Towards a Welcoming & Inclusive Church
Join the National LGBTQ Task Force Faith Works group on Facebook
Follow the Shower of Stoles on Twitter- Like the Shower of Stoles on Facebook
- Join the IWR Discussion Forum
- Join our Mailing List
- Locate Your Denomination's Welcoming Program
IWR Resources
A Time to Build Up
AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD!
All in God's Family: Creating Allies for Our LGBT Families
Giving you opportunities to gather with other members of your congregation to pray, to learn, to share, and to work together to transform your lives, your congregation, and your world into a loving place in which God's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender families can thrive.
AVAILABLE NOW!
To Do Justice: A Study of Welcoming Congregations
In order to both highlight the vibrancy, faithfulness and power of the Welcoming Movement and to counter the 'false witness' of those who seek to quash this movement of hospitality and justice, the Institute for Welcoming Resources surveyed pastors and leaders of 1,200 Welcoming congregations to ask them about their work and witness.
AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD!
transACTION
A Transgender Curriculum For Churches and Religious Institutions
AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD!
Liturgical Resource
A Place in God's Heart...
A Place at Christ's Table
Worship Resources for the Welcoming Church Movement
- Click here for index and online resources
- Preview: A Place in God's Heart... A Place at Christ's Table (PDF)
- Download: A Place in God's Heart... A Place at Christ's Table
Contact IWR
Faith in Action
U.S. Lutheran Church Elects Its First Openly Transgender Bishop
A pastor in California became the first openly transgender person to be elevated to the role of bishop in a major American Christian denomination when they were elected on Saturday to lead a synod in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The Rev. Megan Rohrer was elected to a six-year term as bishop of the Sierra Pacific synod, an assembly based in Sacramento that includes about 200 congregations across Northern and Central California and northern Nevada.
Faith Leaders Analyze Fulton v. City of Philadelphia Oral Arguments
On Wednesday, November 3, 2020, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Fulton v. City of Philadelphia.
This case could allow private agencies that receive taxpayer-funding to provide government services — such as foster care providers, food banks, homeless shelters, and more — to deny services to people who are LGBTQ, Jewish, Muslim, or Mormon—or who otherwise affront an organization’s “deeply held religious beliefs.”
Task Force Announces 2021 Leadership Changes
The National LGBTQ Task Force today announced that longtime Executive Director Rea Carey will be stepping down in early 2021. Carey has been with the organization since 2003 as a Senior Strategist, then Deputy Executive Director, and became its Executive Director in 2008. The Board of Directors has unanimously selected Kierra Johnson, who has served as Deputy Executive Director since 2018, as its next Executive Director beginning February 1, 2021.
Carey is one of the most respected leaders in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) movement. Through her leadership, she has advanced a vision of freedom for LGBTQ people and their families that is broad, inclusive and progressive and has grown the organization in depth, influence and reach.
On her departure, Carey said, “From overturning discriminatory policies and passing LGBTQ inclusive laws to celebrating marriage at the Supreme Court, to being arrested alongside immigration activists, to the energy of our Creating Change Conferences, it has been a remarkable ride. Just to be alive during a time of such progress over the last many years has been astounding, and to serve the LGBTQ community in my 17 years at the National LGBTQ Task Force has been the joy and honor of a lifetime. We have faced down many obstacles together and made tangible progress for LGBTQ people and our families. I have worked to ensure that we can be all of who we are in our multiple identities as immigrants, as people of color, as parents, as people experiencing homelessness, as voters, as people of faith, as trans and bi, as workers. Together, we have fought to love who we want to love, for sexual freedom, to be free of violence and oppression in all its forms, to be seen, valued, and celebrated as fully human. The Task Force is and always will be my activist home. As I move on, I am happy to leave the Task Force in a stable, sustainable place and am excited for our community and country to benefit from all that Kierra will bring to this role. She is the perfect person for the times, to lead the Task Force and the movement to adapt and to achieve the new dreams our future holds.” Rea’s full letter to the Task Force community can be found here.
Said Kierra Johnson: “I am thrilled to join the long, proud legacy of the many powerful activists that have led this amazing organization. While the world grapples with the convergence of so many storms rooted in injustice, we are proud to stand at the center as an LGBTQ+ voice across our many identities and issues. I am inspired by the multitudes of Black, Brown and Indigenous people that have unapologetically claimed space, power and influence to make change so desperately needed for our communities. I am moved to action by the defiance, creativity and persistence of transgender, non-binary, genderqueer, bisexual, and intersex people that push us to demand a world where we all thrive. The Task Force will work to create a world where checking boxes is obsolete, but health, wellness, equity, justice, joy and pleasure are accessible to everyone. I look forward to building on the powerful legacy of the National LGBTQ Task Force. Through devastating defeats and glorious victories, the Task Force has always been there for our entire community. Whether we are in the streets or in the halls of Congress, we will lead and leverage our LGBTQ+ power alongside our allies and colleagues to rebuild our democracy, combat discrimination in all forms, and ensure economic stability and equity for all.”
The Task Force Board of Directors celebrated Carey’s tenure and Johnson’s incoming leadership by saying, “Combining fiery advocacy with integrity and self-described nerdy fastidiousness, Rea Carey has enabled the Task Force to lead a generation’s contribution towards social justice. She has led the Task Force during one of the largest expansions of rights for LGBTQ people in our nation’s history and has shown that progress comes through collaboration, a range of strategies, and a focus on the connections between the many ways LGBTQ people live their lives. She believes that freedom for any oppressed people requires freedom for all who experience bias, stigma, and cruelty from others. She has brought charm and wit to her job, has served to convene the other leaders of the LGBTQ movement, and has spoken profound truths with a clarion voice that echoes in today’s broader move toward equality, equity, and freedom. We will miss her generosity and brilliance but are fortunate to now join together to support Kierra Johnson, who speaks to this moment with fierceness and compassion that are entirely her own. Kierra is an activist, an artist and an advocate for all that is righteous. Her background in reproductive justice speaks to the breadth and intersectionality of the Task Force’s mission, and her experiences as a BIPOC will resonate with so many in our economically, racially, sexually, and otherwise diverse community. Her expertise, passion and dedication will enhance and grow the strong organization that Rea has helped to build, and her gift for laughter and kindness will radiate into the LGBTQ lives we seek to lift up. Our next chapter could not shine brighter than it will with Kierra.”
During Carey’s tenure, she has led the Task Force to conduct its work through a racial, economic, gender and social justice lens, and to serve as a progressive voice in the LGBTQ community and an LGBTQ voice on progressive issues. She has emphasized and led organizational collaboration across the LGBTQ movement and with non-LGBTQ civil rights, women’s, racial justice and other progressive partner organizations. Her approach to leadership has delivered results as diverse as LGBTQ inclusion in broader legislation; passage of an LGBTQ-inclusive federal hate crimes prevention law; defeating multiple state anti-LGBT ballot measures; fighting discrimination against transgender people; winning marriage equality; successfully securing scores of changes in federal agency policies to attend to the needs of the LGBTQ community; centering immigration, voting rights, and access to abortion and reproductive justice as LGBTQ issues; and, serving as the watchdog on the Trump Administration’s attacks on LGBTQ people and their families.
More recently, the Task Force’s highly successful and impactful campaigns, including the Queer the Census and Queer the Vote initiatives, have been critical to ensuring LGBTQ voices are heard publicly and behind the scenes with policymakers at federal agencies.
Prior to her work with the Task Force, Carey worked extensively in HIV/AIDS prevention and activism on issues affecting youth experiencing homelessness and LGBTQ youth, and in organization and leadership development. Carey is a Hunt Alternatives’ Prime Movers Fellow, served on the board of the Alliance for Justice, and currently serves on the boards of directors for the Flamboyan Foundation and the Freeman Foundation.
The Task Force’s next Executive Director, Kierra Johnson, joined the Task Force in 2018 as Deputy Executive Director but was already engaged with the organization, having previously served on the National LGBTQ Task Force’s board of directors and on its National Action Council. Johnson came to the Task Force, after serving as URGE’s Executive Director with a wealth of experience in organizational leadership and management, program development, youth leadership and reproductive justice. She is recognized as a national expert on queer and reproductive rights issues and has testified in front of the U.S. House of Representatives and has appeared in Newsweek, The New York Times, Fox News, Feministing.com and National Public Radio. Johnson also serves on the boards of directors of the General Service Foundation, Groundswell Fund, and Guttmacher Institute. As a, pansexual Black woman, Johnson will become one of few out queer-identified women of color at the helm of a national LGBTQ organization.
STATEMENTS FROM COLLEAGUES
“Rea has done an extraordinary job building upon the Task Force’s proud history of advocating for the power and dignity of LGBTQ people who are so often disenfranchised because of their race, economic status, and gender identity. But more than that, she has forged incredibly strong ties to other social justice movements by never wavering on the principle that the struggle for ‘gay rights’ is inextricably part of the struggle for the rights of women, people of color, immigrants, and workers. Rea has been the glue that’s held our movement together in rough times. While Kierra has big shoes to fill, I have complete confidence in her ability to do that and more.”
Matt Foreman, Senior Program Director, Haas Jr. Fund; former Task Force Executive Director
“For decades, The Task Force has been my political north star as a gay man of color. In large part, that’s because of the visionary, soulful, principled and effective leadership that Rea Carey has brought as leader of the organization for 17 years. Our movements, families and communities owe her a profound debt of gratitude for all the progress we’ve made on issues—and for building a stronger, more diverse and more resilient movement. I can think of no one better to take on the mantle of leadership in this moment of history than Kierra Johnson, whose intersectional approach to social change and broad and deep experience across many issues and social movements make her perfectly positioned to drive a next generation of progress for LGBTQ people. She’s got the vision, integrity and savvy we need to lead us through unprecedented challenges.”
Deepak Bhargava, Distinguished Lecturer of Urban Studies, School of Labor and Urban Studies, CUNY; Fellow, Roosevelt Institute; former President of Community Change
“Few leaders in our movement have had the grit and determination of Rea Carey, who has dedicated most of her adult life to fighting for freedom, justice, equality and equity for LGBTQ people. She never lost sight of the fact that ours is an intersectional movement, as she worked to build vital coalitions with progressive partners. And throughout it all, Rea always treated her colleagues with respect and kindness. She will be deeply missed but, thankfully, she is leaving the Task Force in Kiera Johnson’s capable hands. Here’s to the next stage of the Task Force’s journey!”
Lorri L. Jean, Chief Executive Officer, Los Angeles LGBT Center; former Task Force Executive Director
“Rea Carey, the LGBTQ movement is better off because of your leadership. Your actions helped to turn us from independent agencies that were fighting for turf and power into a movement of collaborators. The HIV community owes you a huge debt for bringing our issues back into the LGBTQ agenda. You will be missed. NMAC is very excited to work with Kiera Johnson. As the first Black executive director of the Task Force, she is a much-needed voice during these challenging times.”
Paul Kawata, Executive Director, NMAC (National Minority AIDS Council
“Today, we recognize and celebrate Rea Carey for her many contributions to strengthening and broadening the impact of the National LGBTQ Task Force. Rea has developed smart strategies, built deep and diverse partnerships, and worked to advance a whole person approach that ensures that LGBTQ people are able to advocate for themselves to end discrimination in every aspect of their lives. She has also been a key strategist in the broader progressive movement, making important connections across issues and movements. Today, we also celebrate the announcement of the incoming Executive Director, Kierra Johnson. Kierra is a brilliant, visionary, and collaborative leader who has a long history of leading in reproductive justice and the LGBTQ movements. She will bring forward an audacious vision and lead The Task Force towards a future where every LGBTQ person can be free to be their entire selves. Having known Kierra and Rea for many years now, we should all feel comforted and hopeful by this leadership transition between these two, amazing people.”
Sarita Gupta, former Co-Director of Jobs With Justice and Caring Across Generations; Director| Future of Work(ers) Program
Multi-Faith Work
NEW DOCUMENTARY!
"In Our Fullness: Faith and Activism Across Difference"
presents conversations with activists about faith-based work for radical social change around issues including sexuality, gender, race, class, and age. The video includes powerful testimonies from activists representing Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Native spiritualities, presenting challenges and successes in faith-based progressive-left coalition building.
Produced by the Institute for Welcoming Resources, a Project of the National LGBTQ Task Force, in partnership with the Macalester College Chuck Green Civic Engagement Fellowship.
For more information: info@WelcomingResources.org
Additional Ecumenical & Multi-Faith Groups Convened by IWR
Resources from IWR Available
NEW RESOURCE NOW AVAILABLE!!!
Stronger Together
Supporting LGBT Asylum Seekers in the United States
Kol B’mishpachat Elohim
All in God's Family: A Jewish Guide for Creating Allies for Our LGBT Families
National LGBT Rights Organizations Launch First-Of-Its-Kind Jewish Curriculum for Faith Leaders
New Resource to Help Jewish Faith Leaders with Creating A Welcoming Community for LGBT people
WASHINGTON, DC, Aug. 28, 2014-Today, the National LGBTQ Task Force's Institute for Welcoming Resources, Keshet, COLAGE, and Family Equality Council released a curriculum designed to help Jewish congregations support and embrace lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) members and their families. Titled "Kol B'mishpachat Elohim / All in God's Family: A Jewish Guide for Creating Allies for Our LGBT Families," the multimedia curriculum provides tools to support Jewish congregations in their efforts to create inclusive institutions for LGBT people and their families.
"Our work to secure basic rights and full equality for LGBT people has advanced thanks to the commitment and compassion of our faith leaders and communities of faith," says David Lohman, Faith Work Faith Resource Manager at the National LGBTQ Task Force. "For people of faith, their religious community is the bedrock of their work for fairness, justice, and equality. We believe that LGBT people and their families deserve the same love and honor as all of God's beloved families. This curriculum will help congregations extend God's extravagant welcome to all of God's families - particularly LGBT families."
"Kol B'mishpachat Elohim" includes concrete tools to help leaders, including a step-by-step guide to supporting LGBT families of faith, and frameworks for facilitating group learning, community dialogue, text-study, and community action planning to highlight LGBT families in our communities. Additionally, the curriculum utilizes "Families Like Mine," a book about adults with LGBT parents written by Abigail Garner, whose father is gay; the youth-produced documentary "In My Shoes: Stories of Youth with LGBT Parents"; and a phototext exhibit "That's So Gay: Portraits of Youth with LGBT Parents."
"LGBT families are a part of every Jewish community," says Idit Klein, Executive Director of Keshet. "We are thrilled to make this new resource available together with our partners and look forward to seeing our families embraced and honored. Full inclusion makes a community stronger and more vibrant for all of us."
"Finding a welcoming and inclusive faith community is a priority for some LGBTQ parents," says Gabriel Blau, Executive Director of Family Equality Council. "And that can be difficult in many regions of our country, even today. Although these parents may want to raise their children in a community that shares their values and beliefs, they also want their children to be embraced. That's why we partnered to put together 'Kol B'mishpachat Elohim.' We know that there are increasing numbers of congregations out there that want to welcome our families and we want to give them any tools that we can to do so more fully."
"For youth and adults with LGBTQ parents, finding a faith community where your family is respected and reflected can be a challenge," says Meredith Fenton, previous program director for COLAGE. "COLAGE is pleased to be a partner on 'Kol B'mishpachat Elohim' and invites your faith community to use these tools to move beyond acceptance to full inclusion and celebration of LGBTQ families."
Companion Resources:
- Documentary: “In My Shoes”
- Phototext Exhibit: “That’s So Gay”
- Book: Families Like Mine by Abigail Garner
Building an Inclusive Church
Training and a Toolkit
A Welcoming Toolkit 2.0
Drawing upon thirty years of experience within a variety of Christian denominations, this Toolkit is a step-by-step guide to help facilitate a Welcoming Process in your local congregation. Biblically and theologically based, it uses tools of relational organizing, congregational assessment, conflict management and change theory.
AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD!
- Preveiw Building an Inclusive Church: A Welcoming Toolkit - Version 2.0 (pdf)
- Click here to download Building an Inclusive Church: A Welcoming Toolkit - Version 2.0
Hearts Unbound: Engaging Biblical texts of God’s Radical Love through Reader’s Theater
by David R. Weiss
The overwhelming message of the Bible, in story after story, is that of God’s radical love and welcome. Every time we think we know who’s in and who’s out, God does something to challenge those assumptions, to unbind our hearts and minds from old ways of understanding, and to draw the circle ever wider.
HEARTS UNBOUND invites you to explore ten of those inspiring stories of radical love and welcome. Entertaining, thought-provoking, and participatory, each session looks in-depth at the story, the historical context out of which it came, and some of the insights to be gained.
Designed to be used as a small-group Bible study, HEARTS UNBOUND uses the format of Reader’s Theater. But fear not… no costumes, sets, or refined acting chops needed! All you need are six to eight people around a table, reading the script, having fun, all the while learning a great deal in the process.
All ten sessions are available for free download below.
- Download Hearts Unbound- Complete Set of all 10 sessions in one file (9.97 MB - pdf)
- PREVIEW: 1. HIDDEN IN THE KING’S BLOOD: A Faithful Outsider Brought In - The Book of Ruth (pdf)
- DOWNLOAD: 1. HIDDEN IN THE KING’S BLOOD: A Faithful Outsider Brought In - The Book of Ruth
- DOWNLOAD: 2. MUCH MORE THAN A BIG FISH TALE: God’s Reluctant Prophet to the Unchosen - The Book of Jonah
- DOWNLOAD: 3. HEALING – ON GOD’S TIME: Jesus and the Sabbath - Mark 2:23–3:6 / Luke 13:10–17
- DOWNLOAD: 4. CRUMBS FOR DOGS: Jesus’ Encounter with the Canaanite Woman - Matthew 15:21–28
- DOWNLOAD: 5. SAYING THE S-WORD: The Parable of the Good Samaritan - Luke 10:25–37
- DOWNLOAD: 6. BESIDES THOSE ALREADY GATHERED: Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch - Acts 8:26–39
- DOWNLOAD: 7. BLANKETED BY SURPRISE: Peter and Cornelius - Acts 10:1–48
- DOWNLOAD: 8. SIGNS AND WONDERS: The Gentiles and the Council of Jerusalem - Acts 15:1–33
- DOWNLOAD: 9. GRACE AT THE TABLE AND BEYOND: Paul’s Argument for Extravagant Welcome - The Book of Galations
- DOWNLOAD: 10. SODOMY MEANS INHOSPITALITY: The Tale of Sodom and Gomorrah - Genesis 19:1–25
National LGBTQ Task Force, HRC y UNID@S presentan nueva guía bilingüe dirigida a familias e iglesias latinas para educar sobre la orientación sexual, la identidad de género y la Biblia
En un esfuerzo por promover el diálogo dentro de las familias e iglesias latinas sobre la orientación sexual, la identidad de género y la Biblia, el National LGBTQ Task Force, la Campaña de Derechos Humanos y UNID@S, presentaron hoy una nueva guía bilingüe, A La Familia, Una Conversación Sobre Nuestras Familias, la Biblia, la Orientación Sexual y la Identidad de Género en una conferencia de prensa durante la 82va convención nacional de la Liga de Ciudadanos Latinoamericanos Unidos (LULAC por sus siglas en inglés) en Cincinnati, Ohio.
"LULAC está en contra de todo tipo de discriminación. Me siento muy orgullosa de mi estado natal al aprobar los matrimonios entre personas del mismo sexo", dijo Ralina Cardona, directora estatal de Nueva York para LULAC. "Como americanos, tenemos que aceptar nuestras diferencias. Es lo que separa a este gran país. No todos somos de la misma cultura, color, orientación sexual o religión, pero todos somos americanos y en nuestra unidad está nuestra fuerza, pero en nuestras diferencias está nuestro poder".
Más artículos sobre A La Familia en español
- Guía para cristianos gay latinos - Consejos para integrar la fe y la orientación sexual en familias e iglesias
- Ambiente y Encuentros para la Comunidad Gay
HRC, National LGBTQ Task Force and UNID@S release new bilingual guide on sexual orientation, gender identity and the Bible for Latino/a families and churches
In an effort to foster a dialogue with Latino/a families and churches on sexual orientation, gender identity and the Bible, the National LGBTQ Task Force, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and UNID@S, unveiled today a new bilingual guide, A La Familia: A Conversation About Our Families, the Bible, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity at a press conference during the League of United Latin American Citizens' 82nd National Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people often face unique challenges in Latino/a families and churches. To help in the process of acceptance and inclusion, A La Familia is born out of a profound desire to faithfully integrate an excluded group of people back into the life of their churches and families. This guide is written for two primary audiences: heterosexual people honestly struggling with LGBT issues and the Bible, and those whose sexual orientation and gender identity have marginalized them within their family or church or even both.
The Institute for Welcoming Resources is delighted to be a partner in the transdenominational Believe Out Loud campaign. Believe Out Loud provides a much-needed national network for churches committed to welcoming and affirming lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people as beloved children of God.
Believe OUT LOUD is based in a simple truth: Privately believing that LGBT persons should have an equal share in our church and society is not enough; we must publicly proclaim that belief. Believe OUT LOUD gives the congregations, parishes and missions of our denominations the means to do exactly that.
New Believe OUT LOUD web site!
