Becoming an ‘Inclusive Church’

Inclusive Church is a network of churches, groups and individuals uniting together around a shared vision:

“We believe in inclusive Church – a church which celebrates and affirms every person and does not discriminate. We will continue to challenge the church where it continues to discriminate against people on grounds of disability, economic power, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, learning disability, mental health, neurodiversity, or sexuality. We believe in a Church which welcomes and serves all people in the name of Jesus Christ; which is scripturally faithful; which seeks to proclaim the Gospel afresh for each generation; and which, in the power of the Holy Spirit, allows all people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Jesus Christ.”

Inclusive Church produces resources and supports Churches to think about inclusion, particularly in the following areas:

• Mental Health
• Disability
• Gender
• Poverty
• Sexuality
• Ethnicity

We like to think that we welcome all people. Thinking about becoming a formally ‘Inclusive Church’ can provide a chance to reflect on inclusion in the widest sense. A chance to consider how well we are doing at being a safe and welcoming community for all people, and a chance to be in touch with people who can speak from their own experience of inclusion, or lack of inclusion, in Church.

Joining the network also allows people to find a worshipping community where they can feel that they are loved by those around them as God loves them. That is, as they are – not feeling the need to hide or change to fit in.

www.inclusive-church.org