Dear us,
In the last week a variety of people in my denomination, the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, have written open letters to
us. This is not the first
time. To my knowledge the first
one was from former Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson, who shared a video message
to us for the It Gets Better Campaign several years ago. Recently, on February 10th,
Bishop Michael Rinehart, of the Gulf Coast Synod of the ELCA, wrote a letterof welcome to us from my “imperfect church.” In response Lutheran Core wrote a letter making the
ELCA welcome articulated by Bp. Rinehart a bit murky.
It is true that we are not of one mind in the ELCA. And it is true that we in LGBTQ
communities are welcome in the ELCA.
As a diverse Lutheran denomination, there are some who believe that we
are sinful. In my experience,
there are many more who know all of who we are to be: beloved children of a God
who knows our whole selves. This
is close to the message that Rev. Clint Schnekloth shared in his letter,
taking Bp. Rinehart’s welcome a step further to say that not only are we
welcome, but we are also beautiful.
This past Thursday, I had the opportunity to standtogether with other interfaith leaders from throughout Utah, where I serve
as pastor of Christ the King Lutheran Church, to support SB100. SB100 would prohibit housing and
employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
I took this stand for two reasons:
1-In Matthew 25, Jesus says, “I was hungry and you gave me
food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and
you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took
care of me.” When we allow
discrimination in housing and employment, we leave Jesus without food, water, a
place to rest, clothing, or healthcare, and I definitely don’t want to do that.
2-On a personal level, I don’t want to be evicted from my
apartment because of who I am or whom I love.
At the press conference, several people spoke about LGBTQ
Utahns and LGBTQ citizens and the discrimination they face and the protections they
would receive, but what they forgot to say is: they are us.
I am grateful for the straight leaders in our church who are
brave enough to stand up and extend both welcome and affirmation to us. As a pastor who identifies within the
LGBTQ community, and as a person who has been a part of the ELCA for as long as
I can remember, I also feel called to contribute my own words.
It is not just that you are welcome and you are beautiful, it’s that we are welcome and we are beautiful. In Psalm 139 the psalmist declares, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” We are beautiful, we are welcome, we are beloved children of God, fearfully and wonderfully made, and we are a gift to the church.
The experiences we have had of exclusion and the ways that
we don’t fit the normative expectations of society are gifts in bringing our
church closer to a fuller image of God. Those experiences and the intersecting aspects of our
identities can give us greater insight in welcoming others who may not look,
speak, move, or think like us and who also help us all make manifest the reign
of God and who bring us all closer to the full image of God, the whole body of
Christ.
Sincerely,
One of us
Rev. Emily E. Ewing
*While I use LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and
queer/questioning), I also recognize, as one whose letter is often left out,
that this is an incomplete list.
There are many letters and labels who are not written in this
acronym. Forgive me. Please know that I use this in part so
straight folks can understand, if they are eavesdropping on this letter, and in
part because I do not know how to incorporate all of our many labels without
offending some of us.
2 comments:
Given statement of Bishop Mike in the closing of his open letter, " I invite you to risk being part of an imperfect church striving to be a Christ-like community. You are welcome. " - What person from outside our community - our community being one that knows their need of christ - and those not inside of our community, not knowing their need of christ. How would they feel of being asked of committing to a relationship of "risk"?
i struggle with the premise of your question in my experience, many of us within the lgbtq community know their need for christ. it is not god who has cast them out or made them feel less than, it is the church. so, i'm not sure how to respond to your question.
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