There are many different ways to learn about Radical Welcome. Below are books, videos, music, personal testimonials, children’s stories, and more. They all can help you understand the concept and inspire you to experience Radical Welcome in your life. Read about it, sing about it, live it!
Find out more about UUAA’s definition and vision of Radical Welcome, including our children’s definition.
Watch a UUAA Sunday Service centered on Radical Welcome
featuring Alex Kapitan of the Transforming Hearts Collective
Recognize the differences between the ideas of ‘inviting’, ‘inclusion’, and ‘Radical Welcome‘
in this chart by Stephanie Spellers from her book Radical Welcome
Listen to some personal Radical Welcome experiences
Watch UUAA Member, Susie Thompson’s testimonial about radical welcome.
Lay worship leader Barbara Lynn’s story of congregational radical welcome from the UUAA Service on 7/9/23
— An original piece of writing by Ruth Norton (she, they), member of YRUU (Young Religious Unitarian Universalists), read at Ann Arbor’s Interfaith Gathering of Peace and Unity, November, 2023.
“Spirit of Life, we know peace isn’t just about a lack of war. It’s about finding balance between everyone’s needs and wants. And, it’s about creating a community where everyone can thrive. Help us to find that balance, and give us the strength to do what is needed to ensure that all human beings can live in peace. We believe that all people, all beings, are interconnected, and so we cherish that feeling. We accept people as they are and let the community change around us as they join. Let us be able to quickly forgive hurts, for a renewed heart of compassion, and for love and faithfulness to be evident in every decision and action.”
— We Are One, a meditation by Hope Johnson, a beloved UU elder who passed in 2022. This meditation was delivered at the 2013 General Assembly and is available on the UUA’s WorshipWeb using this link)
We are one, a diverse group of proudly kindred spirits, here not by coincidence but because we choose to journey together. We are active and proactive. We care deeply. We live our love as best we can.
We are one, working, eating, laughing, playing, singing, storytelling, sharing, and rejoicing, getting to know each other, taking risks, opening up, questioning, seeking, searching, trying to understand, struggling, making mistakes, paying attention, asking questions, listening, living our answers, learning to love our neighbors, learning to love ourselves, apologizing and forgiving with humility, and being forgiven through grace, creating the beloved community together. We are one.
Listen to music that embraces Radical Welcome
– Peter Mayer’s Blue Boat Home, with the UUAA Chalice Singers, Chalice Bells, and the UUAA Congregation.
– Melanie deMore’s A Place for You, a song from a UUAA Radical Welcome service 4/3/22, sung by Alison Halerz, rev. theresa rohlck and the UUAA Congregation.
Enjoy some children’s books demonstrating the importance of valuing each person with Radical Welcome:
– Intersection Allies – We Make Room for All, by Chelsea Johnson, LaToya Council, and Carolyn Choi, read by UU Directors of Religious Education
– All Are Welcome, by Suzanne Kaufman and Alexandra Penfold, read by Joe Libin
– Brontorina, by James Howe and Randy Cecil, read by Stella Anderson
– Change Sings, by Amanda Gorman and Loren Long, read by rev. theresa rohlck.
– Perfectly Norman, by Tom Percival, read by Joe Libin
– It’s Okay to be Different, by Todd Parr
Learn More about Radical Welcome
- Read the book, Radical Welcome, by Stephanie Spellers
- Read the book, Beyond Welcome – Building Communities of Love: A Collection of Essays edited by Linnea Nelson, including the essay Built Through Trust by UUAA’s Rev. Manish Mishra-Marzetti
- Visit the website of Transforming Hearts Collective: A group of queer, transgender, non-binary, and cisgender people of many races, classes, abilities, spiritualities, and ages who offer training, workshops, and resources on radical inclusion.
If you would like to share additional resources on Radical Welcome, please contact radicalwelcome@uuaa.org
We’d love to hear from you!