GSJ Affirming
GSJ as an Affirming Congregation
“Everyone and their gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation is welcomed and celebrated here. Everyone.”
As of May 2022, we welcome Barrhaven United Church who became the ninth Ottawa-area member of the United Church of Canada Affirming Ministries in the Ottawa area!
GSJ made the commitment to be an affirming church in 2012, and this has become integral to who we are. You'll hear it reflected in the welcoming message we hear every Sunday morning: everyone and their gender, race, ethnicity, abilities and sexual orientation are welcomed and celebrated there!
We are a member of Affirm United/ S’affirmer Ensemble (AUSE).
AUSE is an independent volunteer movement that works in partnership with the United Church of Canada. You read more about
AUSE on our partnership page.
AUSE asks congregations to adopt PIE (Public, Intentional and Explicit) as the standards to which they hold themselves when they become Affirming Ministries. In keeping with that, they encourage members to observe international PIE day (March 14 – known in other contexts as Pi Day) - also called "National Affirming Day". Though we celebrate affirming welcomes every single Sunday, we also have a special focus each March.
