Thirty Churches Attend Welcoming Church Events

Thirty churches have recently participated in welcoming church events in Houston and Kansas City in the past month.

On January 29 GLAD’s Open & Affirming Ministry Program held a welcoming church event at Memorial Drive Christian Church in Houston, TX. The event was sponsored by First Christian Church Huntsville. Invitations went out to pastors and elders in the Coastal Plains Area of the Southwest Region. Forty pastors, elders, and members representing 15 local congregations attended this event.

Participants at the Welcoming Church event at St Andrew Christian Church, Olathe, KS, discussing the stories of welcome that were shared at the event.

On February 22 another welcoming church event was held at St Andrew Christian Church, an Open & Affirming congregation in Olathe, KS. Church leaders from the Greater Kansas City Region were invited, and 55 pastors and members from 15 congregation attended.

At both events, personal stories were shared about the importance of welcoming LGBT persons openly, and Mark Johnston, Executive Director of GLAD’s Open & Affirming Ministry Program, gave a presentation on “Welcoming LGBT People Openly: Why it’s important to welcome LGBT people openly and how to get there.” In the presentation, Dr. Johnston shared information about the Building an Inclusive Church Toolkit, a step-by-step guide to help facilitate an Open & Affirming process in congregations.

Plans are in the works to bring similar events to regional assemblies and other events this year. Keep an eye on GLAD’s calendar under the Happenings tab for more information.

Special thanks is due to Rev. Sharon Hart of First Christian Huntsville for facilitating the event in Houston, and to Rev. Erin Wathen of St. Andrews, Olathe, and Rev. Jeff Hon, New Song Church, Kansas City, for facilitating the event in Greater Kansas City.