Spirit Day: Faith Communities

Encourage your church, synagogue, mosque, worship center, or meeting space to get involved in Spirit Day!

Worship:

• Deck your worship space out in purple for the week – Banners!
• Invite everyone to wear purple and snap a photo
• Encourage a message about anti-bullying
• Plan worship themed about anti-bullying
• Sing songs reflecting Spirit Day. Suggestions are below

Youth Group:

• Ask your youth group to look at anti-bullying resources:
  • Where All Can Safely Live
  • Where Hands Will Reach
• Show the film, Hineini : Coming Out in a Jewish High School
• Educate the adults about what high school is like for LGBT youth
• Share Accompaniment: A Resource for Youth Leaders with the adult leaders in your faith community

Community:

• Encourage congregation members to wear purple on October 17th and at a worship service before to October 17th. Take a photo!
• Announce Spirit Day on your congregation’s marquis or exterior sign
• Invite congregation members to take the Spirit Day Pledge. Use your congregational newsletter, or set up lap top computers after worship for people to go to GLAAD’s Spirit Day Page
• Change your congregational web site purple
• Take steps to make your congregation actively welcoming of LGBT people. Kulanu: A New Guide for Congregations has wonderful suggestions
• Bring your place of worship to visit with school officials and government leaders to offer support for safe schools
• Write an opinion piece/letter to the editor, explaining why you and your place of worship are participating in Spirit Day

Good Ideas:

• Catholics: Visit Catholics for #SpiritDay
• All Saints Episcopal changed their church sign 
• The Unitarian Universalist Church in Waterville, Maine, showed "It Gets Better" clips and read "What Was I Afraid Of" by Dr. Seuss.
• The United Church of Christ turned it's logo purple

For more ideas or suggestions, or to suggest your own, contact Ross Murray, GLAAD's Director of Religion, Faith & Values, at murray@glaad.org

Check out other faith groups participating: 

Check out other congregations participating: 

• Beth Chayim Chadashim
• The Church of Saint Francis Xavier: A Roman Catholic Parish
• Congregation Sha'ar Zahav
• Druid Hills United Methodist Church
• Eden Theological Seminary Common Grounds
• Holy Angels Catholic Community
• Journey Fellowship
• Metropolitan Community Church of New York
• Middle Collegiate Church
• St. James Lutheran Church
• Travis Park United Methodist Church