Over the last couple of weeks I've been wrestling with what our congregation can do in response to the suicide of a young teen that was at least in part the result of bullying due to her orientation. I've been wrestling with what it is that I am called to do as a preacher, pastor, Christian and community member. Then I heard about this clip. What an amazing message. As an aside I'm wondering why our Canadian Government isn't saying something like this - or perhaps it's that their too consumed with consolidating power and becoming the Harper government. In this short 3 minute clip President Obama does something that I don't think any other head of state has done - say to LGBTQ teens that they are fine just the way they are. Can you imagine the impact that such a statement will have in the months and years to come? Think of how many lives will be positively affected by a message to not only American teens, but teens all over the globe. Once again I find myself inspired by President Obama.
In his message he tells teens that they need to seek out places that will support them. I think it is time for my congregation to make their Vision Statement a public reality and let our community know that we are a faith community that welcomes everyone, regardless of age, race, gender, orientation, social standing, creed or ability. It is time for us to put our money where our mouth is and as a member of our church council said, "come out," so that teens, young adults, adults, and all those who love them know that there is at least one faith community in the area that believes we are all equally created in God's image and that human sexuality is a gift from God. It is time for those of us who espouse an open and welcoming theology to add our voices to the public arena with equal vigour and tenacity as those who would tell our young people that they are broken and shameful; needing to be fixed or reprogrammed; suffer from some mental illness that can be fixed with the right medication; or are accepted as long as they don't act upon their feelings - all simply because they are LGBTQ. This bullying has to stop and I believe that faith communities such as mine have a huge role to embrace.
A couple of Sunday's ago I preached a sermon that called people to seriously look at what they are mentoring to the next generation. Is it acceptance and love or hate and prejudice. Are we building strong communities where diversity is uplifted or weak villages of fear and isolation? Each of us lives out our faith in the daily decisions that we make. We demonstrate what it is to be a disciple by the words we choose or don't choose; when we stand up for something or don't; when we challenge a phobic statement or just smile and let it go. I've decided that I will no longer tolerate that kind of behaviour in my life. I will do my best to challenge "isms" wherever I encounter them in what is hopefully a constructive manner and yet I acknowledge that this will bring tension into my life. That some people won't appreciate being told that what they've said is inappropriate or discriminative. Yet the one I seek to follow, Jesus our Christ, stood up for the oppressed and named his ministry to be about setting the captive free. Can I really ignore the treatment of LGBTQ people in my community and still claim that I seek to be the hands, feet and voice of Christ in the world? Can I watch and remain silent as teens are bullied by ignorant peers and faculty that turn a blind eye? No. I can't.
It is my hope that we will wrestle with what this means as a faith community. It is my hope that we will begin the Affirming Ministry process. It is my hope that we will find ways of partnering with other communities. And it is my hope that another teen will never take their life because they didn't know of at least one place where they would have been accepted and supported for who they are.
