In June of 2012, a subcommittee of our Vestry, our governing board, brought the Vestry a resolution stating that all people are welcome as members at St. Dunstan’s. The Vestry discussed the resolution and agreed to table it during the summer months, to make time for parish-wide conversation. During July and August, feedback, suggestions, and some concerns were gathered. At the August meeting, the Vestry reviewed the feedback received, made some amendments to the text, and adopted the resolution as amended. Here is our parish’s Statement of Welcome. Having adopted it, we now seek to live out this generous welcome ever more fully in person.

“We the People of St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church strive to seek, love, and serve God, welcoming all to gather in worship, serve those in need, care for the environment, and listen and respond to each other.

If you are Asian, Hispanic, Native, Black, White, or Other;

If you are a child, a youth, an adult, or an elder;

If you are male, female or transgendered;

If you are straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual or questioning;

If you are single, married, partnered, divorced, separated, or widowed;

If you’re a life-long Christian, have never set foot in a church, or if it’s just been a while;

If you are conservative, liberal, in-between or undecided – politically or theologically;

If you are healthy or if you walk the road of ill health, mental illness, or addiction;

If you have a squeaky-clean record or have gotten crosswise to the law;

If you have a graduate degree, an elementary education, or neither;

If you are wealthy, poor, or somewhere in between;

If you live in a house, an apartment, a room, a car, or on the street;

If you are fully-abled, disabled, or a person of differing abilities;

If you recognize yourself in this list or wonder whether you fit:

You are welcome here.

We seek to extend the radical hospitality of Jesus Christ by inviting all to full participation in the life of His Church. In faithfulness to the Gospel; the holy, catholic, and apostolic tradition; and our Anglican and Episcopal heritage, and to the best of our ability, we pledge ourselves to sharing our life of worship, fellowship, service, and mutual care with all who seek God in this place.”