Today as I do some reading and writing in preparation for guiding a small group of my congregation’s members in crafting an Open and Affirming statement to present to the full congregation I came across an article that speaks to what it means to be a welcoming congregation. It speaks to the truth that being a welcoming faith community is more than a well wordsmithed statement and sticking a rainbow flag on your building. Being a welcoming community calls us to love, commune, serve, practice radical grace and extravagant welcome. The article, published in Whosoever Magazine, an online magazine for LGBT Christians, is speaking specificity to congregations welcoming their gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered brothers and sisters but I think the words hold meaning well beyond the LGBT community. Just as Jesus welcomed Gentiles to the table, we are called to be people of radical grace and extravagant welcome to all and we must do so with more than words. “Peter recognized that there is no such thing as a grace too far. God’s grace extends to even the Gentiles — those people that Jesus called “dogs” (Matthew 15:26). The church continues to hinder and cheapen God’s grace by casting out God’s gay and lesbian children because of some perceived “sin.”” For too long the words of the Christian church have been used to determine who is “fit” to be a follower of Christ. Church leaders have spent far too much time preaching the “Thou Shalt Nots” instead of the unconditional love of Jesus. As the Church of the Brethren there are voices in our midst who would like to silence the “sinner” in hopes of having a pure-unified voice. But it is my belief that the diversity of our voice is the strength of our faith.
How might we live that radical grace and extravagant welcome? Where are the places in our lives where we do not welcome everyone to our table? Whose voice are we silencing? At Annual Conference someone mentioned to me in a conversation at the OTC booth that they thought it would be a good idea for OTC to have a conservative voice on our board. This really struck me. What would that look like? What might happen if we brought more voices to the table? How could we invite those with differing opinions without making them the “token conservative”? I’m going to keep thinking about this and I welcome your thought and insight too.
Our summer intern, Lauren, has wrapped up her work with us this summer and is preparing to start seminary this fall. We are so very appreciative and thankful for her time and energy this summer. She helped by organizing and updating our mailing lists, both email and snail mail, so if you have changed your address recently let us know so we can continue to share in the ministry of Open Table. Lauren also joined us in Charlotte, NC for Annual Conference and spent a lot of time a the booth. If you had the opportunity to stop by you probably saw our discussion board where we asked you to share your answers and insight to some questions. Lauren has taken those responses and made them into a short video. Take a minute to watch it and join in the continued conversation on Facebook or email me at info@opentablecoop.org.
Peace,
and the
Open Table Cooperative Board,
Kathy Fry-Miller, Josih Hostetler, Aaron Ross,
Ken Kline Smeltzer, Elizabeth Ullery
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