One of our congregation’s stated values is “Accepting: honouring different ways of thinking, perspectives, languages, cultures, races and genders, enabling the Spirit’s creative spark to bring forth new possibilities.” A second stated value is “Welcoming: Inviting you to experience God’s presence and love in community, whoever you are and whatever your circumstances. We affirm that gender and sexuality are gifts of God, and welcome people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.
Recent Work at St. Andrew's
The SAFE (Sexuality and Faith Explored) Team at St. Andrew’s was an initiative of Session in 2022, which provided education to the congregation on diversity and inclusion issues relating to the LGBTIQ2S+ community. Session adopted all of the recommendations of the SAFE Team including the statement that St. Andrew’s is “an affirming congregation who publicly, intentionally, and explicitly welcomes LGBTIQ2S+ persons to full participation in the life of our community.” Session also agreed to “commit to carrying the work of diversity and inclusion forward in an intentional way.”
In early 2024, our Session directed the creation of a new Team at St. Andrew’s, the Rainbow Team. The Rainbow Team will explore and implement various ideas and initiatives to communicate within and to our wider community that St. Andrew’s affirms that gender and sexuality are gifts of God, and that we welcome people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. The Rainbow Team will strive to provide educational opportunities as well as action initiatives in furtherance of our stated position of inclusivity.
History within our Church
In 2018 our denomination wrote a letter of repentance to the LGBTQI2s+ community and our congregations, reminding the church of God’s call to be a community where we welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us. Then in 2021, our national governing body (the General Assembly) affirmed that “all people whatever their sexual orientation or gender identity are equally beloved by God.”
The theological orientation of our denomination tends to be more moderate, but we are also the faith home for persons who lean both liberal and conservative in their viewpoint. Recognizing the fact that many within our denomination continue to adhere to our historic perspective on human sexuality, our denomination in 2021 provided a track for congregations who wish to identify as being accepting and affirming of LGBTQI2S+ persons. St. Andrew’s has aligned itself with this new track. The leadership of our church has adopted the following as the policy and planned actions of St. Andrew’s Church regarding LGBTQI+ inclusion: ·
Our faith perspective on this matter is captured in a sermon preached here in April 2022. The sermon starts at minute 27:00 of the recording.