SAFE, WELCOMED, VALUED, RESPECTED

At Chichester Quaker Meeting all are welcome, respected, valued and safe to fully participate as their true selves, free from assumptions and stereotypes about gender and sexuality, as we seek to discover and follow the inward light in which we walk.

In our sharing of personal stories we have come to recognise the need to support both those people with diverse gender and/or sexual identities and their friends and families, who may be struggling in coming to terms with their own personal responses and feelings.

We acknowledge too that we are all at different stages of our personal journeys in our understanding of diversity in gender and sexual identities. We do not want to be divided by the words we use but rather ‘feel where the words come from’* We trust that together we can deepen our understanding so that Chichester Quaker Meeting truly becomes a place where all are welcome, supported and nurtured.

We rejoice in our own diversity and in creating a place where we can listen to and connect with one another and, ‘helping one another up with a tender hand’ ** accompany one another with love.

*Taken from John Woolman’s journal for 1763
** Isaac Pennington, 1667, Quaker Faith and Practice 10.01

Adopted by Chichester LQM at the Business Meeting held on Sunday 3rd September 2017 and this revised version adopted at the Business Meeting on Sunday 13th March 2022

SOGII – Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Inclusion Group

SOGII meetings are part of the way in which we seek to live out our commitment to diversity. Through SOGII we aim to:

· Offer a safe and respectful welcome to all who come to Chichester Quaker Meeting, free from assumptions about gender and sexual identity.

· Increase our understanding of the ever-changing issues around diversity in sexuality and gender identity.

· Provide an inclusive and respectful space for discussions and learning about sexuality and gender identity, listening, and connecting with each other deeply.

We meet quarterly, usually on Sundays following Meeting for Worship, from 12.30-14.30. Recent topics and activities have included: Trans Inclusion - Are we going Backwards? Same-Sex Marriage: Sharing our Stories; The Changing Language of Gender Diversity; with attendance at Chichester, Worthing and Brighton Prides; and holding a “Picnic in the Park”.

All are very welcome.

For further information, contact the co-convenors via email: clerk@chichesterquakers.org.uk