June is LGBTQ+ Pride month on the cultural calendar, a perfect time to say a couple of things.
First, the Park Avenue Church Leadership Board* (me included) welcomes and affirms the full personhood and gifts of LGBTQ+ family members, friends, and neighbors. Our support mirrors the institutional commitment of the Minnesota Annual Conference of the UMC to LGBTQ+ inclusion. Read the statement of the Bishop and the cabinet here.
Secondly, it’s necessary to acknowledge that the church, whether by individuals or the institution, has caused its share of harm to LGBTQ+ persons and their families. It breaks my heart as a pastor (and a person with friends and family affected).
So, I say to you, as I’ve said to my LGBTQ+ friends and family, I’m deeply sorry for the pain we in the church have caused. We have not modeled Jesus’ way of love. We have failed you. Because Christ has given us the ministry of reconciliation, God calls us individually and institutionally to demonstrate the heart of God for all humanity (2 Cor 5:18).
Being Christ’s representative of reconciliation is captured in the first two guiding principles for Park, recently adopted by our Church Leadership Board. The principles are a framework for organizational decision-making as we go forward.
Guiding Principle #1 affirms Park Avenue UMC is committed to God’s first call to love. Following Jesus’ invitation to love each other as we are loved, we seek to practice loving God, each other, and ourselves. When aware of our actions that do not model God’s love and call of reconciliation, we strive to recognize where we have fallen short and restore relationships we have harmed.
Guiding Principle #2 states Park Avenue UMC is committed to radical belonging. Rooted in a love modeled after Jesus, we seek to set an example of the diversity of the kingdom of God. We aim to cultivate an organizational culture of radical belonging and gracious welcome for all persons in all that we do.
We pray that we continue to grow as the body of Christ that welcomes, values, and includes any person or group, including those who have felt excluded, shamed, or shunned by the church. We strive to recognize where we have fallen short and restore relationships we have harmed. And we continue to aspire to an experience of unity that emerges from the work of social justice and the ministry of reconciliation.
And remember, let’s follow the way of Jesus and breathe love,
Pastor Gregg
*Park Avenue UMC Leadership Board: Linda Austad, Tiffany Blackwell, Roz Brown, Paul Dixon, Terry Harris, Bill Richards, Sara Schulz, Carla Urban, Gregg Taylor
