Identity-Based Ministries
Identity-Based Ministries seeks to make Unitarian Universalism a welcoming, inclusive, empowering, and just faith for Unitarian Universalists who identify as bisexual, gay, lesbian, and/or transgender; economically oppressed; Latina/Latino and Hispanic; multiracial families; people of color; and people with disabilities. Ministries of this staff group focus on advocacy, education, and support related to policies, practices, and programs that support leadership development, community building, and organizing among constituents identified above. In addition, Identity-Based Ministries works collaboratively with UUA staff groups, and consults with continental committees, affiliates, and constituents to develop resources that educate congregations about how to dismantle institutional and cultural ableism, classism, heterosexism/ homophobia, and racism.
Programs and Services
Identity-Based Ministries' resources include leadership development and community building/organizing materials, educational curricula, workshops, worship and ceremonial guides, and information referrals. An essential service is consultation for ministers, religious professionals, and lay leaders who are engaged in anti-racist, anti-oppressive, multicultural transformation of congregations. Programs for congregations include accessibility education and consultation, Beyond Categorical Thinking, Welcoming Congregation, and Living the Welcoming Congregation. A new program in development is Building the World We Dream About, a welcoming congregation curriculum that will focus on ways to affirm and include persons who identify as people of color and/or Latina/Latino and Hispanic and ministries that support families of color and multiracial families.
Office of Accessibility Concerns
The Office of Accessibility Concerns works to cultivate and institutionalize a “theology of wholeness and justice.” Working in partnership with religious professionals, lay leaders, and the Board-appointed Accessibilities Committee, the goal is total accessibility so that people living with physical, sensory, emotional, and cognitive disabilities can fully participate in worship, study, service, and leadership. The Office of Accessibility Concerns develops educational materials, worship resources, and offers consultative services, working with UUA staff groups, districts, congregations, and individuals to eliminate attitudinal, architectural, and institutional barriers at every level.
Office of Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Concerns (OBGLTC)
OBGLTC works to foster acceptance, inclusion, understanding, and equity for bisexual, gay, lesbian, and/or transgender persons of all colors, races, and ethnicities, both within the UUA and in society at large. OBGLTC helps individuals and congregations confront homophobia and heterosexism and affirms the inherent worth and dignity of persons of all sexual orientations and gender expressions and identities through the Welcoming Congregation and Living the Welcoming Congregation Programs, the Family Matters Task Force, and other areas of the Association's programs. Resources include educational, ceremonial, and program materials; consultations; workshop leadership; advocacy; information referral; and conflict resolution.
Office of Racial and Ethnic Concerns
The Office of Racial and Ethnic Concerns provides leadership in the development of strategies and resources to make Unitarian Universalism welcoming, affirming, and inclusive of Latinas/os and Hispanics, multiracial families, and people of color. Services include advocacy, consultation, resource development, and support for Unitarian Universalist religious professionals, lay leaders, and seminarians who identify as people of color, Latina/o and Hispanic, and/or multiracial. In addition, this office provides support for leadership development and community building to UU affiliate organizations and committees that represent the interests of the constituents named above. A program in development is Anti-Racism for People of Color which focuses on providing anti-racism and anti-oppression programming that incorporates the perspectives, experiences, and concerns of Unitarian Universalists of color.
Beyond Categorical Thinking Program
The Beyond Categorical Thinking (BCT) Program helps congregations in the ministerial search process to identify unconscious biases related to ability/disability, gender identification/ expression, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation when considering ministerial candidates. The program, which has existed since 1989, has been credited with increasing the likelihood of congregational calls for ministers who identify as one or more of the following identities: bisexual, gay, lesbian, and/or transgender; people of color and/or Latina/o and Hispanic; and people with disabilities. BCT trainers spend a weekend at the congregation where they lead and/or participate in Sunday worship, conduct a 3-hour congregational workshop, and engage in dialogue with the ministerial search committee. Congregational history and issues of age, class, and gender can be incorporated by special request of the search committee. All congregations in search are encouraged to undertake the BCT program. For more information, visit www.uua.org/programs/idbm/bct or contact Rev. Keith Kron at kkron@uua.org  .
For more information, contact idbm@uua.org .
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