UUSG

A Welcoming Congregation

In June 2012, Unitarian Universalists of Coastal Georgia was officially designated a Welcoming Congregation by the Unitarian Universalist Association. By becoming a 'Welcoming Congregation' it means we have completed a year-long procedure that confirms our determination to all bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender people. To reach this goal, a series of workshops were held to better acquaint members of the congregation to the benefits of welcoming those who may be of a different sexual persuasion. In the picture above, Mary Freeman and Meg Musselman , two of our members active in the Welcoming Congregation program, hold up the certificate designating UUCG as a Welcoming Congregation. In June 2011, the congregation voted overwhelmingly to apply to the Unitarian Universalist Association to obtain the official status of a welcoming congregation. One of the first steps was to distribute surveys to members of the congregation to begin an inventory of our attitudes and comfort levels. Results showed that UUCG, as we would expect, has a very welcoming spirit. Further understanding can deepen our willing welcome. In the UUA's 'Welcoming Congregation Handbook,' the authors describe something called 'heart-lag'-- situations when our spirit is willing but our feelings aren't. We fully intend, rationally, to practice openness/acceptance/ welcome; however, our feelings surprise us with resistance, a 'heart' reaction contrary to our 'head's' thought. The WC Handbook assures us that it's human for the 'heart' to lag behind the head sometimes. For more information, contact the Co-Team Leaders of the WC Core Team, Barbara Sprouse and Mary Freeman. Thanks to the Unitarian Fellowship at Statesboro, especially to their minister Rev. Dr. Jane Page for working with us as both our congregations begin this WC journey and to Beth Butterfield and Dee Liston whose UUFS newsletter article served as our guide.

What's Happening at UUCG

Our building: After meeting in several locations in the Golden Isles area over a 10-year period, the congregation purchased, remodeled and moved into its own church building in 2008. The building, located at 1710 Gloucester Street in Brunswick, was a former law office. It has proved to be ideally suited to meet our current needs. In addition to a large area that has been converted into a 100-seat sanctuary and multi-purpose room, the building has three smaller rooms that serve as classrooms and an office. There also are a kitchen and two bathrooms. There are several parking places on the land, with much more parking available across the street. We previously had purchased land near the old Court House in historic downtown Brunswick and had intended to build there. But when this property became available, our plans were changed. A very joyous dedication for the new building was held on Jan. 25, 2009.

Welcoming Congregation, Green Sanctuary: Our congregation has officially been designated a Welcoming Congregation by the Unitarian Universalist Association and has taken significant steps at becoming a Green Sanctuary. See story on Welcoming Congregation on this page. For more information on these programs, click on the names in previous sentence.