Last year on October 10th, our parish voted unanimously to join the Reconciling Ministries Network. This is a group working within the United Methodist church to bring about full inclusion in the church. To be part of the network we had to vote to affirm the foundational statement which is: “We celebrate God’s gift of diversity and value the wholeness made possible in community equally shared and shepherded by all. We welcome and affirm people of every gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, who are also of every age, race, ethnicity, physical and mental ability, level of education, and family structure, and of every economic, immigration, marital, and social status, and so much more. We acknowledge that we live in a world of profound social, economic, and political inequities. As followers of Jesus, we commit ourselves to the pursuit of justice and pledge to stand in solidarity with all who are marginalized and oppressed.” We also pledged to give a gift each year to RMN in support of their advocacy work and education efforts. Each year on the Sunday closest to the anniversary of our vote we will take up a special offering. We haven’t yet sent in our annual gift to RMN, so you still have time to give a gift to the Parish for this work. You can also donate directly to RMN here.
The path to this vote was a long one, paved with years of bible study, learning from our LGBTQ+ leaders, and lots of honest conversation. The parish has long been living in to the value of welcoming and celebrating everyone who comes to join us and this vote simply made that official. It also signaled that we not only are practicing this here in our neighborhood, but also dreaming of making the church more welcoming worldwide.
It is lovely to be a church that aspires to hospitality and welcome. We will continue to learn and growth together that we might be a faith community where all can thrive in God’s love.
-Eilidh
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