Faith & Justice

Are we a welcoming church? Do we welcome ALL?

“While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, ‘Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy spirit just as we have.’ Acts. 10:44-47 (NIV)

“There is neither Jew not Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 4:28-29(NIV)

Some things to consider:

The early church (in Acts 10) was surprised when people different from them (the Gentiles) were included in the body of believers and given the Holy Spirit. In the Galatians passage, and many others, there are no exclusions to belonging to Christ. Maybe that means we are not to be in the business of deciding whether other people are “too sinful” to worship with us and serve alongside us. Did Jesus welcome all or just some when he said in John 3: 16 “For God so loved the world….”

Biblical teachings such as these, along with careful examination of other scriptural passages, have led many churches to conclude that they can fully honor the authority of the Bible and fully include gay, bisexual, and transgender Christians in all aspects of church life.

Because churches differ, it is challenging for Christians who are gay, bisexual, or transgender to know how they will be received in a church. The Faith and Justice Team wants to better understand the issues that face our Christian siblings so that we can help them know they are welcome at Whitworth Church. This will be our focus for June.

While we focus on specific topics each month, a major goal of Faith and Justice is to understand others so that we can love them better. Please check out Gen’s information box in the library. It is filled with current news articles from the Spokesman Review for those that don’t subscribe to the newspaper. The Black Lens is published once per month and gives insight into our Black brothers and sisters living in the Spokane area. This is in keeping with our mission statement to explore, educate, and act on issues that converge at the intersection of justice and God’s Word.