ReconcilingWorks at the “Working Group for Ministry to and with Same Gender Couples and their Families”

Marriage ConversationsReconcilingWorks asks for your thoughts and prayers as we travel to Chicago to visit with the ELCA’s “Working Group for Ministry to and with Same Gender Couples and their Families” at the ELCA churchwide headquarters on Friday and Saturday.

ReconcilingWorks’ Interim Executive Director, Aubrey Thonvold, and the Revs. Ann Tiemeyer and William Hamilton will be making a presentation to the Working Group about ministering to and with LGBT couples and their families. The ReconcilingWorks team will speak to the great, continuing need for LGBT couples and families to feel welcome in the church and be accepted as they are. Other groups will also be presenting, including Lutheran CORE and various panels of clergy and laypeople gathered by the ELCA Working Group.

The Working Group’s mission is to encourage conversations and resource sharing throughout the church about this important ministry. You may recall, back in October, that the Working Group distributed a questionnaire to discover what conversations may be happening in your faith community and what resources might be needed to aid in ministry and pastoral care. To all of you who responded to that survey—thank you!

To learn more about the working group, please click here.

Please keep the ReconcilingWorks team and the Working Group in your prayers as they meet this weekend.

You, too, can take part in this conversation by posting to Facebook or Twitter using the hashtag #ELCAConvo

How should congregations welcome, care for, and support LGBTQ people and their families?

What is your congregation’s role in supporting children with LGBTQ parents?

Would it be helpful to have a wedding liturgy provided by the ELCA that is appropriate for all couples, including LGBT couples?