We affirm that people of any race, ethnic identity, gender, sexual orientation, ability, age, economic status, or life situation are welcome, valued, and invited to full participation in the life of the congregation.
That statement on the front page of our website was the result of more than a year’s discernment by our congregation. As a church founded on the principle of radical inclusion more than 50 years ago, we came to realize that to be less than clear about our stance affirming all of God’s people was not only to do further harm to those who have been hurt by churches, but was also doing a disservice to that heritage.
When we changed our website to add that statement, it felt like a victory for those who had been advocating for clarity. But as I said at the time, such a statement was not the end, but only the first step.
The state motto of North Carolina, where I was in ministry for almost a decade and a half, is Esse quam videri, which is Latin for “To be, rather than to seem.” If we stopped at an affirming statement, we would seem to be affirming. But to actually be an affirming church requires doing the work. A lot of work.
Inclusion is more than a statement or having a float in the Pride Parade – it requires us to interrogate all the ways that exclusion seeps into our culture unintentionally. Do the hymns we sing reflect inclusion? Is our language inclusive? Do we train our congregants on inclusion? Do we examine our stated theology, our sermons, and our curriculums to make sure that they reflect our commitments to inclusion? Do our classes, lessons, facilities and so many other things reflect our stated belief that everyone is “invited to full participation in the life of the congregation?”
And when we fail – and we will – we must make sure that we fix it, and then don’t do it again.
The way humans build trust with each other is to make and keep promises over time. When we put that statement on our website, we were making a promise to folks: You are welcome here. You are affirmed here. You are safe here.
And having made that promise, we must keep it.