Starting next Sunday and for the following two Sunday's my church parish, First Lutheran Church Norfolk ("FLC"), a member parish of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ("ELCA") will be holding a discussion group to review the draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality released by the national church earlier in the year. Participants will submit comments to the study group that prepared the draft statement and after ELCA members have had a chance to respond to this draft statement, the task force will then consider all comments and develop a proposed social statement, which is expected to be brought, through the Church Council, to the 2009 Churchwide Assembly for consideration.*
While the draft statement is an improvement over the church's current position, it stops short of supporting gay marriage although it does support recognition of committed gay relationships. I plan to attend the sessions with my boyfriend to make sure a gay perspective is heard by the parish participants. I am "out" at church and previously attended the parish with my former partner (we were listed as a couple in the church directory). This will be my boyfriend's first exposure to FLC. He is very spiritual and is the son of a Baptist minister who is accepting of his son, something all too rare among Baptists it seems from my experience. The leader of the FLC discussion group is a retired seminary professor and ordained pastor who is very much in support of updated thinking towards gays. I believe it is important that the b/f and I attend as a couple since I have found that bigotry and closed mindedness frequently dissolve when faced with real live individuals as opposed to some faceless concept. I will comment on how it goes in future posts.
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