Multicultural Welcome Ministry (MWM)
UUCF's Multicultural Welcome Ministry seeks to help respond to recommendations from Widening the Circle of Concern: Report of the UUA Commission on Institutional Change, especially from the section on "Hospitality & Inclusion." Our efforts may also contribute to the report's recommendations on "Congregations & Communities" and "Living Our Values in the World." We are also guided by our UU 8th Principle: "journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions."
We seek to improve diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at UUCF through our welcoming of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), as well as people from other historically marginalized identities, especially those who are under-represented at UUCF. We also explicitly incorporate multigenerational inclusion and equity to improve our congregational diversity in that dimension, as well. We are learning to curate and implement best practices for training greeters and other lay leaders in intercultural competency. A guiding question is, "How do we intentionally educate those who are the front-face of our community to embrace all who seek sanctuary among us in a way that is experienced as welcoming?"
We are committed to co-creating a welcoming congregation through
- deep listening
- eliminating the dominance of White culture in our welcoming activities, while
- connecting every person into communities in which they have a sense of belonging and know that they matter.
We also aim for UUCF to be seen as a good, reliable partner and resource in the larger, more diverse community. In this way, we can promote UU values and principles while we live into them. Therefore, this ministry is larger than simply striving to grow our own UUCF membership. In fact, it is much more about cultural change at UUCF and about building bridges with new members and friends beyond our traditional congregational circles.
Guidelines for the Roles and Responsibilities of our Sunday Welcome Team volunteers including Greeters, Ushers, Welcome Desk Hosts and Welcome Guides can be found here. These volunteers are the front-face of the UUCF community's embrace of all who seek sanctuary among us.
The Steering Committee:
- Bruce Fry
- Jerry Hutton
- Gary Magnuson (convenor)
- Bobbi Mead
- Steve Ramberg (recorder)
- Dick Roblin
- Alice Wong
If you would like to learn more or join with us, please speak to any of our Sunday service volunteers at the Welcome Desk or wearing an orange badge. Inquiries and suggestions are always welcome.
(The short link to this webpage is frederickuu.org/welcome.)