Radical Love
Radical Hospitality
We embrace Jesus’ message that God loves everyone and affirm that all persons are of sacred worth. We are proud to celebrate diversity as we work to live our vision of radical hospitality.
We welcome people of every age, race and gender identity; diverse nationalities, ethnicities, and sexual orientations; any family structure, economic reality, physical and mental ability, education and faith history. While there are differences among us, we can love alike though we may not think alike.
Our Welcome Statement
To our LGBTQ+ Brothers and Sisters,
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We are committed to reconciliation that leads to the healing and transformation of animosity into a loving relationship amongst all God’s children.
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We are committed to the justice imperative of the Gospel and grounding its ministries in the Wesleyan practice of personal and social holiness.
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We are committed to utilizing inclusive language and respectfully recognizing the diverse approaches to scripture, tradition, reason, and experience of the congregations and communities with whom it relates.
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We aspire to fulfill our baptismal covenant to resist oppression in whatever form it presents itself in our movement, church, and world. RMN (see "reconciling" below) has a commitment to ending institutional racism, sexism, and economic injustice by working at the intersections of oppression and focusing on an ongoing examination of internal processes and external actions at all levels including its selection of issues and organizing strategies.
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We believe that human sexuality is a good gift given by God. RMN and our church are committed to supporting the integration of healthy, loving expressions of sexuality and spirituality for everyone. In particular, since the Church so often has sought to deny their full humanity, we celebrate the sexuality and spirituality of LGBT persons and pledge to provide resources that lead to a deeper understanding of God’s precious gift.
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We are committed to policy change and the creation of long-term solutions and practices that create full inclusion in The United Methodist Church and our broader society. RMN works for full equality in membership, ordination, and marriage for God’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender children.
Not a political statement
We proudly display the pride flag and have been called all kinds of (unchristian names) by several (very Christian) people due to the usual reason: "The Bible says..." If you would like to engage Pastor Sabina in this discussion, please feel free to contact her here.
For two thousand years, people have been abused, hurt, and rejected by churches due to their gender, race, and sexual orientation. The LGTBQIA+ community, in particular, has been going through a lot from churches these past few decades, being "welcomed" but treated differently and being refused the sacraments.
Displaying the flag at our church has a safeguarding function. We are saying, come, be yourself, this is a safe place. The flag is a Gospel witness to the fact that God calls us to be a ‘Rainbow Easter’ people: as diverse and varied as the wonderful range of color of all sorts that God gives to us in creation. We want to be a place for refugees from other parishes who have suffered abuse at the end of anti-rainbow Christians.
We are a Reconciling Church
In April 2023, the congregation voted unanimously to become officially a reconciling Church. Being a reconciling church means that we believe in the sacred worth of all human beings and as such, we believe that all of God’s children should be able to have full participation in the United Methodist Church, including ministry and marriage. We have officially affiliated ourselves with the Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN) and share its guiding principles.