USH became a Welcoming Congregation in 2004, when the congregation voted to officially and fully welcome lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender people to USH. In 2014 we proudly called a LGBTQ family to serve as our co-ministers.

Being welcoming means we strive for radical inclusion and work to create spaces that honor every part of our identities, backgrounds and experiences.

We practice welcome in our congregation by:

• Promoting inclusivity and using inclusive language
• Creating welcoming spaces, including gender neutral bathrooms
• Saying our welcome out loud and in print and online
• Building our welcoming skills as congregational leaders and greeters
• Deepening our understanding of identities that differ from our own
• Offering sexuality education for the entire lifespan
• Preventing discrimination in the process of hiring a minister
• Engaging in justice ministry in our communities and the wider world
• Regularly engaging in Welcoming Congregation programming and ministry