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Within the United Church of Canada is a a process whereby a congregation, council or other ministry becomes 'Affirming'.  The purpose is to work at becoming (and staying) inclusive in our ministry to our community.  This includes potential barriers like age, gender, race, ability, class, econominc status and, in particular, gender identity and sexual orinetation.

Affirm United/S'affirmer Ensemble (www.affirmunited.ause.ca) began shortly after the United Church of Canada
"General Council 32 declared that all people regardless of sexual orientation are welcome as full members of the United Church, and all members are eligible to be considered for ordered ministry. It also affirms that God's intention for all human relationships (both heterosexual and homosexual couples) is that they be faithful, responsible, just, loving, health-giving, healing, and sustaining of community and self." (https://united-church.ca/sites/default/files/lgbtqia-two-spirit-timeline.pdf)

There are presently over 200 UCC churches that are affirming, and another 100 are in the process of becoming affirming.

At our local AGM in 2024 our congregation voted to begin this process.  In action and attitude we have been very open and supportive of LGBTQ+ people having active roles within our community of faith.  For us, the process of becoming affirming will not require us to change our perspective, but to broaden and enlighten it.  We know that there are ways that we can become more inclusive in the areas listed above, and these next months will see us discovering and working on the issues we discover.  For example, we know that a number of our members have mobiility or hearing concerns, and we are already pursuing ways to improve our accessibility in these areas.  We have a team of members that are carrying the torch and they will be bringing various ideas to the congregation.  We know this will take time and effort, but are committed to making sure that folks in our local community and beyond know that they are truly welcome and loved, just as they are welcome and loved within the family of God.

We are excited about becoming more Public, Intentional and Explicit (PIE) in our inclusivity.