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Neighbors


I was recently asked whether Christ Church was a good church for members of our LBGTQ+ community. I gave an honest opinion that we want to be but that I don’t believe we are -- yet. We are a respectful and compassionate community of people filled with love for each other and our diversity.  We understand our baptismal commitment, to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselvesMost recently, we celebrated with great joy the baptism of the daughter of two fathers at Christ Church. I feel, however, that we still have a lot to understand and learn about identity, and the ways that we can support all of our family members so they feel fully included.


Christ Church is diverse in so many ways, and most of us found our home here because we want to live and worship in a diverse church environment. We speak nearly 80 different languages in our congregation, and our potluck dinners have an amazing variety of foods, tastes, and scents. Our children are growing up and learning tolerance in a loving community, and they’re teaching us the same as they do. We have differing political views and come from many cultures and religious backgrounds. We don’t always agree on the issues we believe to be important or about positions the church should take officially, but we respectfully discuss our differences with each other, praying and talking and praying some more through them.


Father Manny personally strives to help anyone he meets to feel welcome here. And he fully supports the National Episcopal Church’s stance on LGBTQ+ inclusion. Not long ago, he shared a story with us about his early days as a seminarian and priest, as he struggled to overcome his prejudices against gay couples. He had grown up in Ghana, where the view toward anyone not heterosexual was harsh, as you know. But he met many members of the LGBTQ+ community, saw their love and their loving relationships, and learned to recognize God’s loving blessings in their lives. As a result, Father Manny not only changed his views but he made it a mission to help others change their views for the better, too.


As a Christ Church staff member once told me, “We have so much to learn from the many faithful members of our church who have experiences different than our own.”  Let’s listen and ask questions, let's practice inclusion more fully and intentionally, and let's find joy in the process. If you have suggestions of ways we can be more inclusive and loving, I would love to hear them. Please share your ideas with me or with Father Manny when he gets back from his Sabbatical in September. Or, just call or text and say, “Hi”!


By the way – I hope you can join us for the Crab Feast on Wednesday, August 7th! It’s $25. per person if you want fresh crabs, but scholarship spots are available. Let Aisha in the church office (office@christchurchcolumbia.org) if you’re attending so that we have your crabs ready!


Jan DeBoissiere

Senior Warden

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6800 Oakland Mills Road
Columbia, Maryland 21045

 

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