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The Affirming and Inclusivity Team is looking for new members.  Join us! 

Join us as we learn about inclusivity and diversity, and unlearn prejudice and discrimination. We want Trinity to be a place where people feel safe to be their authentic selves.

 

As members of Affirm United, we continue to give prominence to the Pride community, while for 2025 the team has Anti-Racism as a focus, and we will also learn about Autism and Neurodiversity this year. 

 

In order to be as inclusive as our Affirming Statement boldly declares us to be, we need to shine light on the barriers that exclude people because of their ages, genders, gender identities, sexual orientations, races, abilities, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and economic circumstances. When we can see the barriers, we can work on dismantling them.

 

Here are some of the things we do:

 

During February, Black History Month, the team will begin to explore our Anti-Racism committment with a focus on Anti-Black Racism, and February 23rd we will lead a Sunday Worship Service with that focus.

 

PIE Day, March 14 (3.14), is a special day for Affirming Ministries every year.  To mark this day, the Affirming and Inclusivity Team serves pies at Fill My Cup to remind us that at Trinity we are committed to the Public, Intentional, and Explicit inclusion of 2SLGBTQIA+ people. What kind of events do you think would make PIE Day more meaningful and more fun?

 

June is Pride Month in York Region.  On June 16, 2024, Trinity officially became an Affirming Congregation. We will celebrate this anniversary every year. The Affirming and Inclusivity Team participates in the York Pride Parade marching down Main Street, and continues Trinity’s hospitality role on the lawn. In 2023, we held a Pride Month Family Activity Day, which included participating in the Newmarket Public Library’s Drag Queen Storytime. Can you suggest any activities that will make our Pride Month extra fun and impactful?

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About us:

The Affirming Church Team led the congregation through the Open Hearts Affirming Ministry Program to a unanimous vote to become an Affirming Congregation, members of Affirm United/S'affirmer Ensemble.  Affirming is a designation.  Trinity United Church in Newmarket joins more than 300 United Churches across Canada designated and listed as a safe space for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and other marginalized groups. The Affirming Church Team created our Affirming Statement and Trinity has promised to have an ongoing committee with a mandate to continue to learn about and share with the congregation ways to live out our Affirming Statement. That committee is the Affirming and Inclusivity Team.

 

Contact:

• churchoffice@trinityuc.ca (Trinity Office)

• renate.naghavi@gmail.com (Renate Naghavi, Chair of the Affirming and Inclusivity Team)

 

​Learn about Affirm United here: Affirm United

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