THE ‘INCLUSIVE CONGREGATIONS’ PROJECT …
… is for church congregations who are thinking of declaring
openly their affirmation of gay/lesbian/bisexual people as full
members of the Body of Christ, and equally eligible with all other
members for all forms of ministry in the Church of Christ. The project
is administered by the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement. A church
that demonstrably meets the criteria can register with LGCM as an
‘Inclusive Congregation’, and LGCM will respond to enquiries
by recommending such churches as ‘gay-friendly’.
The criteria
1 Each congregation (as a whole or through sub-groups)
undertakes study, discussion and prayer leading to the full, explicit
and public inclusion of lesbian, gay and bisexual people in its
life, leadership and ministry. This leads to:
2 An agreed Statement of Inclusiveness and equal opportunities
to be registered with ‘Inclusive Congregations’, and evidence
that the whole congregation supports this.
3 An annual renewal of the Statement, re-registering as
an ‘Inclusive Congregation’, and making an annual contribution
to the administration of the scheme and its continuing publicity
and educational work.
4 Publicity for the congregation’s stand in at least
some of a range of ways, e.g. the Statement on internal notice boards;
a short statement on external boards; ‘Inclusive’ logo
on church notepaper; statement on service/worship sheets; information
to local/national gay switchboards and helplines.
5 Consider offering services of blessing to same-sex partnerships.
6 Church buildings available for use by gay/lesbian groups
on the same basis as for heterosexual or other groups.
Why focus on lesbian and gay people?
Aren’t there lots of other people who feel excluded? Yes,
and we should make a stand against all forms of discrimination and
oppression: our current Statement of Purpose commits us to this.
But in the church today lesbian and gay people face blatant discrimination
— the church refuses to recognise responsible sexual love between
people of the same sex and will not solemnise such relationships,
and you can’t be ordained if you are a lesbian or a gay man
living in a committed relationship. It is important to single out
church oppression against lesbian and gay people and make a public
stand.
Where have we got to?
The local ministry team first discussed this project over two
years ago, and the PCC agreed that we should actively consider it.
In our Lent groups in 1999 we looked at our existing Statement of
Purpose and discussed the issues involved in being an inclusive
congregation in the broadest sense. So this is not a new issue for
All Hallows.
Our day together on Saturday 3 June 2000 provided an ideal opportunity
to take this forward — to discuss whether we still want to
take part in this project, and, if we do, to decide how we go about
it in practical terms, taking into account our specific situation.
|