2026 Reflections from our Leadership Team
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Barbara Gage
This past year I enjoyed the discussions at Queer Book Club. The books were not ones I would normally choose to read and I found that challenged me. The conversations were enlightening as I saw things from other participants’ perspectives. I feel closer to those who share this experience.
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Ron Wright
I love Inclusion because people are authentic and real which includes accepting me for who I am and where I am in my life. People from Inclusion were always there to help me through the dark and trying times with their support. Inclusion also provides me a space to explore spirituality without boundaries or constraints towards beliefs in God, the Bible, and religion.
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Julie Crandall
In an era of deep uncertainty and division, Inclusion has been a rock for me. As an introvert, I’m comfortable with solitude, but my need for supportive community has become real as isolation and AI invade humanity. A place to ponder the most basic question: “What does it mean to be human?” is the great gift of IC.
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Tyler Wilmoth
This is truly a community where we support each other and learn together. In times of loss and also joy, it has been a place where I know I have people who care. I have loved being out in the community at the Cornelius Tawba Walk, Charlotte Pride, and Huntersville Pride. Inclusion is such a blessing and I haven’t used the word blessing in a long time.
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Dawn Hewitt
Being part of a faith community is in my DNA and how I grew up. Inclusion offers me a way to connect that fits my life journey. It encourages me to be spiritually curious rather than just doctrinally accurate; we seek collaboration through discernment as well as pastoral guidance; faith can be expressed through creativity as well as living into principles of justice and love. IC is a "Both/And" space for all of God's creatures, where we know we are truly better together.
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Mark Curtis
IC is the community of faith my heart, mind and spirit longed for and needed. I have found a safe place to be me, to grow, to laugh and to make mistakes. The creative and prophetic spirit nurtured and cultivated here inspires my religious imagination. IC has given me the freedom to pursue justice in voice and action. A moment that captures my experience this year took place at Huntersville Pride. Standing as a silent witness, alongside the anti-LGTBQ protestors wearing our IC Pride 2026 shirt that proclaims, “Love Your Neighbors. All of Them.” Children, youth and adults walking by saw an alternative to the hate filled speech. Wordless exchanges between myself and others became sacred moments of shared humanity.
Our 2027 Stewardship Journey
Inclusion Community celebrates sixteen years this month, and you are part of that story. Even though you may not regularly attend our gatherings, your care, encouragement, and generosity have helped us practice community, explore spirituality, and pursue justice—not perfectly, but faithfully and together. Because of you, we continue making room for honest questions, courage, grief, laughter, and the stubborn hope that love can still change lives.
We see that change when people who were once told their identity and faith cannot belong together find a community that welcomes the whole of who they are; when someone speaks openly without fear; when a family encounters affirmation instead of judgment; and when a difficult season is met with listening and care. The Gathering, Queer Book Club, Dinner Gatherings, Community Conversations, Spiritual Exploration, online participation, Pride events, and community partnerships all create pathways to belonging, dignity, and hope.
Your gifts sustain the people and practical work behind those moments: pastoral leadership, hospitality, learning resources, communication, welcoming spaces, and partnerships addressing concerns such as mental-health stigma. These may sound like ordinary expenses, but they support deeply human experiences—a person discovering that faith does not require hiding, a neighbor finding community, or a conversation opening the way to understanding and courage.
Beginning October 18, we will enter our 2027 stewardship journey, I💜Inclusion. Your connection may look different from those who gather regularly. We invite you to consider whether a gift or pledge is one way you want to extend this ministry. There is no public goal or required amount. Please respond not from pressure, but from gratitude and what is sustainable. Thank you for the difference you help make.
Grace and peace,
The Inclusion Community Leadership Team