Who is Welcome?

Our church bylaws state:

"This congregation affirms and promotes the full participation of all persons in all our activities and endeavors without regard to race, color, gender, physical or mental challenge, affectional or sexual orientation, age, class, or national origin. We also affirm the practice of affirmative action and the principle of comparable worth to remedy the results of historical discrimination."

Welcoming Congregation

The Welcoming Congregation Program was created for Unitarian Universalist congregations that saw the need to become more inclusive towards bisexual, gay, lesbian and trans gender people. It consists of a series of workshops developed by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). The goal of the workshops is to reduce prejudice by increasing understanding and acceptance among people of different sexual orientation and sexual identity.

In 2001 the Rochester congregation held a series of workshops based on the UUA material and received certification from the UUA as a Welcoming Congregation.

Our No Guns Sign

As you enter our building you are likely to notice our "No Guns Sign."

In the "Minnesota Citizen's Personal Protection Act of 2003", the state legislature created a law stating that if an organization does not want firearms in the building, it must post signs at every building entrance stating this fact. The law specifies the wording and font size of these signs. Under the law, our recourse is limited without such a posting if gunbearers do not leave when asked. Additionally, the law limits our ability to restrict firearms on the church property itself.

At the June 2003 Annual Meeting, our congregation voted to contribute $1,000 to join a lawsuit protesting the law.

On September 9, 2005, Hennepin County District Court judge, LaJune Thomas Lange, issued a temporary injunction that allows churches to post signs of their own wording and to completely ban firearms from all church property, including parking lots. This temporary injunction is the initial result of a lawsuit filed by two churches who argue that the firearm carry law interferes with their religious practices.

learn more about this law ..

Channel One

The Church maintains a collection barrel for Channel One, the community food shelf, which is kept in the coat room. Congregants are encouraged to pick up an extra item or two for Channel One when they shop and to bring their donation to church on Sundays. Although Channel One is most appreciative of cash donations, we feel it is also important to model charitable giving for our children.

The most requested items at the food shelf are hearty canned goods like tuna fish and beef stew, or Hamburger Helper and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Also in demand are all products that support children, such as diapers and formula. Paper goods such as toilet paper and facial tissue are great because they don't go bad.

Please don't bring expired or opened items, which just have to be thrown out anyway.

Thank you for your support of this community outreach effort.