The Healing Mask

Dear Friends,


Those of you who were in worship (and awake during the sermon) at LOL on Sunday will recall that I shared a bit about a woman named Brenda with whom I attended the "Creating Healing Ceremonies" workshop recently.


I wish I'd had the following video to offer you then as it provides a wonderfully animated version of a part of Brenda's story I did not include. 

As an added bonus, it will give you a chance to hear from Dr. Carl Hammerschlag, one of the  mentors with whom I hope to meet while on sabbatical.

Peace, Shalom, Salaam,

Pastor Sue

Graduate Recognition Take Three: Tim Krohn's Sermon

Tim Krohn has been at the heart of LOL/LCM for nearly a decade
as a Peer Minister, the Campus Ministry Coordinator
and currently, Director of Music Ministries.

Grace and Peace to you from the One who IS, who Was, and who is to come.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost ten years since I first walked through these doors as an eager young freshman, having no idea of what the ensuing decade would have in store for me. What a journey it has been to this point: Pursuing an undergraduate degree in Trumpet Performance, taking “a year off” that turned into three, and then getting the crazy idea to get two more degrees in three years.

I had no idea ten years ago that I would spend three years of my mid-twenties living in a church, working in campus ministry and nearly getting a noise violation on my birthday for singing “A Mighty Fortress is our God” from the garage roof of a church…… ok, maybe there was a bit more to the story than that……

I had no idea ten years ago that I would hold a masters in band conducting, have the opportunity to work with world class teachers, and be applying to be a high school instrumental music teacher.

I had no idea ten years ago that I would meet some of the most remarkable and inspiring people I have ever known, and certainly I had no idea that I would have to say goodbye to some of these very same people whose lives ended in ways that seemed unfairly premature.

Through all of the twists and turns, I would not be truthful if I told you that I had any idea of what my journey had in store for me. In fact, there were many moments where it seemed that the farther I went down a particular path the farther away I got from a sense of groundedness, a sense of identity, and at times even a sense of belongingness.

During these moments of insecurity and questioning, particularly in the past few months, I was continually reminded of the final verse of the sending hymn that we sang during the season of Lent:

I fear in the darkness and the doubt of my journey
But courage will come with the sound of your steps by my side.
And with all of the family you saved by your love
We’ll sing to your dawn at the end of our journey.

This hymn certainly grew and evolved with me as my understanding of God has been questioned, explored, and affirmed throughout these past few months. I first painfully sang this hymn at the close of a dear friend’s memorial service in January and as we traveled the road with Christ through Lent, the Love and Light of Christ that Ben (Larson) had so freely shared with all of us grew and blossomed with my own understanding of Christ’s love for us. And as I read our Gospel lesson for today, this hymn verse began to take on new meanings for me as one who is journeying and grappling with change, uncertainty, and attempting to meet new challenges. It is this reflective quality of this simple hymn that I hope will be meaningful to you, on your journeys as well:

I fear in the darkness and the doubt of my journey

The verse begins with two very, important words not to overlook: I fear. Not, you fear, we fear, he fears, she fears, but I FEAR. Singular. Alone. We feel that somehow, in our most vulnerable moments, we are alone. We are cut off from others and at times we feel that we are separated even from God. It is from this aloneness, this brokenness in our relationship with God and with one another, that we provide a space for fear to enter in. The world suddenly feels too large to make a difference, the task too insurmountable, the mountain too high, the road too long. We begin to doubt ourselves, our abilities, our intuitions, and wonder if we can survive the journey, finish what we’ve started, or whether we are even on the right path at all. But amidst our self doubt, our second guesses, our fear of the unknown and of being alone, GOD ENTERS IN. GOODNESS IS STRONGER THAN EVIL.

But courage will come with the sound of your steps by my side.

God does not come to us by our invitation, or by obligation, or by our own initiation. God comes to us, completely independent of who we are, what we do, or where we are going through the grace of Jesus Christ, because he LOVES US. God doesn’t love only you, or me, the saints, the sinners, Buckeyes, or Wolverines, God walks with each of us, accompanies us in our journey, in those moments that we feel most alone, those moments where we are most vulnerable, those moments that we fear the most. It is through God’s Love that we are renewed in Christ and are affirmed as children of God. It is through Love that we enter into communion with one another, it is where we find God. If God is present in Love, then the absence of (or the perceived absence of God) is where fear is present. It is through the Light and Love of Christ that darkness is dispelled and we are uplifted from our own fears to make a difference, to complete our goals, to climb the mountain, and to forge new paths. LIGHT IS STRONGER THAN DARKNESS

And with all of the family you saved by your love

It is through God, through LOVE, that we are able to enter into communion with one another. It is where we emerge from our darkness of fear and enter into the light of Christ who shines in each of us. We move from the singular “I” to “we”; from journeying alone to journeying “with.” For where LOVE resides, there also does God, and it is through Christ that we are joined together as children of God, as the Body of Christ.

It is through love that Christ meets us. It is through LOVE that the Holy Spirit works through us. It is through LOVE that we see Christ in others. LOVE is the vehicle that overcomes all things. LOVE IS STRONGER THAN HATE.

Therefore, it is Christ who calls us to share this Love with one another, this knowledge of God, this sense of communion with one another.

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”

Just as Christ has loved us, we, the body of Christ, should love one another. Just as the body of Christ has many parts, we have many ways of being beacons of Light to one another. There are those who show their love through doing, those who show their love by making, those who show their love by being present and listening. Whatever we do, and however we show it, we are all called to be Christ to one another, to Love one another, to be present in one another, through Christ, so that we may no longer experience the fear of being alone in darkness and that we may walk in accompaniment with God. A love that is so powerful that it “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” As our gathering hymn proclaimed earlier: “We are called to act with Justice, we are called to love tenderly, we are called to serve one another, to walk humbly with God.”

God indeed showed to us that his love for us is greater then anything else on this earth, even greater then death. As we celebrate Christ’s death and resurrection this Easter season we remember that LIFE IS STRONGER THAN DEATH

“See the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them as their God;
They will be his peoples,
And God himself will be with them:
He will wipe every tear from their eyes
Death will be no more:
Mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
For the first things have passed away.”

As someone standing before you today, supported DEEPLY by friends that I consider family and family that I consider close friends, I feel richly and wholly loved…. and it is through this love that you have generously shared with me and with one another that I have been able to know Christ, to LOVE Christ, and to be inspired to reflect Christ’s love, your love, to others throughout our journeys.

Victory is ours through God who loves us. Amen

Graduate Recognition Sunday Take Two: Jackie Hibbard's Sermon

Jackie Hibbard, University of Michigan, M.S.E Space Systems 2010, B.S.E. Aerospace 2009 delivered the sermon on Sunday, April 25th. With her permission, we reprint it here:

For my third grade science project, I chose to make a model of the Solar System. To aid me in my research, my parents bought me a book entitled “The Solar System.” It was a big, square, hardcover book, complete with glossy photos of the Sun and all the planets from the NASA Galileo and Magellan probes.

I don’t remember anyone suggesting the project to me, so I must’ve had some interest in the subject beforehand. But after I saw Saturn’s rings and the ancient riverbeds on Mars, I was hooked. And that was before I saw the jaw-dropping images of distant galaxies from the Hubble Space Telescope. While I didn’t know that the name for what I wanted become was “aerospace engineer” until I was in High School, what I DID know at 8 years old was that NASA is cool.

My passion for the Cosmos is rooted in the sense of the awe it inspires, the sense of something bigger than me, bigger than all of us, and beyond the everyday. It has inspired my career in the study and exploration of space. It is also the root of my faith. While I was raised Lutheran, and my parents talked about God, due to regular 7 AM hockey and indoor soccer games on Sundays mornings, we did not attend Church regularly.

Instead, my relationship with God developed through the beauty of the night sky.

Looking up and seeing endless waves of serene stars punctuating the darkness, and realizing they are suns just like our own but are light-years away, fills me with a sense of the vastness of space, and our own tininess. Yet this knowledge of being minuscule never came with a sense of unimportance, but instead with an exhilaration of being part of something so much larger and grander. How could this have come together without the aid of a greater power? Even after studying nuclear fusion, learning about the composition and classifications of stars, and being frustrated by the nitty-gritty details that actually go into the launch of a satellite, my boyfriend still has to drag me along at night because I stop dead in my tracks and gaze up at the heavens when I get a clear view of the stars. Studying it doesn't diminish its awe - I've heard it compared to getting a glimpse in the mind of God. That’s how I hear God’s voice.

Yet not everyone in my field shares this feeling of awe, humility, and faith.

Being in a technical discipline, I’m encountered my fair share of peers who did not understand why I attended church every Sunday. A roommate of mine at an internship asked me, once, outright, “How can you know that God exists?”

I said, “I just believe.... I have a feeling at the pit of my stomach that I couldn’t shake if I tried.... I couldn’t see it at the time, but looking back, I can see how events in my life have shaped the person I am today. Though they may not have been what I wanted to happen, they have led me to the place I think that I am supposed to be. ”

To which he replied, “Don-cha think you should give yourself more credit?”

Just like those who questioned Jesus in the Bible passage, he missed what I was saying because he had much different expectations. In the passage, the Jewish people expected their Messiah to be a strong hero like Judas Mack-a-bee, not the son of a carpenter. He didn’t speak about re-living the glory for which the Festival of Dedication was founded. He spoke of love and sacrifice. He likened himself to a Good Shepherd, and his people to sheep, not mighty warriors.

Just as the Jews demanded Jesus to “tell us plainly,” some people in technical fields expect outright, empirical proof of God. But His signs are much subtler than they expect. When rushing through the 100 tasks on your to-do list, it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture. It’s only when you slow down, tune out the everyday noise, and listen that you can hear Jesus’ voice, whispering among the others yelling. Jesus says his sheep hear his voice. We just have to learn to listen.

Many other fellow engineers are just surprised that I made the effort to get up in the morning on a Sunday. When scheduling meetings, I often had to tell group members that I wouldn’t be able to meet until Sunday afternoon. After the confusion wore off, they would absent-mindedly mention, “huh, I haven’t been to church since I came to college.”

They too had mistaken assumptions. They misunderstood my calling to church. They saw church as an obligation, a chore. Clearly they’ve never attended Lord of Light. (Yes I’m talking to you, peanut gallery)

What they don’t realize is that this Church is my place to temporarily escape from the sometimes overwhelming expectations of school and life. Over my five years at U of M, our community became my home away from home. Even though I had never attended a service on my own, there was something so warm and inviting on the brochure I received freshman year that I had to go see for myself. I was welcomed with open arms when I showed up in September of 2005. That same inclusiveness from the brochure shone through every person who spoke to me. Tim even learned I played violin that day!

Besides the fantastic music, Sue’s sermons motivated me to sneak out of my dorm room long before my roommate would stir. (I know,11 AM? Holy Cow! That’s the crack of dawn for a college kid!)

Her sermons echoed sentiments I held close to my heart. And she had impeccable timing: during one particularly brutal exam season, I felt that Sue was speaking directly to me when she adamantly told us that our self worth is based on far more than our GPA and standardized test scores.

Lord of Light was my rock during my college years. Though the Michigan economy was faltering, college friendships came and went, and the classes sometimes felt like academic boot camp, it was at this church that I learned I didn’t have to bear it alone. The fellowship, the music, the food, and of course, the cocker spaniels, helped me grow in faith and recognize Jesus’ presence more clearly in my life.

So with the lessons you have all taught us, the graduates of 2010 boldly disperse across the world to bestow upon others the love and support you have given us here.

And we know that if we ever need to hear God’s voice, all we have to do is ask to Skype into a LOL worship.

Or, we could just go star gazing.

Amen.

Graduate Recognition Sunday, Spring 2010: Take One

Back Row (L-R): Aaron Wenzloff, Diaan van der Westhuizen, Tim Krohn

Center Row: Josh van der Ploeg, Spencer Walters
Front Row: Ashley Schneider, Jackie Hibbard, Kelly Ritter

Jacqueline (Jackie) Hibbard (who earned her BSE in Aerospace Engineering from U of M in 2009) will be receiving a Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) in Space Systems from the University of Michigan College of Engineering. The team project she worked on this past year will be submitted as an NSF proposal for a University of Michigan CubeSat mission. In addition, Jackie worked on the systems engineering for an instrument going on the Solar Orbiter mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). (There are a lot of acronyms in engineering!) Pending receipt of her security clearance, Jackie will be monitoring satellites as a systems engineer on the communications team at a Ground Station with Boeing in Springfield, VA, just outside Washington D.C. Jackie has been an integral part of this community for five years. She has shared her musical talents in choir and as an instrumentalist, currently serves as the student representative to the LCM Board, is an active member of Eli’s Running Club and shepherded the campus pastor through her first U of M Hockey Game – in the student section! In addition, she was the preacher for graduate recognition Sunday. With her permission, Jackie’s sermon will be posted on our blog at: www.lollcm.blogspot.com ~ ps

Tim Krohn will be receiving a Master of Music in Conducting with Teacher Certification through the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance. Tim is seeking a job in Instrumental Music Education. Sometimes referred to as a “one man band,” for the past five years, Tim has served as Director of Music Ministries at LOL/LCM but that doesn’t begin to elucidate the depth and breadth of talent Tim has brought to our common worship. He is a true pastoral musician. Mention his name to folks in the Michigan Synods or to a member of the ELCA Worship staff and you’re likely to hear, “Oh, I LOVE Tim Krohn.” Prior to becoming Director of Music Ministries, Tim served as Interim Choir Director, Campus Ministry Coordinator and a Peer Minister. To say that Tim lives at the heart of the community’s life would surely be an understatement. Tim will be preaching on Music Recognition Sunday, May 2nd.~ ps

Kelly Ritter will be receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance with Music Education Certification from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance. She has earned University Honors and been named a James B. Angell Scholar. She notes: I am currently teaching 5th and 6th grade choir and kindergarten general music in Dexter part-time. I hope one day to get a full-time elementary music teaching position! We are grateful that Kelly has so generously shared her vocal and instrumental gifts with LOL/LCM this past year. To give you a glimpse of her amazing skill, when she decided to learn to play banjo, she went on line…and did it! ~ ps

Ashley Schneider will be receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Classical Archaeology from the University of Michigan. She writes: I'm excited to graduate and will be sticking around Ann Arbor for the summer working for the University's Museum of Zoology as a Museum Technician in the Bird Division. I plan to continue my career in the museum industry and hope to move somewhere WARM eventually, just as soon as I can bear to part with Ann Arbor and my beloved U of M!

Josh Van der Ploeg will be graduating with his J.D. degree from the University of Michigan Law School. This fall, Josh will join the San Francisco office of Latham & Watkins, where he will specialize in energy finance/regulatory law or in environmental litigation. Josh would like to express sincerest thanks to Pastor Sue and to the entire LOL/LCM family for providing him with such a loving, nurturing church home throughout his three years at U of M. The welcoming sense of community at LOL/LCM greatly enriches the lives of everyone it touches - both inside and outside the parish walls - by spreading the Good News of Christ's love through the Gospel, and by continuing the fight for peace and justice for all God's creation. Josh is a natural evangelist who exudes warmth, openness and good humor when inviting others to explore this faith community. He has brought those skills to bear in his service as a Peer Minister and as a lector. He had special interest in Pr. Cherlyne Beck’s visit as she married his parents! ~ ps

Diaan van der Westhuizen will be receiving a Ph. D. in Architecture from the U of M’s Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. In July, Diaan will defend his dissertation, "Finding Place in Urban Space. The Role of Place Accessibility in Physical Activity and Urban Movement: Implications for Urban Design and Research.” He hopes to secure a faculty position at a South African university, probably starting in September. Possibilities include: University of Johannesburg, University of Pretoria, and University of the Free State. Diaan has sung in the choir and supported the music ministry at LOL in many ways. We’re excited to see how the future unfolds for Diaan and partner Jason Cloen but we will miss them both. ~ ps

Spencer Walters will be receiving a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. He will be taking the Pennsylvania Bar exam in July before returning to Washington, DC, where he will join the law firm of Covington & Burling. Spencer is another great invitational evangelist who has shared his gifts as an Interim/Backup Peer Minister, lector, baker (and he cleans up, too!) and willing presence, always ready to lend a hand when needed. ~ ps

Aaron Wenzloff will be receiving a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. He recently received a Skadden Fellowship which is designed to provide funding to work for 2 years on a project that provides legal services to the poor and those who are disadvantaged. Aaron’s project will be with Connecticut Legal Services in Bridgeport and Waterbury, representing low-income tenants facing eviction from foreclosed buildings. Aaron was also one of a few students to receive the inaugural award for completing Michigan Law's "Pro Bono Pledge" by providing at least 50 hours of pro bono legal services before graduation. Joining Aaron on this next adventure will be his wonderful spouse, Allison Gorsuch, who will be completing her PhD at Yale. ~ ps

RIC Sunday 2010: Judith A. Moldenhauer

Judy Moldenhauer

I have been asked to “tell my story” today, my story as a lesbian in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). I doubt that Mert or Pastor Sue or Dave or Tom or Bruce or Rick or any of the people who planned today’s Reconciling in Christ (RIC) service realized how significant the concept of storytelling is to my professional research and work nor the value that I place on personal storytelling as a way to effect changes in hearts and minds.

Professionally, I am a graphic designer and design educator whose focus is information design. As an information designer, I develop strategies that enable people to get, understand, and use information that they need to live their lives. Common types of information design include instructions, maps, and forms. I’ll bet that most of the information design that you have encountered has been poorly done – how many of you have had to cope with websites that were difficult to navigate or figure out or have tried to fill out forms that were almost impossible to use? That is because the information was designed (if you want to call it that…) from the perspective of the “owners” of the information and how they thought people should access and understand this information rather than being designed from the perspective of the people who were supposed to use this information, that is, what these “users” of the information want or need to know and how to access it. This latter approach to information design is called “user-based design” and it’s what I do. My work and research maintain that the key to effective user-based information design is the personalization of information.

Designers must find ways to make information personally meaningful for individuals. In other words, that information must resonate with and make a connection with an individual’s personal experience. The methodology that I advocate for personalizing information is storytelling. What I do is learn the story of the information and the story of people’s experiences – their thoughts, action, and emotions – with this (or similar kinds of) information and then interweave these stories to create a new story in which the content and presentation of the information is shaped by the informational needs of those who use the information.

This past August the ELCA church-wide assembly voted to affirm full-inclusion of glbt – that is, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender – people into the life of the church. No longer do glbt pastors and seminarians have to choose between their love of God and their love of their partners. Now pastors and congregations can, without fear of sanctions, bless same-sex couples. This change in policy came about through years of work and advocacy of so many talented and committed people. But I think what made the difference – and what was at the heart of all the work and effort – were our stories: the stories of glbt people who were convinced of the love of God in their lives and the stories of their families and friends who knew that God’s love embraces us all. The stories of people like Brad Schmeling, Emily Eastwood, Jim Bischoff, Phyllis Zillhart, and Anita Hill are stories of faith, hope, and a desire to serve the church as individuals who happen to be gay and lesbian. Their stories (and many more like them) put faces on the term “homosexual”; their stories – and all our glbt stories – turn the abstraction of “gay” into the personal of “me.” I am not an abstraction; I am not a stereotype. I am, like you, created in the image of God, am blessed by grace through the life and death of Jesus, and am empowered by the Holy Spirit.

And so my story – my role – as an open lesbian in the ELCA, while nothing compared to the stories of those who have been affected most deeply by the anti-gay policies of the ELCA or who have spent incredible amounts of time and energy working to change those policies, has been the willingness to be one of those faces of glbt people in the church. Through my participation and very presence in various activities in the ELCA, I have served as an example that “homosexuality” is not an abstraction, that a gay Christian is not an oxymoron, and that I am not a threat to your faith because I am a gay Christian or because God’s loving embrace is for all of us. My story – like the story of every glbt person in the ELCA – is the personalization of the information that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. My story is simply that I stand among you and that I, like you, have experienced the joys and frustrations of life but most importantly, have experienced God’s grace and forgiveness.

A number of years ago, then Southeast Michigan Synod Bishop Bob Rimbo held a series of synod-wide conversations on the subject of homosexuality and the ELCA. These conversations were open to all members of all the synod’s congregations. At the first of these sessions, people were seated at tables and asked to discuss the subject with each other. The people at my table took turns expressing their feelings. The first to speak were two men who were especially vocal about disliking glbt people. They began by expounding on the “gay agenda,” stating that they don’t associate with gays and lesbians, would not want their kids taught by “those people,” and that if gays and lesbians wanted to be in the church then they should change their ways and “be like the rest of us.” One person at the table timidly mentioned having a gay relative; another thought a co-worker might be gay. By the luck of the draw, I was the last to speak: “As a lesbian…” I began. The two guys who disliked glbt folks dropped their jaws in surprise and the others were suddenly paying close attention. The two guys acknowledged that they had never been around a gay person before (ha! – at least that’s what THEY thought!) let alone been in conversation with a gay or lesbian person. The others at the table asked questions and at the end of the session thanked me for my comments and said that they were now encouraged to talk with their relative and co-worker and to hear their stories. I have no idea where these people are now in their faith journey, but at least, because of our conversation, glbt people were no longer an abstraction but real human beings and, just maybe, could also be thought of as brothers and sisters in Christ.

My life as a glbt person in the ELCA is inexorably intertwined with my life at Lord of Light Lutheran Church – and the story of Lord of Light (LOL). After learning of the vote for full-inclusion at church-wide this August, Mert and I talked about what the vote meant for LOL and how it would affect things here. We both agreed that the vote did not change anything at LOL – LOL has been practicing full-inclusion all along. Rather it meant that the ELCA was now catching up with LOL. I don’t where I would be today without LOL. At LOL I found a community welcoming of glbt persons – we participate in worship, church council, committees, study groups, and service activities. As a campus ministry, LOL fosters questioning and supports each person’s faith journey. My involvement with glbt advocacy in the ELCA is grounded in my life at LOL. Through LOL I was introduced to Lutherans Concerned/North America (LCNA) – attending local chapter meetings and national conferences, and doing some design work for Lutherans Concerned such as the worship resource for same-sex blessings. I have been on the Southeast Michigan Synod Gay and Lesbian Task Force and was on the ELCA Gay and Lesbian Hospitality task force, for which I designed the resulting resource materials (I used a photo of the front door of LOL for the poster!). LOL was the nexus for the 1997 Knutson conference, “The Gifts We Offer, The Burdens We Bear.” Phil Knutson, after whom the conferences are named and funded, was a gay man and ELCA pastor and the brother of our own Mary Olson. Pastor Sue was the LOL intern that year and was very involved with the conference planning. I, too, was on the planning committee and designed the conference materials (ads, registration forms, programs, etc. – and the poster for the conference that hangs in the narthex today).

I have attended special conferences, such as the Reconciling Church conference in Minneapolis, that helped keep the need for full-inclusion before the national church. I served on the initial Extraordinary Candidacy Committee for seminarians who were dropped by their regular Candidacy Committees after revealing their sexual orientation and refusing to deny the gift of same-sex partners. I also served on the board of Lutheran Lesbian and Gay Ministries (LLGM), which was formed in response to the 1990 censure (and later expulsion) of St. Francis and United Lutheran congregations in San Francisco who called two lesbians and a gay man as pastors. LLGM provided financial and spiritual support to congregations and ministries that called glbt pastors. (LLGM is now ELM, Extraordinary Lutheran Minstries.) I have served on the board of Lutheran Human Relations Association (LHRA), a voice for peace and justice, as its glbt representative. I have helped out with discussions of glbt issues at LOL, designed bulletins for RIC Sunday services, and shared in LOL services that celebrated the lives and gifts of glbt people. LOL hosted a memorial service in the wake of the murder of Matthew Shepard and it was at that service that I first heard Ann Arbor’s OutLoud Chorus perform. I was so moved by their performance that I later joined the Chorus. The leadership at LOL has been unfailing in its support of glbt people. The pastors who have served LOL and whom I know and love – Galen Hora, John Rollefson, and Sue Sprowls – have been tireless advocates, committed to and actively engaged in changing attitudes and ELCA policies towards glbt people. I was so proud of and humbled by John Rollefson’s response to the following question that was once asked of him, “What if the church threatens you with sanctions for performing same-sex blessings?” “I’ll keep doing them,” he said. “I have to follow my conscience.” And I am so grateful to Pastor Sue for her vote at the ELCA assembly that has now made full-inclusion a reality. LOL’s glbt support has flowed over to providing internship opportunities for glbt seminarians and for seminarians who strongly pro-glbt. I have been privileged to be on several intern support committees.

My partner, Julia, and I have been together 25 years and that is almost as long as I have been at LOL (26 years). She has lived through all my involvement with glbt advocacy in the ELCA and has seen my hopes for change in the church rise and fall over the years. At times she would ask why I kept going to conferences and meetings when it seemed like things were not going to change. Why would I want to belong to an organization that did not want me in it? Goodness knows that I was sometimes tempted to chuck it all and, until this past August, never really knew if I would see change in my lifetime. What kept me going was a comment that I heard at a LC conference long ago: the ELCA is my home, too. We simply need to make room for each other; no one should be asked to leave or feel unwelcome. God’s love encompasses us all. Ultimately my story is the story of God’s wide-flung love for all people and all of creation. It’s the story of Jesus’s embrace, who shares my pain and grief, my hope and joy, and says, “I am with you always.” It’s the story of the Holy Spirit’s presence through the lives of those around me who are the blessings in my life. My story isn’t heroic or remarkable, but it’s God’s gift to me and if my story helps someone understand that glbt people are part of God’s plan for the ELCA, then my story has a purpose – to help the ELCA create its own new inclusive story.

Many thanks to all who have made my story possible – especially to you, the community of LOL. Thanks for your welcome, thanks for your presence in my life, and for the light of God in your hearts that shines through your words and actions. You live the Gospel, welcoming all as Jesus did. Through your generosity and hospitality, you are helping to create more stories that will contribute to making the church a welcoming home for everyone.