Participants at Presbytery of Lake Michigan Stated Meetings may now add a sticker to their name tags affirming their pronouns.

The stickers were first made available during the March 11, 2023 Stated Meeting by members of the Nominating & Representation Committee and will be available at future meetings.

Committee members also provided an informational sheet explaining why pronoun usage is important, how using pronouns encourages inclusiveness, and what to do if individuals don’t want to use pronouns. The information is available in both a full-sheet version and a half-sheet version.

“Pronouns affirm gender identities and create safe spaces by referring to people in a way that feels most accurate to them,” said the Rev. Amber Nettleton, who moderates the N&R Committee.

At the stated meeting, Rev. Nettleton and others helped interested presbytery members affix small, circular stickers to name tags indicating whether the individuals prefer to be referred to in the third person as “she/her”, “he/him” or “they/them.”

Congregational leaders seeking help implementing pronoun usage or more information about ways to promote inclusivity may explore Nominating & Representation Committee resources found on the Documents Page of the presbytery’s website.