Our History

St. Andrew's United Church, Peterborough ON at Pride.
St. Andrew’s United Church, Peterborough ON at Pride.

In 1982, Affirm was formed to support individual lesbian and gay members of The United Church of Canada and to advocate with the church for their full inclusion. Affirm worked with the support of allies within Friends of Affirm, a separate organization.

Later these two groups joined to become Affirm United/S’affirmer Ensemble; to this day, we welcome all people of all identities as members. And our own understanding of “LGBTQQIATT” and Two-Spirit folk has widened and deepened.

Then as now, we spoke at church and community meetings, advocated, cared for one another, and offered educational events and resources. We also continue to welcome  people of goodwill of all identities, whether as formal members or as supporters.

Since 1982, we have both struggled and collaborated with the United Church of Canada. Now we celebrate the changes in the denomination, and we continue to challenge the church to be true to its calling — to seek justice and resist evil. We do this in many ways, but the principal one remains our Affirming ministries program, which accompanies diverse ministries through the process of becoming publicly, intentionally, and explicitly welcoming of all gender identities and sexual orientations.

Affirming celebration, McClure United Church, Saskatoon. Cards about love created by the Church School.
Affirming celebration, McClure United Church, Saskatoon. Cards about love created by the Church School.