Special Congregational Meeting
A meeting is being called by Mission Council for December 30, right after church service. This meeting is being called to review and discuss whether we want to be co-sponsor of the General Assembly Resolution being submitted by Galileo Christian Church, Forth Worth, Texas.
The resolution is titled “OFFERING SANCTUARY TO, AND RECEIVING THE GIFTS OF, TRANSGENDER AND GENDER-DIVERSE PEOPLE”. Please take a few minutes to read this resolution that is attached.
You will notice that Pine Valley’s name is already on this resolution but if not approved by the congregation on the 30th it will be removed.
GA-xxxx
(Sense-of-the-Assembly)
OFFERING SANCTUARY TO, AND RECEIVING THE GIFTS OF, TRANSGENDER AND GENDER-DIVERSE PEOPLE
WHEREAS, the 2013 General Assembly adopted GA-1327, “Becoming a People of Grace and Welcome to All,” thereby extending the church’s full welcome and inclusion to all people “though differing in…sexual orientation [or] gender identity”;[1] and
WHEREAS, God’s own gender-full Self is revealed to us in Scripture as a kind Father[2], a fierce Mother[3], and a wide variety of other metaphors across the range of gender identities and expressions; and
WHEREAS, God is further known to us as the male-bodied Jesus[4] embodying God’s feminine Wisdom[5]; and as the non-gendered Spirit[6] that inhabits human beings irrespective of gender[7]; and
WHEREAS, Scripture affirms that baptism into Christ clothes all people in Christ uniformly, negating ethnic, economic, and gender distinctions among believers and forming us into “one in Christ Jesus,” such that “there is no longer male and female”[8]; and
WHEREAS, transgender and gender-diverse people contribute rich understanding of God’s transformative power for followers of Christ, all of whom are understood to have undergone transformation of our core identity[9], a concept that is enriched by relationships with transgender and gender-diverse people who have experienced transformation in their core identity; and
WHEREAS, the body of science regarding the biological and psychological understanding of gender is growing,[10] and persuasive that gender identity and gender expression are far more complex and rich than we previously understood and appreciated;[11] and
WHEREAS, our federal, state, municipal, and school district governments have increased their efforts to devalue, punish, and erase transgender and gender-diverse identities in the recent past;[12] and
WHEREAS, transgender and gender-diverse people, including children and adolescents as well as adults, experience the dangers of bullying, abuse, assault, murder, and self-harm at rates many times those of cisgender[13] people;[14] and
WHEREAS, many of our congregations are becoming aware of gender-diversity among our membership and our members’ families; but lack education and experience in biblical-theological reflection on transgender and gender-diverse identities, pastoral care for transgender and gender-diverse people and their families, and institutional best practices for creating safe, just, and welcoming spaces for transgender and gender-diverse people and their families such that the gifts transgender and gender-diverse people bring into the church can be fully appreciated and employed;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the General Assembly meeting in Des Moines, Iowa, July 20-24, calls upon the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to specifically acknowledge that Resolution 1327 included a commitment to welcome and affirm the faith and spiritual gifts of transgender and gender-diverse people; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the General Assembly calls upon the Office of the General Minister and President, in collaboration with Disciples LGBTQ+ Alliance, to produce resources for biblical-theological study, pastoral care best practices, and best practices for institutional inclusion concerning transgender and gender-diverse people and their families; and
FINALLY, BE IT RESOLVED that the General Assembly calls upon all expressions of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to ready themselves to embody God’s fulsome welcome for transgender and gender-diverse people and their families through education, shifts in institutional language and practice, and the cultivation of trusting relationships with transgender and gender-diverse people and their families.
Galileo Christian Church, Fort Worth, TX
Disciples LGBTQ+ Alliance, Indianapolis, IN
SouthPark Christian Church, Charlotte, NC
Park Avenue Christian Church, New York, NY
Missiongathering Christian Church, San Diego, CA
Missiongathering Christian Church, Charlotte, NC
Missiongathering Christian Church, Issaquah, WA
Milagro Christian Church, Pueblo, CO
Brentwood Christian Church, Springfield, MO
Brite Divinity School, Fort Worth, TX
Shawnee Community Christian Church, Shawnee, KS
First Christian Church, Santa Fe, NM
Santa Fe Faith Network for Immigrant Justice, Santa Fe, NM
United Christian Church, Levittown, PA
Pine Valley Christian Church, Wichita, KS
Carthage Christian Church, Cincinnati, OH
Community Christian Church, Manchester, MO
Open Table Christian Church, Murfreesboro, TN
Compton Heights Christian Church, St. Louis, MO
Forest Hill Christian Church, San Francisco, CA
[1] Resolution No. 1327, Becoming a People of Grace and Welcome to All, adopted by the General Assembly meeting in Orlando, Florida, July 13-17, 2013
[2] Psalm 68:5; Psalm 103:13; Isaiah 64:8; Jeremiah 31:9; Matthew 5:45; Matthew 6:9; Romans 8:15; 1 Corinthians 8:6
[3] Deuteronomy 32:11-12, 18; Job 38:28-30; Psalm 131:2; Isaiah 49:15-16; Isaiah 42:14; Isaiah 66:13; Hosea 13:8
[4] Luke 2:7
[5] Proverbs 8:1-3, 22-31
[6] In Hebrew ruach is a feminine noun, grammatically speaking; while pneuma in Koine Greek is neuter.
[7] Joel 2:28-29; Luke 1:41, 67; Acts 2:17-18; Acts 4:31; 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, 11; 1 Thessalonians 1:2-7
[8] Galatians 3:27-28
[9] Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 2:20
[10] https://www.wpath.org/media/cms/Documents/Web%20Transfer/Policies/WPATH-Position-on-Medical-Necessity-12-21-2016.pdf
[11] https://www.hrc.org/resources/understanding-the-transgender-community
[12] https://transequality.org/action-center, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/us/politics/transgender-trump-administration-sex-definition.html, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2018/02/12/education-department-will-no-longer-investigate-transgender-bathroom-complaints/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathroom_bill, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_rights_in_the_United_States
[13] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cisgender
[14] https://www.glsen.org/sites/default/files/Harsh%20Realities.pdf, https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTS-Executive-Summary-Dec17.pdf