What’s the Difference Between a Welcoming and an Inclusive Space?

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Filming and Editing by Rebecca Hamilton-Levi
Music: We Are Home by Four Trees
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Transcript:

Lisa Graustein: What does it mean to be a welcoming space and what does it mean to be an inclusive space? I really like that question. I think about that a lot. When I think about a welcoming space I think about a space where I can walk in and have some immediate orientation to: "am I safe here?" and "am I going to be able to figure out how I need to be here?" whether that's my home meeting, whether that's someone else's meeting or Quaker church, and an inclusive space, I think, is that to a greater sense.

What’s the Difference Between a Welcoming and an Inclusive Space?

Anthony Kirk: So from my perspective as a transgender man there is a difference between a welcoming and an inclusive congregation. So for me a welcoming congregation is mostly just through verbal communication, saying "Oh, we're accepting - we accept people that are LGBTQ and you are welcoming in our meeting," while an inclusive meeting has not only talked the talk but they walk the walk.

Mary Linda McKinney: A welcoming space for me is one where we meet people where they are and bring them into whatever is happening. An inclusive space recognizes the intrinsic worth of each of the members.

Elements of an Inclusive Space

We have to recognize the things that we are doing that create barriers to people bringing their whole selves.

Lisa Graustein: So things that I do a lot of work with in New England, and more broadly with Friends, is how do we recognize microaggressions in the moment and how do we interrupt them in the moment. That if I walk in a meeting door and somebody says, "Welcome! Can I give you some information about our meeting?" that's really different than if I walk in the door and say, "Oh, are you a Quaker?" Many people in the U.S. will assume I'm a Quaker because I fit a lot of the demographic norms of what a Quaker looks like. I know for some of my friends of color that's not their experience walking in the door, and that "Are you a Quaker?" can be an assumption of "I somehow think maybe you don't belong here" can be implied. And so how do we welcome people where we're orienting people to what a space is and what we're doing in a way that just conveys I want you to feel welcome without me making any assumptions about who you are or who you aren't.

And then the next layer of that to me is what are all the things we do to make those spaces accessible, and so that is where we get the deeper work of inclusion. So can people physically access the building? Can they meet their physical and cognitive needs in the way that we're doing programming and is there space to get whatever accommodations might be needed? Are we acting as if our young people are fully a part of our body, or these kids that are kind of there some of the time? Do we understand that parents of young children, that people who might be in a process of transition or coming out, that people who are grieving or carrying other intense needs might need different care than those of us who are not at different stages of life? Are we paying attention to the fact that national events are going to land differently in different ones of us based on the identities we carry? Are we recognizing that some of us might contribute money, some of us might contribute time, some of us might contribute prayer, and some of us might not be in a place to contribute anything, and that all of that is valued and for each of us that will probably change over our lifetime.

Sarah Katrreen Hoggatt: One of the practices our yearly meeting has over and over again is when we're considering joining a larger group or affiliated with a larger Quaker organization a question that we always ask is "Is it inclusive?" and if it is not inclusive, if it is not a safe space for 100% of our community then we don't join. A community is only as good as how far you're willing to go to defend it.

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The views expressed in this video are of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Friends Journal or its collaborators.

[TheRockMorton]

Excellent overview of perspectives in this matter of welcoming versus inclusion. In my view, formal or informal greetings followed by "mindfully" learning a person's name and their face is welcoming. Easy to learn for some people, difficult for others. Practice can perfect welcoming. And there is inclusion, which categorizes, sometimes for the better in building relationships, other times for the worse. Often depends on individuals tolerating perspectives of others in the group. Cliques can form for the worse, dividing people into opposing camps. People are tribal; better to unite tribes under God in the Fruit of the Spirit. That can facilitate inclusion.

[mariasmith]

Really interesting video. I'd say an inclusive space acknowledges the barriers to accessing space which some may face, and eliminating them. A welcoming space ensures that each individual feels noticed and valued. Good to hear the thoughts on this video and in the comments

[gregoryford]

Forgive me, I promised I would no longer comment on this forum. But perhaps might say that you, yourself is the 'inclusive space's. And the 'welcoming space' is when you choose to share what is worth sharing without self importance.

[laofox]

I look forward to the day when we will again focus on transcending both the worship of The Self and the Narcissism of Small Differences, and return to our universalist roots.

[Goran-Edgar.Bojovic]

A space (any space) can only be 'inclusive' if one yearns to never film one's thoughts regarding the very difference between "welcoming" and "inclusive" space. Sadly, one cannot see Quakers living with Down Syndrome or living with autism or living as homeless people or living in total poverty or living as multiple personality people or living as blind or deaf people or living as both blind and deaf people depicted in your videos as if those people do not exist or as if those people do not deserve to be recognized as everyday humans. It's not the point that you film recurrent, descriptive answers to the questions as to what something is or isn't: taking several prescriptive positions regarding what one's experience of God can change in contributing to the sublime maturing of the whole Universe is what makes substantive difference between mere "description" and "prescription" at work, in full swing. Both your participants and your topics must be all-pervasive, all-encompassing, desire-provoking and restlessly evocative. Thank you and be abundantly blessed!