AN INCLUSIVE PEOPLE

Listening to the Spirit Discernment Process--Lent 2007
How does our Vision Statement call us to relate to gay, 
lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) Christians?

In keeping with the tradition of the Disciples of Christ and with our core values as a congregation, we believe God calls us to welcome anyone into membership who professes Jesus Christ as Lord, including GLBT people.

We have to admit that some of us are uncomfortable with couples (both homosexual and heterosexual) showing affection in public, but we do not believe God calls Central Christian Church to require GLBT people to keep secret their sexual orientation, to seek to change their sexual orientation or to practice celibacy in order to be welcomed in our congregation.

We believe God calls us to offer pastoral support rather than condemnation to all who come to Central Christian Church, including GLBT people.

We believe God calls us to support civil rights for GLBT people and we encourage individuals within our congregation to work for such rights.

We believe God does not call us to practice church discipline or judge the sexual behavior of any individuals who are part of our congregation, including GLBT persons; we believe God does call the church to provide education about helathy relationships.

We believe it is the task of the Region's Commission on Ministry to determine fitness for ordination; our congregation does not consider being GLBT to automatically exclude someone from ordination or licensing for ministry.

We believe God calls us to invite pulpit guests who will preach the Christian Gospel and who will not publicly oppose our core values; if invited to preach, the Rev. Gina Hartung of the Metropolitan Community Church would be no exeption to such standards. 

We believe God calls us to be open and respectful of GLBT relationships but we do not believe God calls us to advertise that we welcome any single group, including GLBT people.

We do not believe God calls our congregation to celebrate Holy Unions for gay couples who are not church members.

Before asking anyone to serve in a leadership position in the congregation, we believe God calls us to appraise that person's gifts, skills, Christian maturity, knowledge of Disciples tradition and ability to maintain appropriate boundaries to keep our church a safe place for all people; we would make the same assessment of any GLBT Christian before asking him/her to take on a leadership role in the congregation.

We do not believe God calls us to begin the formal process of becoming an Open and Affirming Congregation in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) at this time.

We believe God calls us to list Central Christian Church on the http:www.gaychurch.org website as a safe place that welcomes GLBT persons along with everyone else, as long as agreeing to such a listing will communicate that message and as long as the church's name will only be listed at that address.  Chuck, Roxanne, Kasey, Ariel, and Margaret will look into the actual website in order to bring a recommendation to the church board.

We look to the Bible as the normative, authoritative book of our faith and we believe God calls us to continue to consider the whole context of scripture whenever we study it.