The local United Church voted unanimously on Sunday to designate itself an affirming congregation.
While the United Church has long considered itself welcoming of all people, it now publicly, intentionally, and explicitly affirms and celebrates gender and sexual diversity. Sunday’s vote was the culmination of 18 months of community engagement within the congregation.
Board chair and member of the Affirming Committee, Gordon Soukoreff, said, “Mainstream Canadian society has been on board with ideas like marriage equality for a long time. Now we’re seeing gender neutral washrooms, for example, becoming more commonplace as general recognition and validation of queerness grows. In some senses, our church is playing catch-up, but in other senses we are playing a leadership role in our community.”
Regarding Castlegar United’s process itself Soukoreff said, “Over the past 18 months we’ve heard a lot of questions and had some great discussion. The homophobia of the ‘90s has shifted into what’s referred to as heteronormativity, where exclusion is more subtle. Our process sought to address the subtle exclusion that often goes unnoticed by straight or cisgender folks. We hope that anyone who identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, two-spirit, intersex, pansexual, and so on will feel safe and affirmed here.”
The Rev. Greg Powell, minister at Castlegar United Church, says, “The Bible is often used as a weapon to hurt people and stifle the diversity that makes humanity beautiful. Many of the harmful passages used to justify exclusion are taken out of context or overemphasized for no good reason. Conversely, we believe Jesus practiced a radical inclusion, teaching that all people are worthy of God’s love. That’s the Jesus we follow. The table where Jesus ate was big enough for tax collectors, sex workers, the racially marginalized, people living in poverty, the rich, the devoted, and the doubtful. That’s the proverbial table we seek to open to all people.”
There are a few administrative steps before Castlegar United Church’s designation is made official by Affirm United, an arm’s-length group of the United Church of Canada.
A special service of celebration will take place on June 4, 2017, Pentecost Sunday, at 10 a.m. at 809 Merry Creek Rd. in Castlegar.