RIC - RECONCILING IN CHRIST
A WELCOMING CONGREGATION
Our History
Early in 2023, the United Lutheran Church Council established a Welcome Team. Although the congregation understood themselves to be a welcoming community, the goal of this team was to extend a clear, authentic, and public welcome from our congregation to ensure that those who have experienced exclusion and harm from churches would see the congregation’s commitment to the full welcome and celebration of those who have been excluded.
Throughout 2023-2024, The United Lutheran Welcome Team created and hosted several conversations and events. The team began by interviewing members about their experiences of welcome at United Lutheran. United Lutheran together with other local ELCA congregations hosted a “Meet Your LGBTQ+” neighbors event, giving our community the opportunity to listen to the stories of our LGBTQ+ siblings and ask questions. A bible study covered the “Clobber passages” or those pieces of scripture which are often used to exclude or condemn LGBTQ+ folks and looked at the whole witness of scripture. An informational forum “The ABCs of LGBTQ+” was offered to educate and inform. A concert, ice cream social and Juneteenth commemoration was celebrated. The congregation continues to be present at Pride in the Park and to host the summer event, “Affirming Faith”. We continue to welcome local refugees each week for English classes and we spent time with the ELCA’s Lenten devotional Dismantle.
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Members of the United's Welcoming Committee:
Alexus Meduna, Michael Marcotte, Aria Kindseth,
Kathy Fick, Brian Larsen-Schmidt, Ginny Bollman,
Sarah Cannon, Paul & Christine Barta, Molly Haagenson, and Pastors Peter and Karla Coen-Tuff
Welcome Statement of United Lutheran Church
The welcome statement of United Lutheran Church was approved by a nearly unanimous vote of the congregation on October 6, 2024.
United Lutheran Church embraces the gift of God’s love for all creation. We rejoice in the way diversity informs, nurtures, and enriches the life and ministry we share. In a world that is often unloving, we are called by the Gospel to be workers for justice, peace, and healing. Wherever you are on your faith journey, we welcome all ages, races, nationalities, ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, physical and mental abilities, educational levels, family configurations, and economic realities. We commit to the ongoing work of Jesus’ welcome for all.
We give thanks for the gift of reconciliation through Christ Jesus, thus we commit to the work of racial equity and justice.
Reconciling in Christ Congregation
Because of ULC’s work and ongoing commitment to welcome, United Lutheran Church has been endorsed as a Reconciling in Christ congregation by Reconciling Works, an auxiliary organization to the ELCA. The Reconciling in Christ roster now exceeds 1130 settings, including congregations, synods, and organizations.
Click Here to learn more about Reconciling in Christ
The hope of United Lutheran Church is that all people will see this is a congregation that has gone through a time of discernment to welcome LGBTQ+ neighbors and is committed to the work of racial equity. This is the good news the world in waiting to hear!
If you have any questions about the congregation’s commitment to welcome, please contact our church office.