LGBTQ+ Inclusion at Green Street Church

At Green Street, we believe that LGBTQ+ inclusion is one of the core ways in which we live out our mission, particularly our call to INVITE. We celebrate the diversity of the human family and affirm the participation and leadership of LGBTQ+ folks at our church.

The Green Street crew at Winston-Salem Pride 2022.

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Our Welcome Statement

​Welcome to Green Street, where the Kingdom of God is breaking through!

We practice the radical welcome of God:
Whether you are
single, married, divorced, widowed,
black, brown, white, or mixed,
straight, gay, bi or confused,
transgender, cisgender or non-binary,
born in the USofA, or undocumented,
we welcome you.

We love crying infants and wiggly toddlers
athletic moms and out of shape dads,
immature grey-haired people
and children with old souls.

We welcome friends of Jesus and church-phobics,
religious refugees and agnostic doubters,
corporate executives and starving artists,
tree-hugging vegans and red-meat eaters.
the unemployed and over-employed,
Republicans, Democrats, independents and anarchists,
the tattooed, pierced, both or neither,
people who know it all
and those who have hard questions.

We don’t care if your family came here
on the Mayflower or came across the border,
came through Ellis Island,
were brought here enslaved, or seek refuge.
Everyone is welcome.

We believe that Black and Brown lives matter
and that white privilege is real.
We welcome the least, last, losers and the lost,
upper class, middle class, working class,
or people with no class at all.
If a crowded room gives you an extrovert buzz,
or if silence soothes your inner introvert,
there's a place for you here.

​You are welcome
if you have sobered up or are still using,
in recovery or thinking of rehab.
We love sinners and saints,
neighbors, strangers and enemies.
Your presence enriches us.
Thanks for visiting,
and welcome home.

Weddings at Green Street

In 2013, Green Street leadership released a public statement on weddings that asked pastors to refrain from holding any weddings until all couples could be marriage under both civil and religious law. In 2022, recognizing that no one involved with the original statement expected that we would still be facing exclusionary policies within our denomination 9 years later, a work group created an inclusive wedding policy, approved by our Leadership Council. At the discretion of our pastor, anyone may be married in Green Street's sanctuary.

Denominational Action

Bishop Charlene Kammerer speaks at a Reconciling Ministries gathering at Green Street Church after the 2019 General Conference of the United Methodist Church.

An interview with Julie Wood, Green Street member and former co-chair of our Reconciling Ministries team.