Affirmation of Welcome
Living Waters Lutheran Church is committed to being a radically loving and welcoming community of faith. We recognize that the world can be an unloving place of alienation and brokenness, and we believe Christ calls us to serve as ministers of reconciliation and wholeness in it. We are comforted by the Gospel, challenged and transformed by its radical life-changing love, and empowered to be agents of healing within society and the church.
Pictures from the 2022 New Hope Pridefest, New Hope, PA
See more about Pridefest at New Hope Celebrates
Affirmation of Welcome
Living Waters Lutheran Church is committed to being a radically loving and welcoming community of faith. We recognize that the world can be an unloving place of alienation and brokenness, and we believe Christ calls us to serve as ministers of reconciliation and wholeness in it. We are comforted by the Gospel, challenged and transformed by its radical life-changing love, and empowered to be agents of healing within society and the church.
We affirm with the apostle Paul that in Christ “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female” (Galatians 3:28). We acknowledge that the spirit of this affirmation extends to anyone who is living with the realities of discrimination, treated as less-than or otherwise marginalized. Christ has made us one.
We believe all people are created in God’s image. We therefore celebrate the dignity and diversity of the human community, and are committed to work for justice inside and outside this congregation. We welcome, include, and affirm people of every race, color, culture, age, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, faith story, economic situation, physical and mental ability, educational level, work history, political affiliation, citizenship status, criminal record, or any other such human invention. All are welcome within the worship life of this congregation, including access to the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, and all are welcome and encouraged to join in our congregational life, community, and ministry.
We commit ourselves to stand by all our brothers, sisters, and siblings, in solidarity to advocate for equity for every beloved child of God and to be partners in the work of anti-racism, social and economic justice.
Be it resolved therefore, this 5th day of December, 2023, that the Congregational Council of Living Waters Lutheran Church, Ringoes, NJ, in prayerful assembly, adopts this updated Affirmation of Welcome by affixing hereto the signature of its Pastor and each member of its Council, and the Seal of the Church.
What LGBTQIA+ means:
A link to: https://www.reconcilingworks.org/resources/
LGBTQIA+ Booklist
- Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century by John Boswell
- Dear Church: A Love Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the US by Lenny Duncan
- UnClobber by Colby Martin
- One Coin Found: How God's Love Stretches to the Margins by Emmy Kegler
- Transforming - The Bible & the Lives of Transgender Christians by Austen Hartke
- God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships by Matthew Vines
- The Bible and the Transgender Experience: How Scripture Supports Gender Variance by Linda Tatro Herzer
- Reconciling Scripture for Lutherans - Sexuality & Gender Identity by Austen Hartke and Emmy Kegler.
- Is the Homosexual My Neighbor?? A positive Christian response by Letha Dawson Scanzoni and Virginia Ramey Mollenkott.
- The Shift: Surviving and Thriving after Moving from Conservative to Progressive Christianity by Colby Martin.
- On Being Gay: Thoughts on Family, Faith and Love and Now that I'm Out, What Do I Do? Thoughts on Living Deliberately both by Brian McNaught.
- Coming Out to God: Prayers for Lesbians, Gay Men, their Families and Friends by Chris Glaser.
- Discovering Images of God: Narratives of Care Among Lesbians and Gays by Larry Kent Graham
New Hope Pride Celebration 2019
