18+ Ways to Make LGBT Members Feel Welcome in Your Congregation
June is here, and in honor of LGBT Pride Month, we're sharing suggestions for welcoming LGBTQ members into your congregation and community. Do you have ideas to add to this list? Leave them in the comments below!
- Celebrate Gay Pride Month (June) with a special Shabbat service. Invite LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning/Queer) members to participate and include readings that speak to the experience of being both Jewish and LGBTQ. Consider having a guest speaker deliver a sermon or have a panel of congregants at the oneg to discuss how LGBTQ issues affect their congregational and personal lives.
- Phrase your congregational publicity in a way that is inviting to all people. In your congregational advertising, make sure that the LGBTQ population is specifically welcomed at all congregational events.
- Review your temple website to make sure that it is welcoming to LGBTQ Jews. Rather than using terms such as “alternative lifestyles” or “non-traditional families,” use language such as, “We proudly welcome members of the LGBTQ community,” or “We welcome LGBTQ Jews and their families.”
Summertime Forever: 11 Ways Your Congregation Can Support Its Campers
As the academic year comes to a close, we’ve rounded up resources for your congregation to stay connected with your campers throughout the summer. The tips and resources here will assist your congregation in leveraging the learning, joy and relationships developed at camp during the summer.
The 3 Keys to Connecting to a Congregational Community
by Andy Wayne
As the cake arrived, glowing with candles, the group of nearly 40 women began to sing “Happy Birthday” to the lone man at the table. Their smiles lit up the room as their voices came together in celebration. True, they had only met the man two days before, but their happiness and well wishes were genuine.
That was back in 2010, when I attended my first conference with the Program and Engagement Professionals of Reform Judaism (PEP-RJ), which was then known as Program Directors of Reform Judaism. Although I was not new to my congregation, I was new to the role of program director, and I was excited to learn from and with colleagues from Reform congregations around the country and Canada. I had not previously worked with other program directors, and I was interested to see what successes and challenges they had found. And so, I headed to Dallas, TX –not far from my roots in Houston – for the conference.
Strategies for Success: Reviewing Membership Materials
by Janet Buckstein
Most membership-based organizations, including congregations and temple sisterhoods, use a variety of methods to communicate with current and prospective members. These may include printed and online material, social media such as Facebook and Twitter, and even phone calls, presentations, and personal meetings. However, the standard material typically includes brochures/pamphlets, letters, membership forms and applications, fact sheets, program and event flyers, and postcards, posters, and volunteer opportunities. Even if you already have developed this material, is it as effective as it could be? Consider the following in reviewing and creating material.
5 Life Lessons from Jewish Camp Counselors
As seasoned staffers of a Reform Jewish summer camp, here are five of the most important lessons we've learned from our experiences.
URJ Biennial 2015: NBC News’ Chuck Todd to Host 2016 Presidential Candidates
Today, the Union for Reform Judaism announced that Chuck Todd, moderator of NBC’s Meet the Press and NBC News political director, will host leading 2016 presidential candidates in a forum in Orlando, FL, at the URJ Biennial 2015. Todd will interview each candidate one-on-one and will cover a wide range of topics, including both domestic and foreign policy. Candidates will also respond to questions from URJ leadership and Biennial delegates.
The URJ Biennial 2015 will bring together 5,000 Reform Jews to strengthen congregational life, celebrate with friends, and explore the most pressing issues of the day. The URJ Biennial will be held at the Orlando World Center Marriott from November 4 - 8. The presidential candidates’ forum with Chuck Todd will take place November 7 at 8:30 pm at the same location. It is open to working, credentialed press and coverage is invited.
Shavuot: Celebration and Obligation
In just a few days, we will conclude this year’s counting of the Omer with the celebration of Shavuot, the first of our tradition’s three annual pilgrimage festivals, and the one that has come to be associated with the giving of Torah atop Mt.Sinai, as well as with confirmation and post b’nai mitzvah study. The Festival of Weeks also seamlessly embodies two of the strategic priorities of the URJ’s 2020 Vision: audacious hospitality and tikkun olam (social justice).
Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue
The Journal of Youth Engagement checks in with Benjamin Singer, who shared his secret for engaging young people in synagogue life: Torah.
Together in Israel: Reimagining the Congregational Israel Trip
The Community Synagogue of Port Washington has previously shared strategies for innovation in youth worship and lowering barriers to participation by rethinking “membership” in youth group. This month, we check in with Lindsay Ganci and Rabbi Danny Burkeman following a recent congregational trip to Israel that leverages what they’ve learned.
Many people have traveled to Israel on a family trip, many have taken part in teen trips to Israel, and a lucky few have traveled on both. This past February, we organized a congregational Israel trip that would blend the experiences of a family and teen trip into one hybrid adventure.
When our congregation began talking about a family trip to Israel, one of our congregants approached us and asked about the possibility of offering a parallel teenage trip for our youth program, POWTY (Port Washington Temple Youth). This was around the same time that Taglit-Birthright expanded their eligibility criteria so that teenagers who went on an educational trip to Israel during high school would still be eligible to a place on a free trip. This removed what had previously been a major barrier to synagogue teen trips to Israel, and gave us a special opportunity to dream about and experiment with a new model for Israel travel and engagement for our congregants.
Permission Granted: How the B’nai Mitzvah Revolution Impacted Our Congregation
The Journal of Youth Engagement checks in with Rabbi Ben David, whose congregation has been participating in the B’nai Mitzvah Revolution. The article “What the B’nai Mitzvah Revolution Is, and Is Not” originally appeared in the Journal of Youth Engagement in October 2013.
In your original article, “What the B’nai Mitzvah Revolution Is (and Is Not)” you highlighted what “revolution” meant for your congregation. We want to know: now that significant time has passed, what, if anything, has changed in your b’nai mitzvah process?
Our B’nai Mitzvah program continues to evolve. Most specifically, we continue to look for ways to allow the students and their families to own the process. For the students, this means not only picking their mitzvah project, but allowing them to select the verses they will chant from the Torah and what the music will be for their morning. We honor them in our Teen Night program the week before and after their simcha. Even these elements help them to feel ownership. We continue to work on family education as it pertains to not only B’nei Mitzvah, but all transitional moments across Jewish life.
When we last heard from you, your congregation was asking many questions, such as,