An Important Theological Statement From Reconciling Ministries Of Western Pennsylvania

This theological statement is taken from the Methodist Reconciling Ministries of Western Pennsylvania. I want to encourage readers to go there and understand why they are "a persistent voice and affirming witness, advocating for a Church where lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) persons fully belong, honoring their membership, leadership, gifts, marriages, and calls to ministry." This is statement is, or could be, a good place to carry on discussion. 

Reconciliation is a dominant theme in scripture from the beginning of the earliest texts to the last book of the Bible. Reconciliation between God and humankind and between persons is an integral part of the Gospel and describes the nature and essence of God’s love for each and every person. Reconciliation leads to justice, righteousness, peace, and hope.

Throughout all of the Old Testament, God seeks always to bring creation and humanity to healing and reconciliation with God and one another. Texts from across the Hebrew Bible, from the Law (Leviticus 19:18, 33-34; Deuteronomy 10:17-19) to the Prophets (Amos 5:24; Micah 6:8) to the Writings (Psalm 133; Prov 6:16-19) uphold our responsibility before God to work for one another's’ good, and to refrain from doing harm.

In the gift of Jesus Christ to the world, reconciliation in forgiveness, grace, love, redemption, and salvation is taught and modeled. The Gospels are intentional in telling the story of God’s love offered to all people but especially those on the margins and fringes of community and culture. All the Gospels agree that women were significant among Jesus’ followers—indeed, women stayed by him to the cross (Luke 23:49; John 19:25-27) and bore witness to Jesus’ resurrection (Matthew 28:1-8; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-13). In his parables (Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 15:11-31) and in his ministry of healing (Mark 1:40-45; 7:24-30), Jesus both teaches and models reconciliation, inclusion, and care for the outcast. The cross of Good Friday and the empty cross of Easter morning is the ultimate expression of reconciliation.

From the Acts of the Apostles to Revelation the lessons of reconciliation continue to be a dominant and integral part of the movement of the Spirit and the essence of the church. The movement of the church out of Palestine into the wider world, and its embrace of all who it encountered, is told dramatically in the book of Acts (Acts 2:1-12; 8:26-40; 10:34-48). Paul’s letters witness to his own conviction that he was to carry the gospel out to the nations (Galatians 1:13-16), and his certitude that the gospel was for all (Romans 1:16-17; 3:21-24; 1 Corinthians 12:1-26; Galatians 3:27-28). So too, the broader witness of the earliest church in the New Testament urges love, inclusion, and unity (Ephesians 1:3-23; 1 John 4:7-8; Revelation 21:1-27).
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In the history and story of the people called Methodists, John and Charles Wesley in ministry, sermons, and hymns spoke to people on the margins and fringes of life. The Wesley’s thought and taught that all persons needed God’s love and grace and that all were welcome into community. The people called Methodists challenged the social structures of their time, emphasized education for women and the poor. Mr. Wesley fostered and required ministry to children, the imprisoned, and ones who were left behind by the Anglican Church and eighteenth century English Aristocratic systems.