Affirming Ministries are not dramatically different from other United Church ministries. They worship, pray, support, serve, seek, celebrate, learn, work, and grow, just like other ministries. But if you look carefully, you may notice explicit and proactive statements of welcome, inclusion, and justice-seeking for people who have been historically marginalized and excluded within the church and in society.

•  Signs of welcome, such as
› a community that is visibly diverse in culture, national origin, ability, class, age, and ethnicity
•  Signs of celebration, such as
› an invitation for the community to join in celebrating an interfaith or same-gender wedding, or an invitation to an intercultural or interfaith event
•  Signs of inclusion and care, such as
› youth and children leading music and community prayers
› language in worship that is explicitly inclusive of human diversity in many forms
•  Signs of learning and growth, such as
› an adult book club or study group that is reading about being a marginalized person
•  Signs of justice-making and outreach, such as
› a queer and questioning youth group meeting in the building