, the first sentence probably needs to include "UU" from the get-go, but I am not sure this is correct, hence no edit. Nae'blis 21:32:13, 2005-08-31 (UTC)
 * The UUs use the name "Welcoming Congregation" but there are other "brands" of the same thing. To my knowledge, the CofC does not have such a programme, although they are a pretty liberal denomination on the matter (especially within the context of the Latter Day Saint movement). Carolynparrishfan 12:40, 28 October 2005 (UTC)
 * I moved the UUA section to the bottom because this article is about gay-friendly churches and not just UUA congregations, I think MPS 20:49, 11 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Based on the conversations of this talk page, I have created a new article called LGBT-welcoming church programs that applies to general LGBT-welcoming programs. The current article will be about only the UUA program. MPS 03:34, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Welcoming Churches in the Episcopal Church
Under "Names for Welcoming Congregations," you listed Oasis as the "Welcoming church progaram" for the Episcopal Church. Actually this is somewhat inaccurate. Oasis began in New Jersey; it was an organization founded by the Diocese of Newark in order to GLBT people welcome in the churches of that diocese, and while other dioceses have started an organization by the same name with the same agenda, this organization is not nationwide. Not all doiceses have organization like Oasis, and have organizations with the same mission but have a different name. On the other hand, Interity is a nation organization for GLBT Episcopalians. Integrity has various local chapters congregational circles, and diocesan and/or state mailing lists. So i think that Integrity should either be liste with or replace Oasis on the "Names for Welcoming Congregations"list in this article.

Also, I think that you guys might want to consider changing the heading of this list from "Names for Welcoming Congregations" to something more accurate, because neither Integrity nor Oasis are progams authorized by the national church in the same way that the "welcoming Congregations" program is authorized by the UUA. And I think other organizations on the list are in the same boat.

Link to Integrity:

I'm not sure why DignityUSA has a section to itself--I'm just going to make it one among the list, with a link to its own page. Also, it's confusing right now that a term specific to UUA is also used as a sort of general category for similar programs in other churches. I'm not sure how best to fix that. Dybryd 06:32, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

Bizarre UU-ecumenical hybrid
This is a very strange article, especially for one who comes to it via a link at one of the other-denominational articles. I clicked on "Welcoming Congregation" in the following sentence at the AWAB article: "It (i.e. AWAB, a Baptist group) is one of many Welcoming Congregation movements to emerge in American Christianity in the 1980s." The way the link is set up, and the way the article is structured, one might almost think the Welcoming Congregation movement was a UU proselytic outfit designed to make non-UUs into UUs.

Obviously what is needed is a general article on the movement, incorporating the list of denominational special terminology currently found in the UU article, linked to articles, where they exist, on the specific denominations' various movements/groups.

Sometime soon I may undertake such an article. I would appreciate feedback on whether to leave the UUA article here or to move it to, say, Welcoming Congregation (UU). --Haruo 06:21, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I have no idea if there is a single term meaning "any Christian congregation that openly welcomes GLBT people and accepts them as such and doesn't try to 'turn them straight' or tell them that they're 'called to celibacy' and that in most cases is willing to perform some sort of commitment ceremony for same-sex couples". GLBT-friendly Christian congregation perhaps? —Angr 06:40, 16 October 2006 (UTC)


 * I have tried to clarify this in the past, but may have made the problem worse instead. When I came across this article it really did treat all the other churches' programs as if they were offshoots of the UU Welcoming Congregation movement. I restructured it a bit to show the distinction, but may have left some unclear language in the other articles -- or even inserted some, while under a mistaken impression created by the article in its previous form.
 * I am not aware of any direct links between the various programs, and I'm not sure there is any single "movement" except to the extent that the more liberal form of mainstream Christianity is a movement. Really the links are more of a "See Also" list.
 * Dybryd 07:12, 16 October 2006 (UTC)


 * "Welcoming congregation" has, in fact, become fairly standard, generic usage. I don't think it is derived from UU usage.  Sean Lotz    talk   09:01, 16 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Then maybe the best thing to do is change the sentence at Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists to read something like "It is one of many movements accepting of homosexuality to emerge in American Christianity in the 1980s" and not link to this article at all, except in the "See also" section. —Angr 07:48, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I think that to write a generic article we need some WP:RS citations for a name for it. It is the case in the Episcopal Church that there is no single organization, and that neither Integrity nor Oasis functions as such a movement (both are advocacy/ministry organizations). Mangoe 13:11, 16 October 2006 (UTC)


 * I don't think it's any kind of "official" term, but I have heard "welcoming" used to describe churches/congregations of any denomination that are, well, welcoming of LGBTQ people. I definitely think it would be good to have a generic article about this, with links to the specific ones.  Right now this article is too UU-centric.  The information is good, but shouldn't be the focus of a ~general~ article. --Alynna 13:42, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Based on the conversations of this talk page, I have created a new article called LGBT-welcoming church programs that applies to general LGBT-welcoming programs. The current article will be about only the UUA program. MPS 03:34, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Move article
I suggest moving this article (renaming it) to "Welcoming Congregation (Universalist Unitarian Association)". There could well be an article entitled "Welcoming congregation" (lowercase c).  Sean Lotz   talk   09:05, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * But is the term "welcoming congregation" (lower case) really in widespread use? If I went to an Episcopal church in the U.S. and asked the rector "Are you a welcoming congregation?" would he know I was asking about their attitude towards GLBT people, or would he think I was just asking if the congregation was a friendly and welcoming group of people in general? —Angr 09:19, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I don't think it's that global of a term. If Sean can find a source for other churches using the term independent of the spread of WC in the UUA, then that might be a good article title, but it's probably better off at something like Homosexuality and the church. -- nae'blis 12:54, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Within the UCC, "welcoming" and "affirming" "inclusive" are a fairly common euphemisms/code words for churches that want to invite GLBTs. Such terms are smattered across various UCC denominational literature without any reference to UU programs.


 * I recommend we move this content to Welcoming Congregations (UU) and create a new article called welcoming church programs (google Welcoming Church Programs) for sources) to be the repository for information on various LGBT welcoming church efforts. MPS 15:19, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Based on the conversations of this talk page, I have created a new article called LGBT-welcoming church programs that applies to general LGBT-welcoming programs. The current article will be about only the UUA program. MPS 03:33, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

And globalise article
See discussion on this between me and BrownHairedGirl at her talk page... --Haruo 09:23, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Good idea. I know there's an organization called "Homosexuelle und Kirche" in Germany, but that isn't so much an organization that existing congregations belong to as a congregation of its own. Your local chapter of HuK holds services at such-and-such church at such-and-such time (usually once a month) that are separate from that church's normal services. —Angr 09:58, 16 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Wikipedia is an American encyclopedia, and this page deals with a specifically US term. As one would expect from an American encyclopedia, there is no reference to any usage outside the US nor any admission that this is a specifically US article. "Globalising" it is unlikely to do more than decorate a US article with a few non-US instances. If non-US contributors to Wikipedia see the need for pages about "welcoming congregations" in our own countries, we will doubtless create those pages, and hope to see them survive the judgement whether they are "notable" or "non-notable" by US standards. Yonmei 10:58, 16 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Um, no. Wikipedia is an international encyclopedia, not an American one. (Notice how British spellings are allowed, for example.) This article deals with a phenomenon within the Unitarian Universalist church, which is worldwide. If another article is written on the phenomenon of Christian congregations making a special effort to welcome GLBT people, there's no reason that should be specific to the U.S. either. —Angr 11:11, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * This is the English (language) Wikipedia, not the American one, actually. In addition, the UUA is largely an American/Canadian phenomenon; most British churches are either Unitarian or Universalist, for example. Check out http://www.uua.org/CONG/index.php for the relative distribution... -- nae'blis 12:52, 16 October 2006 (UTC), edited 17:06, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I avoided saying "this is the English Wikipedia" because it's ambiguous. This is the English Wikipedia, but not the English Wikipedia. —Angr 13:10, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Grahr. Right, thanks for the catch, I've edited my above comment. -- nae'blis 17:06, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Um, yeah. Two Americans pop up to tell me that Wikipedia is an international encyclopedia? No, it's not. This is an American encyclopedia, and I am just beginning to accept (with bad grace) that wiki editors of other nationalities will either break their heads against a wall trying to introduce a genuinely neutral, international viewpoint when that viewpoint is in contradiction to what most American wikieditors accept as "true", or give up trying. Editors in languages not commonly spoken in the US may get rather more editorial freedom, but for those of us editing English wikipages, we are tentatively adding information to an American encyclopedia, in the sure knowledge that Americans can decide it is "not notable" from an American POV and have it deleted, or that it will contract the US POV, be declared not-NPOV - no matter how neutral/accurate it is from an international POV - and have it edited to the American POV. We're outnumbered and we can't win: but at least we can formally make it clear that this is an American encyclopedia. In short: don't bother globalising it. It's American. Yonmei 15:08, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Oh, I see. I thought you were saying you thought Wikipedia was intended to be an American encyclopedia. Actually, you're saying you're bitter because you made a contribution that got removed, and you've decided to blame it on Americans. Okay, that's your prerogative, but it doesn't change the fact that Wikipedia's scope is indeed global and this article must be clarified as to it's supposed to be about a uniquely American phenomenon (a group of congregations belonging to the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in North America) or a global one (any Christian congregation that welcomes GLBT members, anywhere in the world). —Angr 15:26, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Well, you as an American would interpret it like that, wouldn't you? And as this is an American encyclopedia, you get to consider your interpretation correct, and my experience easily dismissable as a non-American being "bitter" and "blaming the Americans". Wikipedia's scope is indeed global, but that doesn't change the fact that it is an American encyclopedia. Yonmei 16:22, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Ok, kids, break it up. What's the problem here? We are deciding what this article is about... some interpretations are that it is about the UUA (in the United States) welcoming program or about "LGBT church welcoming programs" in general. Are there other interpretations besides these two? If there are German denominations that have denominational programs to welcome LGBTs into their churches then that would fit the second interpretation. MPS 17:01, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * http://www.uua.org/obgltc/wcp/state.html says 500+ US congregations and 24 Canadian. I think this is a UUA/North American concept, and we need a different page for related programs in other churches/denominations/etc. List of Christian denominational positions on homosexuality might be a good place to start. I do think this has a different scope from Homosexuality and Christianity, as we're talking about official programming, rather that theological attitudes per se (and also that it could encompass more than just Christian denominations). -- nae'blis 17:12, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * See above thread on Bizarre UU-ecumenical hybrid MPS 17:48, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * (de-indent) I'm not sure I understand your tack here, Yonmei. The English (language) Wikipedia is designed to be inclusive of topics of possible relevance to English speakers, wherever they live. If you've encountered American-bias, I'm sorry to hear that, but I don't believe the answer is to give up and codify the bias. See also WikiProject Countering systemic bias for efforts to avoid this problem (which is indeed widespread). I have faith in my fellow editors that most of them, when shown the evidence you suggest, will choose a global scope over an American one. It is possible, you know, that the editors get it wrong from time to time. Don't let that sully your view of the entire project, please. -- nae'blis 17:06, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Trying to get some sanity here
In the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland the program is referred to as "Affirming Parishes". I did a Google check of "Affriming Parishes" vs. "Welcoming Parishes" and got 7 pages onthe first, 20 on the second. Using "congregations" instead of "parishes" and screening out "unitarian" got a lot more hits, of course, but part of the problem is that there seems to be an unrelated United Methodist Church program called "Igniting Ministry" which also uses the term.

It seems that there needs to be an expansion of this from just a UU article. However, the problem is that the list of similar programs is at best dubious. I think that the list should be removed and replaced with discussions of the situation in each denomination/whatever-- with citations. We would also need to redirect some of the other names over to here. Mangoe 20:27, 18 October 2006 (UTC)


 * I don't think we should just talk about the situtation -- that's at List of Christian denominational positions on homosexuality. There are similar programs, whether official or not, in many denominations, and it would be worthwhile to have a list of them while talking about what they have in common. --Alynna 14:33, 19 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Not the positions on sexuality, but discussion of this type of program. What is happening with the unadorned list is that people are dropping every advocacy group out there into the list, whether or not it has anything to do with this type of program. Mangoe 14:47, 19 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Ah, I see. Perhaps fix the list to include:
 * For denominations that have such a program (one that congregations can affiliate with), name the program, maybe a line about its official status or lack thereof.
 * For denominations without such a program, say so, if only so people don't keep trying to add something irrelevant.
 * Would something like that make sense? --Alynna 18:22, 19 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Maybe it would be simpler to re-trim this article to be about the UUA program, and make extensive crosslinking/See Also links to other denominations' programs of a related nature. Even saying that they are "equivalent" is original research, more likely than not... I've cut the entire section out temporarily and placed it below; we should only include those we can find an external, reliable source for the comparison (our opinion doesn't matter here, only our sources' opinion). -- nae'blis 21:54, 19 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Based on the conversations of this talk page, I have created a new article called LGBT-welcoming church programs that applies to general LGBT-welcoming programs. The current article will be about only the UUA program. MPS 03:33, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Other Denominations
Similar programs in other denominations are known by a number of names, including:
 * Baptist: Welcoming and Affirming
 * Church of the Brethren, Mennonite Church USA, and Mennonite Church Canada: Supportive Communities Network
 * Christian Church (Disciples of Christ): Open and Affirming.
 * Community of Christ: Welcoming Community Network.
 * Episcopal Church USA: Integrity, Oasis
 * Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada: Reconciling in Christ
 * Metropolitan Community Church: MCC is a church centered in the LGBT community.
 * Presbyterian Church (USA): More Light
 * Roman Catholic Church: DignityUSA works for inclusiveness in the Catholic church, but is not associated with particular congregations.
 * United Church of Canada: Affirm United/S'affirmer Ensemble
 * United Church of Christ: Open and Affirming (abbreviated ONA)
 * United Methodist Church: Reconciling Ministry

Of the above, the ones I can see right away that have established similarities would be Metropolitan Community Church, United Church of Christ's ONA program, and certain Quakers. IntegrityUSA is a grassroots group, not a church-sanctioned program. -- nae'blis 22:32, 19 October 2006 (UTC)


 * In deciding what's "similar", are we only going with church-sanctioned ones? Reconciling Ministries Network isn't church-sanctioned, but it ~is~ a program whereby congregations can declare themselves welcoming to LGBTQ people.  --Alynna 23:46, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

LGBT-welcoming church programs
Based on the recent edit by nae'blis moving non-UU content to the talk page, I have decided to take the initiative to create a new article called LGBT-welcoming church programs. I will also attempt to look at the "what links here" section of this article to reroute non-UU specific links to the new article. MPS 03:07, 20 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Cool. Good solution. --Alynna 03:38, 20 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Thanks a lot for taking the trouble with this. Dybryd 21:21, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

A tardy comment
I don't know where best to reply to a discussion that's nearly two months old, but I suspect there are valid historic reasons for keeping this page with its current name and subject: Unitarian Universalists (the North American variety) quietly adopted a variety of proactive positions toward LGBT equality before many of these issues entered mainstream public discussion. As far back as the early 1970s individual UU ministers started performing same-sex unions. The denomination announced official opposition to AIDS discrimination in 1986. They seem to have been the first in most of these regards, which makes a good argument for their program to be a non-disambuguated article. Durova Charg e! 02:45, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

Merger proposal
Do we need this article and Unitarian Universalist views of homosexuality both? Neither are very long, and the subject matter is too closely related for separate articles. I suggest we merge them together with a new name inclusive of all LGBT with discussion of Welcoming Congregations as well as UU congregations not part of the program. Aleta 11:26, 3 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Sounds reasonable, given the length of the articles. Do you have an idea for a new title? --Alynna 05:57, 4 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Why would it need a new name? What's wrong with Unitarian Universalist views of homosexuality for the whole thing?   Sean Lotz    talk   07:59, 4 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Strange, since I'd consider WC as the proper title, being a self-defined label ("common name") rather than one chosen for parallel structure with other article titles. But I do agree there's no need for two articles; if the Unitarian Universalist views of homosexuality doesn't fully belong here, part of it should go in the main UUA article. -- nae'blis 15:57, 4 January 2007 (UTC)
 * My reason for suggesting the "UU views" name is that it seems more natural for the article to be about the organization's views, "Oh, and here is a program which shows the practical application of those views," rather than, "Here's a program the UU has, and that means that they think thus and such about homosexuality." But it's not anything I would argue at great length. And I would certainly want a redirect from "WC" to "UUVoH".  Sean Lotz    talk   01:19, 6 January 2007 (UTC)
 * I'd choose "UU views..." over WC as the name for the merged article, as WC is part of UU views/position rather than the other way around. But is it more appropriate to keep it as "homosexuality", or be more inclusive of the whole LGBT community, as UUA surely is?  Maybe "Unitarian Universalism and LGBT persons"? --Alynna 05:57, 6 January 2007 (UTC)
 * I like Alynna's proposed title. In general, (1) I think the name needs to be inclusive of all LGBT, as UU is, and (2) WC isn't appropriate because not all UU congregations are part of that program, even if they are welcoming with a small 'w'. Aleta 23:49, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

Location of disambig
This disambig page is currently located at Welcoming Congregation, and Welcoming congregation is a redirect to LGBT-welcoming church programs. I think it might make more sense to have the disambig at Welcoming congregation, and redirect Welcoming Congregation either to the disambig or to the appropriate section of Unitarian Universalism and LGBTQ persons. What do other people think? --Alynna 21:37, 28 March 2007 (UTC)