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Today, about 4,500 mainline Christian congregations across the country have formally voted to be welcoming of gay people. To counter the outsized influence of the religious right in policy debates about gay and lesbian rights, the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund wants to see the number of inclusive and welcoming churches grow. We are working with the Institute for Welcoming Resources to achieve this goal.
Established in 2002, the Institute provides resources and guidance to churches as they travel down the path toward full inclusiveness of LGBT congregants. The institute’s aim is to help build church homes that are truly welcoming and nurturing, where all people know “they're okay, just like they are.”
The institute’s resources include books, articles, sermons, liturgies, songs, films and more – a wide array of materials that churches and their congregants and leaders can use to advocate on behalf of LGBT individuals. In addition, the institute sponsors exhibits, conferences and trainings designed to inspire and equip members and leadership in the Welcoming Church Movement. The institute also works to build and expand networks, both within and outside the movement, to support its goals.
The Rev. Rebecca Voelkel, who directs the institute for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, regularly makes the case for churches to be more welcoming of gays and lesbians.
“Welcoming and affirming congregations do better financially, on average, than their counterparts who aren't welcoming and affirming,” she said in a recent speech. “Congregations that are welcoming and affirming are more likely to be involved in other social justice movements. And the welcoming and affirming process allows a kind of speaking truth – about each of our individual lives, about our faith, about our fears, about our desires – that does, indeed, set us free.”
