Many of you heard some of my thoughts about the MCUSA Convention on Sunday. (If you missed it, you can find the text of my sermon HERE.) As a way of continuing the conversation about our time of discerning together as a denomination, we will be sending out reflections from CMC members who attended. Look for those in the coming days.
One of the things I did not mention on Sunday was the Inclusive Worship service that happened on Wednesday afternoon. It was a time to celebrate LGBTQ leadership within MCUSA, honor the anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub shooting, and yearn for a future where MCUSA does justice with LGBTQ people both within and beyond its borders.
I was invited to offer introductory comments before a ritual where we named all 49 victims of the Pulse shooting, interspersed with verses of There is more love somewhere. It turned out to be one of the most meaningful parts of the week as we heard all the names and honored their lives as sacred while praying for a future where love, hope, joy, and peace abound. I will end by offering you the benediction that I shared as part of my opening comments. A picture from the service is also included below.
To the victims of the Pulse shooting and their family and friends, let us be a Church that proudly declares in both word and deed...
...there is more love somewhere.
To the LGBTQ siblings among us who live in fear, knowing all too well the cost of pride, let us be a Church that stands with them in solidarity, defiantly singing...
...there is more hope somewhere.
To those who long to feel the Pulse of God’s heart but have been pushed away from our faith communities, let us be a Church that grieves and repents and recommits to a belief that...
...there is more peace somewhere.
To all those out there who desperately need to believe in a God who is able to turn our mourning back into dancing, may we be a Church who orders our life together knowing...
...there is more joy somewhere.
But most of all, let us be the kind of Church that not only says these things, but a Church that keeps on, ‘til we find them, because we know there is more love somewhere. Amen.
