A mission of our church is to create welcoming community of diverse individuals.

Toward that end, our congregation proudly displays the rainbow flag of an officially designated "Welcoming Congregation", a congregation where people of any sexual orientation or gender identity can feel at home.

The Unitarian Universalist movement is committed to creating a safe and affirming place for all persons regardless of sexual orientations or gender identities. In 1989 the UU General Assembly instituted the Welcoming Congregation program. Acknowledging that every UU congregation reflects our society's homophobia to a degree, the delegates voted to initiate a sustained and systematic program designed to help congregations create a truly welcoming environment for all persons.

Welcoming Congregation program congregations make a public commitment to:

• Be inclusive and expressive of the concerns of bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender persons at every level of congregational life.
• Celebrate the lives of all people and welcome same-gender couples, recognizing their committed relationships and equally affirming displays of caring and affection with regard to sexual orientation.
• Seek to nurture ongoing dialogue between bisexual, gay, heterosexual, lesbian, and transgender persons, and create deeper trust and sharing.
• Advocate for bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender people, attending to legislative developments and working to promote justice, freedom, and equality in the larger society.

First UU Ann Arbor has been a Welcoming Congregation since 1992 and remains strongly committed to the program. You may want to learn more about our congregation's "Interweave" program.