Affirming Congregations

[Seeler]

I have seen that those churches who are not welcoming, do not enter into the Affirming Process.

I have also heard " We are already welcoming" so do not enter the process.

I have also heard
"We have been hearing this too long and don't want to hear any more."

We too have heard these phrases. And 'why single out the GLBT, shouldn't we welcome everyone?'

 

[Jaebius]

We have given members of the congregation ample opportunity to ask questions and express their concerns - in private with one of more committee member, in group discussion, or anonymously in writing. We have even provided pencils and paper for people to write out their questions or comments and drop them in a basket after church or at the church office during the week.

You've allowed members of the congregation ample opportunity to ask questions of and express their concerns to a committee upon which there is not a single voice dissenting to becoming Affirming. The bias of your Committee is clear.

I have attended Committee meetings of different kinds where people were free to voice questions and concerns, and then the Committee just went right ahead and did whatever they wanted to do anyway. Not saying that's necessarily happening in the case of your congregation, just noting that it can take place.

Our up-coming 'Conversation' is intended to specifically address theological issues. We hope that anyone who has serious concerns about any Bible texts that they need to discuss or clarify will bring them to this meeting.

And what if someone feels the need to flat-out argue based on Scripture that becoming Affirming is offensive to God. What kind of response will such a person receive?

Does your Committee truly desire to listen, or will they just hear voices and then go ahead with their own agenda?

 

[Jaebius]

We too have heard these phrases. And 'why single out the GLBT, shouldn't we welcome everyone?'

At my church we do welcome everyone

 

[Delightful Life]

What a delightful thread

Thanks for starting it, Pinga :3 Doing g_d`s will, indeed, helping bring aboot the KoH

I`ll be attending a United Church of Canada service this Sunday in a joint Anglican & UCoC service -- I`ll see if they are affirming

(yay millennials! our future leaders)

 

[Seeler]

At my church we do welcome everyone

I have heard about the 'welcome' you would give a woman who had just struggled with the choice of having an abortion. I can imagine the welcome a man might receive if he arrived at church with his husband and their children on Mothers' Day.

 

[BetteTheRed]

There's a distinct difference between welcoming and affirming. My local walmart "welcomes" me.

 

[Jaebius]

I have heard about the 'welcome' you would give a woman who had just struggled with the choice of having an abortion. I can imagine the welcome a man might receive if he arrived at church with his husband and their children on Mothers' Day.

We welcome everyone at my church, and not one of us is perfect there. We are a lot of broken sinners, desperately in need of God's grace. The man who arrived with his partner and children would certainly be welcomed. We'd love to have them join us.

 

[Luce NDs]

If queer people are alien to Jae ... should he abide by the biblical stuff about giving the stranger a lift ... Levite in nature?

Thus the chosen people put down and the emotional remain on a high while the intellectual remain under rocks ... a hard place for the higher us to grasp ...

Myself I find strange people more interesting than those that go on and on about the same ole thing ... I even get more interested in that fellow I look at in the mirror each morning ... something to investigate and check out as multiple etude ... it assists when getting input by those around me and what they observe. How many are out there to observe me in the social group? Some say over 7 B a holy #! Is that b'eta?

 

[Seeler]

You've allowed members of the congregation ample opportunity to ask questions of and express their concerns to a committee upon which there is not a single voice dissenting to becoming Affirming. The bias of your Committee is clear.

I have attended Committee meetings of different kinds where people were free to voice questions and concerns, and then the Committee just went right ahead and did whatever they wanted to do anyway. Not saying that's necessarily happening in the case of your congregation, just noting that it can take place.



And what if someone feels the need to flat-out argue based on Scripture that becoming Affirming is offensive to God. What kind of response will such a person receive?

Does your Committee truly desire to listen, or will they just hear voices and then go ahead with their own agenda?

Our mandate was to explore the possibility of becoming affirming. As I said in post #9, one of our first activities was to visit all the groups in our church and listen to them - what did they like about our church? what could be improved? There was lots of opportunity in these 'listening sessions' to voice concerns or disapproval. At any point along the way our committee could have gone back to the board and said, 'The congregation isn't ready for this now.' But for the most part people were encouraging.

I will not be the person facilitating the Conversation around theological matters. We invite our facilitators from outside our committee - in this case a highly respected retired minister. I don't know what he will do if someone 'feels the need to flat-out argue'. I do know that he is a good listener and that he tries to be non-confrontational. I, on the other hand, can easily be drawn into an argument where nobody wins; that's why I would turn down the opportunity to facilitate if I were asked.

 

[Luce NDs]

We welcome everyone at my church, and not one of us is perfect there. We are a lot of broken sinners, desperately in need of God's grace. The man who arrived with his partner and children would certainly be welcomed. We'd love to have them join us.

Can I imagine a queer person on a committee at your church?

Would that be darkly abstract?

 

[Jaebius]

Our mandate was to explore the possibility of becoming affirming. As I said in post #9, one of our first activities was to visit all the groups in our church and listen to them - what did they like about our church? what could be improved? There was lots of opportunity in these 'listening sessions' to voice concerns or disapproval. At any point along the way our committee could have gone back to the board and said, 'The congregation isn't ready for this now.' But for the most part people were encouraging.

That's the biased Committee, right? The unbalanced Committee, right? You say for the most part people were encouraging. That suggests that some were not. What weight, if any, did you give to their voices?

I will not be the person facilitating the Conversation around theological matters. We invite our facilitators from outside our committee - in this case a highly respected retired minister. I don't know what he will do if someone 'feels the need to flat-out argue'. I do know that he is a good listener and that he tries to be non-confrontational. I, on the other hand, can easily be drawn into an argument where nobody wins; that's why I would turn down the opportunity to facilitate if I were asked.

What's his stance on becoming Affirming? Is he impartial? Will he be focusing the conversation around a proper exegesis of the pertinent biblical texts?

 

[Carolla]

You know jae - this is just so tiresome. We know you don't support this issue - you've said so many times. So why not just go your own way. You speak of being inclusive & welcoming, yet you pick fights here whenever these topics come up. Nobody from the Affirming movement is trying to force change on your Baptist church - your right to be of a different view is understood. Why be so antagonistic to those who differ from you? How does this behaviour serve you?

"Exploring" - a key word. If the world's explorers also took the naysayers on their journeys, we might still think the earth is flat. Some have courage to explore, others feel frightened by the thought of leaving the secure harbour.

 

[Luce NDs]

Jae as other's have said ... have you listened to your selve's bias in the seamy ...

It is said the Jesus fabric is seamless but the isolationists and eliminator people cause riphts and schisms ...

Especially in the capability of the word to redact all on it's own ... even though the literalists say it is constitution and they sit on it every morning as distributive chit in the cesspool of life !

Isn't that an ass in an greater stretch of Cosmology that turns like rocks that think they are fixed ... perhaps eunuch characters ... lost the hard art of understanding alien stuff ... requires some projection beyond the subjective as it is too self-centred!

Thus ass upts tale ... Y .... ten tow sup ...

 

[Luce NDs]

You know jae - this is just so tiresome. We know you don't support this issue - you've said so many times. So why not just go your own way. You speak of being inclusive & welcoming, yet you pick fights here whenever these topics come up. Nobody from the Affirming movement is trying to force change on your Baptist church - your right to be of a different view is understood. Why be so antagonistic to those who differ from you? How does this behaviour serve you?

"Exploring" - a key word. If the world's explorers also took the naysayers on their journeys, we might still think the earth is flat. Some have courage to explore, others feel frightened by the thought of leaving the secure harbour.

Did yah hear Jae function off ...?

 

[chansen]

There's a distinct difference between welcoming and affirming. My local walmart "welcomes" me.

Thread over. Bette wins.

 

[Luce NDs]

A defeat in the instituted Hadassah ...

If you had assah up would that be a certain fixation for those observing?

Can we allow for the myopic?

 

[Delightful Life]

You know jae - this is just so tiresome. We know you don't support this issue - you've said so many times. So why not just go your own way. You speak of being inclusive & welcoming, yet you pick fights here whenever these topics come up. Nobody from the Affirming movement is trying to force change on your Baptist church - your right to be of a different view is understood. Why be so antagonistic to those who differ from you? How does this behaviour serve you?

"Exploring" - a key word. If the world's explorers also took the naysayers on their journeys, we might still think the earth is flat. Some have courage to explore, others feel frightened by the thought of leaving the secure harbour.

Remember Jae has said time and time again that he is here for merde & guffaws

So, engaging him beyond that, its up to the individual person to decide how much he is worth expending any time & effort with

Please folks, don't let the Little Minion of Satan derail you -- keep at it with your affirmation stories :3

 

[chansen]

You've allowed members of the congregation ample opportunity to ask questions of and express their concerns to a committee upon which there is not a single voice dissenting to becoming Affirming. The bias of your Committee is clear.

.....

And what if someone feels the need to flat-out argue based on Scripture that becoming Affirming is offensive to God. What kind of response will such a person receive?

Does your Committee truly desire to listen, or will they just hear voices and then go ahead with their own agenda?

LMAO!

Where are the pro-affirming voices in the Baptist church? Do they have "ample opportunity" to speak and ask questions?

Look, you're just in troll mode again, and I strongly suspect your own opinions on the matter are not as strong as you pretend. The UCCan is trying to do the right thing. As for, "Why single out the LGBT community?," well, that's because churches have been leaders in LGBT discrimination for so long, they need to announce their new policy of acceptance to help make up for the damage they've caused in the past. And, obviously, in the present.

Does the process of becoming affirming please God? Is it biblical? I don't care. Obviously, some feel different. I'm just glad there is a denomination trying to do the right thing. Quietly and to itself, but at least the right thing.

 

[Jaebius]

You know jae - this is just so tiresome. We know you don't support this issue - you've said so many times. So why not just go your own way.

Carolla, I have to wonder whether that's what a lot of these Affirming Committees address anyone who offers dissension to the idea of becoming Affirming. By the way - I didn't dissent. My claim was that Committees considering the Affirming issue should be balanced in opinion. Balanced Carolla.

You speak of being inclusive & welcoming, yet you pick fights here whenever these topics come up.

And again.

Hm... I've asked some questions, made some comments in a fair way, and addressed comments made to me. If you want to see that as picking fights, that's your choice. I reject that notion.

Why be so antagonistic to those who differ from you? How does this behaviour serve you?

And again. And again.

"Exploring" - a key word. If the world's explorers also took the naysayers on their journeys, we might still think the earth is flat. Some have courage to explore, others feel frightened by the thought of leaving the secure harbour.

What is needed is travelling using a properly-used map. In this case, a church living life together while doing proper exegesis of the Word of God - something I still haven't heard anyone speak of Affirming Committees doing.

 

[Jaebius]

LMAO!

Where are the pro-affirming voices in the Baptist church? Do they have "ample opportunity" to speak and ask questions?

http://www.awab.org/

Look, you're just in troll mode again, and I strongly suspect your own opinions on the matter are not as strong as you pretend. The UCCan is trying to do the right thing. As for, "Why single out the LGBT community?," well, that's because churches have been leaders in LGBT discrimination for so long, they need to announce their new policy of acceptance to help make up for the damage they've caused in the past. And, obviously, in the present.

Who are you quoting there chansen? Those words were not posted by me.

Does the process of becoming affirming please God? Is it biblical? I don't care...

Of course not. You're an atheist.

....Obviously, some feel different. I'm just glad there is a denomination trying to do the right thing. Quietly and to itself, but at least the right thing.