Our church stood up proudly yesterday and announced it is a family and, as such, we had to take a stand against the proposed state constitutional amendment about marriage!
by Charlie Leck
by Charlie Leck
My wife and I are proud of our church (we’re members of Plymouth Congregational Church in downtown Minneapolis). There’s a lot for which to be proud; but I won’t go into all that this morning. At the moment, it’s what happened yesterday that makes us feel so terribly proud.
As someone in church said publically yesterday, after the worship service, “We’re a family and this is a family issue! We’ve got to respond and act as a family.”
And so we did!
Many of the members of the congregation stayed after church for an official meeting of the congregation and a vote on an important matter. It’s the kind of thing that we rarely do and it’s not the kind of thing we like to do! Sometimes, however, it’s just necessary to take a stand because we are a family and we need to speak as a family.
Many of the members of the congregation stayed after church for an official meeting of the congregation and a vote on an important matter. It’s the kind of thing that we rarely do and it’s not the kind of thing we like to do! Sometimes, however, it’s just necessary to take a stand because we are a family and we need to speak as a family.
Minnesotans United for All Families at Plymouth Church!
An amendment to the state constitution will be on the ballot this November. If it passes the institution of marriage will be defined as only that between a man and woman. There’s already a state law that disallows marriages between other than a man and a woman. Many of us would like to change that law. An amendment to the constitution would make a change in the law extremely difficult.
An amendment to the state constitution will be on the ballot this November. If it passes the institution of marriage will be defined as only that between a man and woman. There’s already a state law that disallows marriages between other than a man and a woman. Many of us would like to change that law. An amendment to the constitution would make a change in the law extremely difficult.
I’m proud that our congregation voted overwhelmingly yesterday (by over 90 percent) to oppose the amendment to the constitution and to support an action committee in our church that will work publically against the amendment in the coming election campaign.
We have a number of gay couples within our congregation. These couples are comfortable at Plymouth because they find a warm acceptance there. “We’re family!” Among our staff, including the ministers, we have gays and lesbians. They’re loved and respected within our church family.
Plymouth Church, a large and respected institution within the city of Minneapolis, will go public about its opposition to the amendment. We’ll place advertisements in the paper! We’ll campaign actively and ask people to vote no on the amendment proposal.
There was an enormous amount of good feelings and comfortable warmth after the results of the vote was announced yesterday. Our family came together and stood together. We’ll work together against this very unnecessary, unloving and unhopeful amendment to our state’s constitution. A committee, Minnesotans United for All Families at Plymouth, approved by and supervised by the Board of Deacons will work on Plymouth Church’s behalf to oppose this constitutional amendment.
You can work against it, too. You can begin by looking into MINNESOTANS UNITED FOR ALL FAMILIES. They'll help you find ways to contribute to the effort to defeat this proposed amendment.
Plymouth warmly welcomes all people…
“Plymouth warmly welcomes all people. We embrace diversity in our congregation and community, and we affirm the dignity and worth of every person created in the image of God. We honor the guiding principle that discrimination is incompatible with Christ's message of unconditional love. We welcome into full membership and participation in all aspects of our church life persons of every race, language, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, physical or mental ability, economic or marital status and faith background, and we affirm and celebrate all loving and committed relationships...”
“Plymouth warmly welcomes all people. We embrace diversity in our congregation and community, and we affirm the dignity and worth of every person created in the image of God. We honor the guiding principle that discrimination is incompatible with Christ's message of unconditional love. We welcome into full membership and participation in all aspects of our church life persons of every race, language, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, physical or mental ability, economic or marital status and faith background, and we affirm and celebrate all loving and committed relationships...”
I’ve many times been proud to be affiliated with Plymouth Church but never more so than yesterday.
_________________________
Why not become a follower?
If you read my blog regularly, why not become a follower? All you have to do is click in the upper right hand corner and establish a simple means of communication. Then you'll be informed every time a new blog is posted here. If all that's confusing, here's Google's explanation of how to do it! If you don’t want to post comments on the blog, but would like to communicate with me about it, send me an email if you’d like.
If you read my blog regularly, why not become a follower? All you have to do is click in the upper right hand corner and establish a simple means of communication. Then you'll be informed every time a new blog is posted here. If all that's confusing, here's Google's explanation of how to do it! If you don’t want to post comments on the blog, but would like to communicate with me about it, send me an email if you’d like.
That's awesome! I'm proud of Plymouth Church too!
ReplyDelete