Becoming a Reconciling Church

This past Monday we had a meeting at church welcoming all LGBTQ individuals, families, and allies. We are working on becoming a reconciling church. As background, we go to a very liberal Methodist church that meets in an old warehouse building. It never occurred to me that anyone would feel or be unwelcome in the church but I've been schooled on that this week. As a whole the UMC is split in support and so there is a process to becoming a reconciling church. Being a reconciling church means being openly welcoming to LGBTQ people and families. I'm still learning about the process and I am really excited for our church.

I'm a Christian. I'm a Christian because I believe Jesus was an awesome guy and had the right idea about the world. Jesus was all about the love. So simple and yet so complicated for some people to understand. Love.Love.Love. That's all we have to do. Simply love each other. It is not for us to judge, only to love. This is how I view my relationship with God and church. I want our church to be all about the love too.

So back to the meeting. We had a great group of people and we basically just spent the time going around the circle and explaining why we were there. Some of the stories were heartbreaking to me. I wanted to go in to the past and gather them up in a big hug and tell them they were good and right and loved. My son is very lucky to have the family he has. Not everyone is that fortunate and it just hurts me to the core. 

So where do we go from here? Not sure yet. But we've started something and I am excited to be a part of whatever this turns in to.