Posted on 02/25/2010 1:11:19 PM PST by SmithL
MARLBOROUGH — After St. Ann’s Catholic Church was closed in 2004, Stacie LaBoissiere and her husband began looking for another spiritual home. But they ruled out joining another Catholic parish.
“My sister is a lesbian, married to a woman,” LaBoissiere explained. “I knew that I did not want to remain Catholic as a result of their views on homosexuality. I could not become a member of a church that would condemn my sister. If a church would not accept my sister, then they would not accept me.”
The couple joined Marlborough’s St. Stephen Lutheran Church, after its pastor Scott Howard reassured them that the church welcomed everyone.
Early this month, members of St. Stephen, located on Bolton Street in Marlborough, unanimously approved a move to become a “Reconciling in Christ” (RIC) congregation, which publicly extends an invitation to all, including gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people. While the church had long welcomed a diverse group of congregants, this was the first time that the welcome mat became an official part of its identity.
“All people are welcome to be disciples of Jesus with us at St. Stephen,” said Howard in a statement announcing the move. “St. Stephen has merely made public what is already a reality in our community – the radical welcome we share with all people who are called into community and reconciliation with Jesus.”
In adopting the RIC designation, St. Stephen joins a growing number of Lutheran congregations to welcome the GLBT community, a trend that has become a divisive issue in the national Lutheran Church. The progressive Evangelical Lutheran Church in America now officially welcomes gay congregants and has installed gay pastors; in protest, conservative factions of that church have broken away from it.
Howard said his own church, which draws many of its members from Marlborough, Hudson and surrounding communities, is following its conscience.
“Naturally, there are many people throughout the country in the ELCA who are distressed with these decisions, and some congregations and individuals have left for other, more conservative traditions,” he said. “Lutherans are not troubled with disagreement, for we understand the importance of conscience when it comes to matters of faith.”
The pastor added that St. Stephen is already diverse. “While the Lutheran tradition is often stereotyped as a hotbed of Scandinavians and Germans, St Stephen currently enjoys a diverse group of disciples from various ethnic groups -- from Irish and Italian to Korean, Japanese and Indian,” said Howard.
The decision to become an RIC church was made because the church felt it needed a public declaration of its longtime philosophy. Howard said that while church members have always felt their congregation was diverse and tolerant, many people outside the church did not realize it. Through joining RIC, he said, the church hopes to reach out to people who have felt shut out by other congregations.
While Howard said the church has no openly gay members yet, it does have several members with gay relatives, who have been relieved to find a church that does not ask them to choose between their religious beliefs and their family member. “The RIC conversation began at St Stephen when those members shared the heartbreaking stories of their GLBT relatives and friends who never felt truly welcome at any Christian church,” he said.
But RIC’s welcome extends wider than that – to those who are single, divorced or separated; to the disabled and to those with different cognitive abilities.
“Although the intent of the Reconciling in Christ program was to recognize acceptance of gay, lesbian and transgender believers, we felt it unfair to single out one population in our acceptance,” said church member Krista LaPlante.
The next step is for the St. Stephen congregation council to send a letter to the RIC Grassroots Organizer to have the church officially included in the national roster of RIC congregations.
“If a church would not accept my sister, then they would not accept me”
Yet, this is what Christ says:
“And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.”
Fagottry trumps all.
Just the same as being gay, isn’t it. What a unmitigated load of bat guano. You poor, stupid, foolish people.
“...The next step is for the St. Stephen congregation council to send a letter to the RIC Grassroots Organizer to have the church officially included in the national roster of RIC congregations...”
And the step after that is be prepared to have your congregation disappear over the next 5-10 years.
Missing the forest for the trees.
Every single church, every one of them, is populated with 100 percent sinners. Not a single church can boast a person who does not sin on a regular basis.
As for Churches condemning any one, that isn’t their place. A church is a place for people to find forgiveness for their many sins.
It’s when churches start monkeying with the definition of sin is where things start to go aglee.
Their tent is so large it will collapse in on itself and spiritually kill all those within it
A church does not forgive sins, the Lord does.
“A church is a place for people to find forgiveness for their many sins.”
A church does not forgive sins, the Lord does.
Hard not to be sarcastic in reply. Of course, the Lord is the one who forgives. It was my entire point - churches shouldn’t condemn or forgive.
Whole world is losing its mind it seems.
THAT’S WHERE THE protestant churches came from....I don’t agree with the Catholic church so I will start my own or join someone elses......it’s very hard to be a Catholic....there’s no middle ground, you do not have a menu to choose from. You are either Catholic or you are not......and we don’t cut your head off if you leave! (we’re very compassionate!)
..and we don’t cut your head off if you leave!Not now, but back in Luther's day, . . .
It appears that the ELCA welcomes sinners with their unrepentant sins. Should legitimate Christian churches not condemn acts that God says are unrighteous?
It isn't the church that is "condemning" her sister.
My church is Baptist and I don't claim to know a lot about other people's churches but my church would welcome her sister as long as she wasn't disruptive.
She could sit in the congregation and hear the word of God but could not join our membership without repentance.
Not now, but back in Luther’s day
oh please....the violence Catholic? protestant was Barely worse than the Protestant/Catholic....get over it....the protestant revolution (notice I didn’t say reformation) was wrong, wrong, wrong...Luther, Wesley, Zwingley, Calvin Henry VIII, etc etc etc decided that they, not Christ, could form a church here on Earth......I may be wrong, but I’ll stick with the one that the Savior Himself founded.....when you decide to “reform” from without, an organization, you don’t get to make the rules as to what the original organization is. You can make up your own rules pertaining to your dissident group, Mormans, Jehovah Witnesses, Adventists, etc.....but don’t try to tell the Catholic church what they should believe! Again, the word protestant means somethine....it means that you are protesting against the Catholic Church.......have at it, but don’t try to change the true church of Christ.....there is only one you know, not 20,000 disperate denominations all of which think that thay have discovered the truth!!!
I may be wrongThat's the part you got right. Luther didn't leave the Roman Church, but tried to reform the Church from within. The pope responded by putting a price on Luther's head and excommunicated him.
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bttt
When Luther’s hammer rose and fell
At Wittenberg in heaven-born power
And rang dark popery’s funeral-knell,
When long and cruel night was gone
And smiling rose the promised dawn!
Totally ignorant statement! The Catholic Church does not "condemn" her sister; it condemns the 'active' homosexual lifestyle. Were the sister to leave the lover and embrace a christian life, she will always be welcome in the Catholic Church.
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