Dear Grace Community,
I want you to know about a conversation your Session has engaged with since June. The topic is our church’s welcome of the LGBTQ community. I initiated the conversation out of a desire for clarity.
In 2011 the PCUSA (our denomination) removed the language from our Book of Order that prohibited the ordination of members of the non-celibate LGBTQ community. I do not recall there being many conversations about this at Grace. I, or another pastor, may have written a newsletter article about it, but those of you who were here then will recall that it was a time of huge transition at Grace, and our focus was more inward.
In 2015 the PCUSA added language to the Book of Order stating that marriage involves a unique commitment between two people, traditionally a man and a woman, to love and support each other for the rest of their lives. It is also noted that no pastor is required to perform same-sex weddings, nor is a church required to hold one.
Our Session voted to say that we receive and review each request for same-sex weddings in the same way we do weddings between men and women and do not prohibit weddings because of sexuality.
Since that vote in 2015, we haven’t talked about this formally as a congregation or Session. When I talk with visitors who might make Grace their church home, I share this history with them. For some in our congregation, this is all history; we talked about it, and we’re done. For others, there is a desire to talk more.
I sensed that it was time to talk more, in part because when we don’t talk about something that people are curious or passionate about, the absence of words can be problematic. I also know that someone looking for a church might wonder about these issues at Grace, and there is nowhere to point them for information.
After months of conversation, the Session has decided to create a statement of welcome to be shared on our website and in our weekly worship insert. This statement is still in draft form but essentially affirms what the PCUSA has said: that all people are welcome, and we choose leaders based on faith, gifting, and character, and not sexuality. The Session votes on this in October.
I know that some of you long for more conversation and action, while some of you prefer that we not discuss this as a congregation ever again. Therein lies one of the challenges of being a church. I am reminded of what our Book of Order challenges us to be as a church, “a community of witness, pointing beyond itself through word and work to the good news of God’s transforming grace in Christ Jesus its Lord.”
I am glad to talk with any of you more about why I brought this up this summer or anything related to it. Members of the Session are also glad to engage with you.
In Christ,
Catherine
SEP