Update, Thursday, November 12, 2020

Family,

Yesterday I received the email. below. I reviewed the link and found it to be quite informative so I am sharing it with you.

Please add Curtis Brown, mourning the death of his father, Garth Sorenson, mourning the death of his brother-in-law, Tess Benin, concerned with the COVID-19 diagnosis of her daughter and family in Tennesee, and Jim and Faithe Ledbetter, Greg Ledbetter’s parents in Oregon who have also been diagnosed with COVID-19, to your prayers.

Pastor Jim

Subject: LGBTQ-Affirming Scripture Resource


With the goal of providing an LGBTQ-positive answer to the query “what does the Bible say about homosexuality”, St. Hugh of Lincoln Episcopal Church (in Elgin, IL) has developed a web page highlighting LGBTQ-affirming scripture. Much of what currently comes up online with this search criteria is negative and condemning, and could cause an LGBTQ person to despair.

I’m writing to let you know about this resource, so you can refer people to it if you know of a need. The website of this resource is https://www.sthugh.net/lgbtq-affirming-scripture.

We also have brochures available, if you would like to have something people could take with them. Just send a note to servantcbala@gmail.com and I will put some in the mail to you.

Here’s a little background about why we are doing this: When my daughter realized she was gay, she confided in her best friend, who told her that the Bible said she was going to hell. As someone who loved God and church, my daughter was devastated. A dear friend of mine referred me to a (now-defunct) resource that rebutted the conservative interpretation of the “clobber passages”, and it made all the difference for my daughter. Together with other families at our church who have had similar experiences, we are trying to do what we can to let LGBTQ people know that God loves them, despite what they may have heard to the contrary. If this helps even one person avoid the depression and suicidal thoughts that are more common among LGBTQ youth than their straight/cis peers (no doubt due to this kind of anti-gay rhetoric), it will well be worth it.

(Please note that the webpage is designed so that it might be found by someone with a conservative background, so while some of the terms used may be a bit outdated, they increase the odds that it will show up in a Google search by that demographic.)

Wishing you peace,

Catherine Balassie

(Welcoming Team, St. Hugh of Lincoln Episcopal Church, Elgin, IL)

Together In Spirit gathers tonight at 6:00.