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rECONCILING IN cHRIST
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Being a “Reconciling in Christ” congregation of the ELCA means that the Hearth openly and unambiguously affirms persons and couples of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions. The Hearth does not tolerate racism, prejudice, or discrimination of any kind.
Simply: we believe that people are people. And God loves people.
We await a time when saying this will be enough, when no one group will have to be specified. But we also understand that more sometimes needs to be said in light of where the culture is at. While we try to be a “forward-thinking” group, the real reason why we welcome our LGBTQ+ siblings does not have to do with some new understanding of our tradition but a very old one.
We are rooted deeply in a tradition that starts at a tomb in Jerusalem, a tomb which was once sealed off like a dark, lonely closet. Only death could reside in a tomb like that. But against all expectation, that tomb burst open with a life which could not be contained, that changed all the rules, that disrupted circumstances and customs which we’d all assumed were permanent and God-ordained. This new life was so vital, it started inspiring others to come out of their own tombs and closets, and it bound these pioneers of a “new creation” together so powerfully, that they started to forget the distinctions which had so often split them into warring tribes and factions.
Simply: we believe that people are people. And God loves people.
We await a time when saying this will be enough, when no one group will have to be specified. But we also understand that more sometimes needs to be said in light of where the culture is at. While we try to be a “forward-thinking” group, the real reason why we welcome our LGBTQ+ siblings does not have to do with some new understanding of our tradition but a very old one.
We are rooted deeply in a tradition that starts at a tomb in Jerusalem, a tomb which was once sealed off like a dark, lonely closet. Only death could reside in a tomb like that. But against all expectation, that tomb burst open with a life which could not be contained, that changed all the rules, that disrupted circumstances and customs which we’d all assumed were permanent and God-ordained. This new life was so vital, it started inspiring others to come out of their own tombs and closets, and it bound these pioneers of a “new creation” together so powerfully, that they started to forget the distinctions which had so often split them into warring tribes and factions.
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One time, when asked what sorts of marriage arrangements should be considered “Christian,” Martin Luther once said, dismissively, “So many lands. So many customs.” As a teacher of the church, the question just didn’t interest him that much. It was off topic. The Gospel isn’t sitting around obsessing over which chromosomal combinations find proximity and comfort in one another. He saw clearly that, in a world where dead things, apparently, don’t stay dead all the time, there are way more vital matters to discuss. We are no longer left having the same boring conversations about culturally bound rules, guidelines, and living arrangements. Grace has given us way more important things to worry about.
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Distinctions like race, nationality, class, gender, legal and religious status, and (we insist) sexual orientation (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:11) are now cause for celebration rather than fear as the risen Christ continues to break down more and more “dividing walls of hostility” (Eph. 2:14) between people. This new life, that is being breathed into the world, pushes outward from Jerusalem, to the surrounding countryside, to Samaria, and continues today to the ends of the Earth (Acts 1:8).
For us to exclude anyone from this joyful movement due to the unique traits of their person and the persons whom they love, would be a vain effort to seal up the tomb again. We have no interest in doing that. This life cannot be contained. It cannot be stuffed back in the closet again. Amen! Amen! Amen!
For us to exclude anyone from this joyful movement due to the unique traits of their person and the persons whom they love, would be a vain effort to seal up the tomb again. We have no interest in doing that. This life cannot be contained. It cannot be stuffed back in the closet again. Amen! Amen! Amen!
