When it comes to showing love to people in the LGBTQ community, many churches struggle. And because the churches struggle, the members of those churches struggle too. My hope and prayer is that I can help congregations and Christians do a better job showing God’s love and grace to people from the LGBTQ community. This blog is one way to raise issues and get people thinking.
After over 40 years of ministry I have encountered many different ministry situations concerning LGBTQ people. I’ll share some of those stories here. I’ll also share the things I’ve learned from these people and their stories. If they are helpful to you, great! If not, thanks for at least giving them a read.
Hopefully I will challenge some of the things you think when it comes to ministry to LGBTQ people. I’m not looking to change what you believe the Bible says about the issue. That’s between you and God. But I have found that, no matter what their theological perspective, churches and individual Christians struggle to put God’s unconditional grace and love into practice on this issue. John tells us an amazing thing in the first chapter of his Gospel. Referring to Jesus, he says, “From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.” (v. 16) How can we be “grace upon grace” people to all, including those who may be different than us, or hard for us to understand?
Please join me on the journey!