In August, 2000, eight members of Central Baptist Church (CBC), Wayne, PA, attended the Witness Our Welcome 2000: God’s Promise Is for You! conference in Illinois. WOW 2000 was an international gathering of 1,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQQ) people of faith, as well as straight allies from, primarily, Canada and the U.S. The CBC delegation returned inspired and invited other official LGBTQQ-welcoming congregations in the Greater Philadelphia area to plan a regional day-long conference for October of 2001. The YES! Coalition was born.

At this first meeting, all participants unanimously affirmed the idea of widening the circle of the YES! Coalition to include more of the religious and racial diversity found in the Philadelphia and the surrounding counties. The YES! Coalition has been collaborating ever since, offering opportunities for LGBTQQ and same-gender-loving (SGL) people of faith to gather.

Completed Projects of the YES! Coalition

• October of 2001: The YES! Conference brought over 130 people together.

• August of 2003: The YES! Coalition recruited and organized more than 100 volunteers for the second “WOW” Conference, held in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania.

• April of 2004: The YES! Coalition co-sponsored and participated in the interfaith New Freedom Seder organized by the Shalom Center.

• June of 2004: The YES! Coalition created the first ever Philly Pride Interfaith Celebration, “Freedom to Celebrate Our Faith.” Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, Protestant Christian, Unitarian Universalist, and Earth Tradition Spirituality were represented among the celebration leaders.

• January of 2006: The YES! Coalition assumed management of the Guide to Welcoming Congregations, which had initially been developed by the Interfaith Working Group (a 501c3, not for profit organization), and launched this website (including the Guide).

• April of 2006: The YES! Coalition printed its first Guide to Welcoming Congregations for distribution in the LGBTQQ community and to all listed groups.

• Summer of 2008: The Interfaith Working Group took the YES! Coalition under its wing as fiscal sponsor.

• December of 2008: The YES! Coalition reconvened to restructure and reinvigorate itself to reach out with a more dynamic, prophetic, pastoral, and visionary presence in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties.

• February of 2009: The new YES! Coalition database debuts and outreach to update and expand the information in the Guide to Welcoming Congregations begins.

• May of 2009: Our first neighborhood outreach collaboration at Mt Airy Day. YES! Coalition is well-represented at the Equality Forum and National Equality Rally.