Where Are We Going?

Several people have asked us: now what? We have a great experience at Pride every year but that doesn't place us next to the local LGBT community year-round. So what else are we going to do?

I have to admit I was stumped by that question for awhile, and then I was stumped further by my own head trying to make things too complicated. Thank you God for guidance and direction and confirmations!

We have two major goals for moving forward in the short-term, that is, over the next 12-24 months:

1. Perspectives – We will be interviewing various people with different views on sexuality and/or Christianity and bringing these perspectives to you on our blog. This will include different people who identify as LGBT as well as Christian leaders and scholars. We also will be studying different materials and reading books to bring you what we learn and identify what we need to learn. We will be inviting guests to author relevant blogs as well. These perspectives are not all going to agree, and that is the point. Obviously we are addressing a highly complex issue and a single viewpoint does not serve anyone in any honest way.
   
   
2. Volunteerism – As a way of showing love to the LGBT community as well as to get ourselves out there, we plan on volunteering at local events related to the LGBT community and inviting you to volunteer with us. We need to get elbow-deep in the mud – we can't just sit here at a computer and claim to be “doing something”.

[On a side note, I know many people have been told, over and over, that showing any sort of love is a way of condoning a person's sin. There are big issues in that statement that we need to address separately. For now let us say this: Jesus showed love by getting close to those who religious leaders labeled as unfit to participate in the religion because of their behavior. He ate dinner with them in a culture where meals were much longer and more intimate occasions than they are today. The simple act of eating a meal with them showed them love because He did it in spite of, and maybe even because, the religious leaders labeled them as sinners and sneered at Him for being there. Our endeavor here is to reach out to the local LGBT community and show them Christ-like love. We don't recall any stories where Christ held back from loving someone because He didn't want to condone their sin.]

In speaking with a sister organization in Lexington, and confirmed by another individual doing the same work in Memphis, volunteerism is a cornerstone of growing our own local organization. We do not move that direction lightly. We also will not be doing any in the immediate future for various reasons, but know this: when we truly launch into volunteering, we need at least 6 months of steady activity to have the impact we desire. We will launch that aspect when the time is right.

My heart breaks some days because I can't do this all at once. I wish I was super-human, or at least one of those people whose bodies only need a few hours of sleep every day. But God has laid a path for us to do more in His time instead of my own. As you keep us in your prayers, please include a prayer that we have the strength and patience to endure.