From the Desk of Pastor Marsha, January 23, 2025

What’s Happening 1.23.2025

This weekend we will be celebrating Reconciling in Christ Sunday during our Sunday
morning worship service. Hopefully, you will recall that we had a conversation in
November about whether or not we want to continue our status as a Reconciling in
Christ congregation. An RIC congregation is one that welcomes LGBTQIA+ individuals.
Reconciling Works (RW, originally Reconciling in Christ) celebrated their 50th
anniversary this year. In preparation for doing so, they revised their “expectations” as to
what it means to be a partner with them. The Council reviewed those expectations and
held a congregational conversation on November 10th, sharing those new
expectations, and we discussed our commitment to them. There was a general
agreement that the congregation did want to commit to those new expectations and
continue being recognized as an RIC congregation. If you would like to read more about
that conversation, see my “What’s Happening” article from November 14th on our
website. We also will be voting on that commitment at our Annual Meeting on February
2 of this year.

We thought it would be good, in recognition of our planned renewed commitment, to
recognize RW’s annual celebration of RIC Sunday, which is this coming weekend,
January 26. A good portion of the prayers and liturgy we will use this Sunday are
provided by the RW organization. They have planned out this worship service with
suggested hymns, prayers, music, and a sermon. This is their language, with words that
many of us don’t typically use.

For decades, Zion has been extraordinarily welcoming to gay and lesbian members of
the community, and our membership in the reconciling network is a way to formally
recognize that fact. Some of the language provided by RW in its Communal Lament
may use unfamiliar terminology. At the same time, it is important
for us to be reminded of the challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ individuals, and to
acknowledge their lived experiences and values might be different than ours.
I ask that we all have open hearts and minds this Sunday, asking God to show us how
we can be more welcoming to all of God’s children. God will bless this time, I am sure.
                                                                                                 ~Pastor Marsha