info@fpcglencove.org (516) 671-0258
We seek to unequivocally welcome and celebrate LGBTQIA+ community members and the gifts that they bring to the Body of Christ.
You are welcome and celebrated here. Full stop.
Pastor Lana is transgender, and both she and our communications manager are queer. FPC is proud to be a More Light Presbyterian church. MLP is a coalition of open and affirming churches that "[works] toward the full participation of LGBTQIA+ people in the life, ministry and witness of the Presbyterian Church (USA) – and in society."
Like the More Light Presbyterians, we believe that all people are image-bearers of God and that there is nothing that can separate us from God's love, regardless of what many churches proclaim. The PC(USA) as a denomination agrees with this and has "apologized for the [PC(USA)]'s previous unwelcoming stance on LGBTQ parishioners, [dedicated themselves to] celebrat[ing] LGBTQ church pioneers, and stated the church will welcome, lift up, and fight for the human rights of all people created in the eyes of God."
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Here are some resources for folks who are curious about how people can have diverse sexual orientations and/or gender identities and be Christian at the same time, or how Christians can affirm these kinds of diversity. Know that there are many other ways of exploring these topics, too!
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For people coming from a more evangelical background with a very high view of Scripture, this is a great place to start exploring sexual orientation: Matthew Vines, author of "God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships", shares about misconceptions of the six "clobber passages" that are used to condemn homosexuality and offers a new vision of God's ordaining humankind to love and be loved.
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This writing by Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson is a deep dive into what it means to provide a welcome to transgender Christians. The Human Rights Campaign has a much shorter piece about what the Bible says about transgender people.
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Q Christian Fellowship is not only a place for queer Christians to connect with one another in authentic and affirming ways, but also an excellent source of theological and practical resources about sexuality and gender for LGBTQIA+ people and allies seeking to support their loved ones. There are even resources for queer Christians who are interested in going to seminary!
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Trans Missionary Collective is another place to find fellowship and helpful information for gender-diverse Christians and allies.
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The diverse set of theologians behind Queer Theology go beyond apologetics and the six clobber passages, instead focusing on how Scripture itself is "queer" in its own ways - and some of the stories are explicitly so.