The June 2026 Newsletter is here! Choose how you'd like to read it by clicking on the PDF or the Flip Book. Read a PDF Read an online Flip Book Click on the three dots on the bottom right to access controls such as Full Screen.  

LGBTQIA+ Icon Alexya Salvador (Teacher and reverend) “As a pastor, I try to teach people that differences are not a threat, because people often believe that anything that is not in their own vocabulary, that is not part of their reality, should be seen as a threat and, therefore, combated.” “There’s nothing that binds Christ […]

ReconcilingWorks remembers the horrific tragedy at Pulse Nightclub and honor the 49 beloved lives stolen, the countless survivors, and all those whose hearts were forever changed by that night. Pulse was more than a nightclub. It was a sacred space of joy, belonging, celebration, and community—especially for LGBTQIA+ people, and deeply for the Latinx queer […]

Help ReconcilingWorks welcome a new Reconciling in Christ (RIC) community:   Dreams & Visions in Baltimore, Maryland. Their welcome statement reads: “Dreams and Visions is a spiritual sanctuary in Baltimore where Queer folks and committed supporters find hope and healing through creativity and community. We seek to pattern our lives after Jesus of Nazareth, the healer, […]

LGBTQIA+ Icon Audre Lorde, 1934-1992 (Writer, womanist, librarian, LGBTQ+ and civil rights activist) “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept and celebrate those differences.” “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not lead single-issue lives. Our struggles are particular, but we are […]

LGBTQIA+ Icon Larry Kramer (Playwright, author, film producer, public health advocate, and gay rights activist) “This is always history’s greatest failure, its inability to believe what it sees, what, almost always, someone sees.” “Being gay is a natural normal beautiful variation of being human. Period. End of subject. Therefore, any argument which says differently is […]

Help ReconcilingWorks welcome a new Reconciling in Christ (RIC) community:   First Lutheran Church in Ellicott City, Maryland. Their welcome statement reads: “First Evangelical Lutheran Church recognizes and celebrates that each of us is a unique creation made in the image of God. We welcome into ministry persons of every race, culture, age, gender identity, gender […]

LGBTQIA+ Icon Laverne Cox (Actress, documentary film producer, and equal rights advocate) ” Believing you are unworthy of love and belonging – that who you are authentically is a sin or is wrong – is deadly. Who you are is beautiful and amazing.” ” Beyond truth and trans, one of the big Ts for me […]

LGBTQIA+ Icon Barbara Gittings, 1932-2007 (LGBT+ activist) ” Equality means more than passing laws. The struggle is really one in the hearts and minds of the community, where it really counts.” ” Sexual preference is irrelevant to federal employment.”   June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) month. This month is […]

ReconcilingWorks extends deep gratitude and joy for our partnerships through the Reconciling in Christ (RIC) program. Beginning in 1983, the holy work of this ministry now represents 13% of ELCA and 7% of ELCIC congregations, synods, and ministries. On Mondays through June we are celebrating all RIC Partners who became RIC in June. Below is […]

LGBTQIA+ Icon Bayard Rustin (American civil rights activist) “God does not require us to achieve any of the good tasks that humanity must pursue. What God requires of us is that we do not stop trying.” ” If we desire a society without discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in the process of […]

LGBTQIA+ Icon Sylvia Rivera (American gay liberation and gay rights activist) “We have to be visible. We are not ashamed of who we are.” ” I have been beaten. I have had my nose broken. I have been thrown in jail. I have lost my job. I have lost my apartment for gay liberation and […]