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I was browsing through some old comments on Offbeat Bride (as one does), and I came across a lovely wedding greeting left under this post: “Marriage equality issues with hetero ceremonies in Australia.”
Jill left this little tidbit in the comments:
My brother's gay, my husband's best friend is a lesbian, and we work in the theatre, so we had many of the same feelings.
We included a couple of shout outs: the Unitarian greeting of “whoever you are, wherever you're from, whatever you believe, and whomever you love, you are welcome here” was one of the first moments of the ceremony.
Wait, did you miss that?
Whoever you are,
wherever you're from,
whatever you believe,
and whomever you love,
you are welcome here.
How beautiful is that? If you're searching for a way to show solidarity with your loved ones or simply a way to announce that your wedding is a safe space for all, I encourage you to steal this greeting, my Offbeat Brides.
Got another way to show everyone some love at your wedding? Let us know in the comments!
I feel like folks I know will take this as an open invite to bring their entire brood and then some lol.
I don’t know – it doesn’t seem like something that would be printed on the invite, but instead said during the ceremony. I like how it opens up the proceedings with an open and welcoming tone!
Really stupid question: would we be appropriating anything from Unitarians if we stole this opening? I wouldn’t want our Unitarian friends to be like “wtf is up with these atheists stealin’ our sweet opening but I know they tried visiting a Unitarian church and weren’t all about it.”
Since the intention is to build a community predicated on love, understanding and support and that’s what you’d be looking to do in the context you’re using it, I think it’s a respectful lifting instead of appropriation.
If someone were to use this for, say, their next Klan meeting, then it’d be appropriative.
Context matters.
Also, Unitarians are pretty open and sharing…and generally have a decent amount of atheists, actually (I know my godless heathen partner and I are toying with the idea of trying them out).
Reminds me of a joke…
Q: What do you call an atheist with kids?
A: A Universalist Unitarian
I’ve always heard “What do you get when you cross a Mormon and a Unitarian?”
“Someone who rings your doorbell but doesn’t know why.”
I’ve been to Unitarian churches a bunch, they never stuck, but I love the core belief system.
I’m an atheist and a Unitarian.
Actually I don’t know the original source, but my Christian church uses a very similar greeting every Sunday, and you have my permission! 😉
As a Unitarian Universalist (or UU for short) – I am ecstatic to see this here!
My home ‘church’ UUCWC uses something like this phrase in our welcome: ‘No matter where you are from, No matter your orientation, the color of your skin, or the color of your hair – you are welcome here’ . Our Youth Group always cheered at the part about the hair, since most of us dyed it at some point.
Our congregation once debated taking the language out of the welcome before services, it was felt to be unnecessary… and all these different people stood up and said that welcome meant so much to them – those words were what told them that this was a safe space for them that they rarely found elsewhere. Obviously we kept the wording.
So long-story-short PLEASE use UU phrases whenever and wherever – we’ll love it.
I find this quote to be fantastic! I was looking for a good way to convey this type of message to friends and family on our info website and this is a good way to phrase it. Our officiant happens to be a lesbian, some conservative family members have gotten wind of it and are starting to make a fuss. I think this might be a good way to set the tone.
This is fantastic! Nick and I are atheists in Mississippi and we have a gay man as a groomsman. I think this is a great way to remind our more conservative guests to keep unkind comments to themselves. Hopefully.
Anyone who is looking for a more Christian version of this beautiful welcome, this is what we say to welcome folks every Sunday at my (open and affirming) Methodist church:
No matter where you’ve come from or where you’re going,
No matter what you believe or doubt,
No matter what you’re feeling or just not feeling,
No matter what you have or don’t have,
And no matter whom you love,
All of who you are is invited into this space by a God who knows you by name, who loves you, and who wants a personal relationship with you. Thanks be to God!
I plan on having my pastor extend this welcome at my wedding ceremony.
Love it!