Lakeshore United Church in Goderich wants everyone to feel safe and included in their place of worship. To do that, Lakeshore has become the first church in Huron county to become members of Affirm United.
Affirm United is a partner of The United Church of Canada, working to support all gender identities and sexual orientations.
Lakeshore United Outreach Committee Chair Mandy Sinclair added their congregation wanted to ensure everyone feels welcome.
"We wanted to extend that beyond just the LGBTQ plus community to include people from various economic backgrounds, faiths, religious backgrounds, all ages and abilities," she stressed. "We want them to be participating, and feel welcome to participate in church as well as those of various sexual orientation and gender identities."
Back in October of 2023, an overwhelming majority of the congregation voted to support the motion to join Affirm United. Once their membership was confirmed, they marked the occasion with a service on Sunday April 14, where over 100 members joined the celebration.
"We had members of our quilters, the Sew and Sews, and they've created a new quilt that is displayed proudly in the sanctuary," s he explained." And it has the Affirm United logo. And it just serves as a reminder that as with this accreditation, we are to be public, intentional, and explicit about welcoming the LGBTQ plus community within Lakeshore United Church."
Sinclair explained the process began in 2022 with education about what Affirm United is, why it is important to ensure everyone feels welcome. She stressed part of that is ensuring their message is heard.
"What we sometimes heard was that like, why do we have to be public and intentional and explicit?" Sinclair revealed. "And basically it comes down to just that not everybody does feel welcome to the church and so being so public with our intentions is absolutely mandatory."
Sinclair said their work has just begun.
“We’re planning special worship services, community events, and film screenings as we celebrate our differences and accept them as gifts in a place where new ideas are embraced, rather than feared,” she continued.
That will include a special church service during Pride week in June.
She said their hope is that people feel it as a safer space to worship and to gather, and added they also hope to see new members
"The congregation is quite diverse. So people from all ages, different backgrounds and whatnot, are members and contributing part of the worship and whatnot as at Lakeshore United," she concluded. "It's quite inspiring. I moved back here to Goderich in 2020. And I immediately felt that that was my community in Goderich because of the diversity in the congregation."