“God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God,
and God abides in them.” – I John 4:16b
You may have noticed the new rainbow flags up around the church building and wonder what they mean. Guided by our Mission and Outreach focus on Welcome, Inclusion, and Connection for 2022, Session voted unanimously at our last meeting to fly pride flags at the church signifying our true hospitality for the LGBTQIA+ community in all its expressions for the month of June, which is pride month.
Why would we do that? Through the years, the PC(USA) has diligently studied and discussed same-sex relationships, and more recently, different gender expressions, coming to see these differences as blessings, part of God’s diverse world. Studying the eight scripture passages that directly address same-sex activity within the context of the time and place they were written, we’ve come to realize that what was addressed then is wholly unrelated to what we now know of consensual, committed partnerships of same-sex couples.
Through the years, LGBTQIA+ people have been fired from jobs, evicted from housing, denied access to their dying partners in the hospital (not counted as family members), and because the larger church for many years called their love sinful, they were only accepted if they weren’t truly themselves. There are too many stories of families who cast out their gay kids, and many thousands take their own lives every year as they experience rejection for the way that they love. This has caused immeasurable harm to these people and their families and has marred the larger church’s witness to love. When the church “loves the sinner and hates the sin” it is being intolerant. Keeping LGBTQIA+ people at arms-length instead of warmly welcoming them into the body of Christ which reflects God’s love in the world is the real sin.
The church has come to realize its complicity in those hurtful beliefs and actions and now apologizes for the exclusion, judgment, and harm we have contributed to as a denomination through the years. Instead of loving people just the way God made them, so often we have asked them to be “normal,” asking them to deny their true selves.
We now celebrate the diversity of gender identities and expressions and the love that same sex couples share in covenantal relationships with one another.
I am glad to talk with you further about this. Here is a link to what the PC(USA) says about Sexuality and Same Gender Relationships: https://www.presbyterianmission.org/what-we-believe/sexuality-and-same-gender-relationships/
Just like at the communion table we say, “All those who trust in the Lord are welcome to partake of this feast that God has prepared.” All are welcome at the table of God, and so all are invited into our community of faith as we follow Christ and reflect God’s love in the world.
Yours in Christ,
Rev. Amy