An Open Letter to the LGBT Community

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Since its inception in 2003, the Universal Anglican Church has been a radically inclusive denomination with a strong emphasis on social justice. Our spiritual tradition is moderate to progressive Christianity. Our vision has been to create what, for lack of a better term, is a "mixed" Church - a Church that is representative of the broader culture in which we live, move, and have our being. We have sought to create a place where everyone has one thing in common - that they are on a spiritual journey - and that nothing else is necessary to belong. We are not "of, by, and for" any one particular segment of the population. We notice that Jesus sought to get the people of his time to see that all people are welcome in the Kingdom of God. In our understanding, this rules out tokenism of any kind as well as seeking out people in targeted niches or demographic segments of the population. As much as humanly possible, we have sought to be a Church for all people.

We acknowledge that other Churches have a different understanding from ours. We have experienced places that claim to be welcoming and affirming, or reconciling, but that seem to miss the full truth of what is means to welcome all people unconditionally. We have seen places that, reacting to segregation of its members in society at large, seem to believe that a chosen segregation of their own is preferrable to a forced segregation - and to full integration. We find that rather curious and tend to believe that a ghetto is still a ghetto, even if you relocate it. That having been said, it seems that some people are attracted to and quite content in those situations and we rejoice with them in their happiness.

We have also noticed Churches and Church related organizations whose exclusive emphasis seems to be on political action. We receive their mailings and note that the mailings never speak of spirituality, but rather of political action - this or that protest, calling or writing this or that political official, travelling to the State or Nation's Capitol to meet with this or that political figure or their staff, and so on. While all of that is wonderful - it is, after all, the reason for political lobbying organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign and others - we can't help but wonder if those faith institutions ever speak to the spiritual journey of their members. To those people who are perfectly happy having their spiritual lives consist of political action, we rejoice with you.

Of the rest of you, we have a question: Have you ever just wanted to be yourself, without hiding or changing anything about yourself, and follow Jesus on a spiritual journey with other people who love you unconditionally? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to just relax in a community without worrying about being pushed to do this, or go there, or speak out on behalf of anything unless you really wanted to? If so, we encourage you to check us out. We recognize that there are many ways to effect change in society. Some of us are called to travel to meet politicians, to stand on the corner in protest or support of some cause. Others of us work for establishing a just society through perhaps the most effective means possible - through prayer, and through opening ourselves to change.

The Universal Anglican Church - where you can be yourself, where you can have your spirituality fed, where you can exist in community, and where you can determine your own level of involvement. Sounds awfully good to me!