Inclusive church


An inclusive church is a church that considers LGBTQ people to have the same human rights in the Church and in society. This recognition manifests itself primarily through support for LGBTQ rights, the ordination of LGBTQ ministers and the blessing of same-sex unions or marriages.

History

Like slavery, women's rights, and the ordination of women, homosexuality has been the subject of much debate within Christianity. Using historical-critical method, some 20th-century theologians brought a new understanding to passages of the Bible referring to same-sex sexual practices. They argue that they are returning to the original meaning of the words, which referred more to adultery, and therefore situate these passages within the framework of pederasty, a system historically criticized for the age gap and inequalities between people.
After being forced to resign due to being outed, American Pentecostal pastor Troy Perry published an advertisement announcing the opening of a gay-friendly church in Los Angeles, California, in the October 1968 issue of The Advocate. On October 6, 1968, the Metropolitan Community Church held its first service with 12 people in attendance. In 1969, the Metropolitan Community Church officiated the wedding of two young men in Los Angeles.
On May 1, 1972, the United Church of Christ in the San Francisco Bay Area approved the ordination of William R. Johnson, an openly gay seminarian. He was ordained as a pastor at the Community Church San Carlos on June 25, 1972. In 1974, with the help of San Francisco State University professor Sally Miller Gearhart, he published the book Loving Women/Loving Men: Gay Liberation and the Church, which argues, among other things, that marriage is a covenant relationship, regardless of gender.
In the context of the gay liberation movement and the declassification of homosexuality as a disease by the American Psychiatric Association in 1973, these studies prompted various Progressive Christians churches and denominations to recognize the rights of LGBTQ people within the Church and in society. In some denominations, this recognition has come through the development of affirming networks of churches, universities and seminaries. These include American Baptists Concerned for Sexual Minorities in 1972 by members of the American Baptist Churches USA, UCC Coalition for Lesbian/Gay Concerns in 1972 by members of the United Church of Christ, Lutherans Concerned for Gay People in 1974 by members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterians for Gay Concerns in 1974 and More Light Churches Network in 1992 by members of the Presbyterian Church, Affirmation: United Methodists for Lesbian/Gay Concerns in 1975 and Reconciling Ministries Network in 1984 by members of the United Methodist Church, Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBT Interests and Supportive Communities Network in 1976 by members of the Mennonite Church USA. Some of these networks have become international, such as the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists and Reconciling Ministries Network.
In April 1976, the Student Christian Movement of Great Britain, a member of the World Student Christian Federation, organized a conference on gay liberation theology, which led to the founding of the Gay Christian Movement that same year and dialogue with churches in the United Kingdom.
In the context of the legalization of same-sex marriage in various countries and US states during the 2000s, conceptual research into the meaning of marriage commitment in biblical texts prompted various churches to consider that the basis of Christian marriage and sexuality is to remain faithful in a covenant with one's spouse, regardless of gender. After national reflection, some Progressive Christian denominations then began to allow the blessing of same-sex marriage, usually leaving it to each local church to decide. After the legalization of same-sex marriage in the Netherlands in April 2001, the Mennonite Church in the Netherlands was one of the first to pass this resolution that same year. Similar resolutions have taken place on other continents, such as in the Evangelical Church of the River Plate in South America in 2010, in the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa in 2015, in the Uniting Church in Australia in 2018.
In the early 2010s, LGBTQ Christian students also advocated for equal human rights in administrative policies encouraging Christian colleges and universities to become inclusive, including Belmont University in Nashville in 2011, Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana and Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia in 2015.
According to a 2020 study by the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, there are 4.1 million LGBT American adults who identify as Christian, including 1.5 million Protestants, 1.3 million Roman Catholics, and 1.3 million Christians of other denominations.
In 2021, the organization Believr launched a dating app for LGBTQ+ Christians.
In 2022, the documentary 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture was released, which argues that the American committee behind the Revised Standard Version "mistranslated" two Greek words as homosexual in 1946, later adopted by other translations, such as the New International Version, and that this "mistranslation" has encouraged anti-LGBT rhetoric.

Characteristics

Affirming churches generally have one or more of the following commitments:
  1. Ordination of LGBTQ ministers
  2. Support for same-sex civil unions
  3. Blessing of same-sex unions
  4. Blessing of same-sex marriages