At the annual meeting in February, Riverside voted to be an Affirming Ministry of The United Church of Canada. This has been a process of exploration and discernment for 5-6 years within the congregation. Our new mission statement includes this vision: “We embrace the rainbow as a promise of God’s affirming love for all and include people of all ages, races, cultures, abilities, sexual orientations and gender identities in every aspect of the life of our faith community.” We will celebrate this commitment on Sunday, April 28th at 7 pm (there is no morning service that day) and Rev. Brian Cornelius of First United Church will be our guest preacher. It will be a significant time on the journey – but it is not the end of the journey. We will be continuing to explore what it means to include a diversity of persons within the community. As a society we have come a long way in recognizing diversity of sexual orientation and gender diversity – and we are still learning what it all means. It is disturbing to me that many religious voices continue to condemn rather than to include. So being intentional and explicit about being a place where all are persons are valued is an important declaration. I know that there is a spectrum of comfort and understanding on what it will mean to be affirming and so I trust that we will learn and grow together.
