“for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” –Galatians 3:26-28
Reconciling in Christ
Emmanuel Lutheran Church is a Reconciling in Christ (ReconcilingWorks.org/ric/) (RIC) congregation and welcomes openly LGBT parishioners of all ages as well as their families and friends. Emmanuel is also active in other social justice issues
These were the initial steps in Emmanuel becoming an RIC congregation:
- The RIC Task Force began the educational process by showing the film For The Bible Tells Me So on January 20, 2013.
- At Emmanuel's Annual Meeting on January 27th, 2013, the congregation voted to become an officially recognized Reconciled in Christ church.
- In February of 2013 the RIC Task Force began the paperwork for Emmanuel to be granted the official designation of being a Reconciling in Christ church by ReconcilingWorks.
- On March 7th, 2013, Emmanuel was officially recognized by ReconcilingWorks (ReconcilingWorks.org) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) (elca.org) as a Reconciling in Christ congregation. When that happened Emmanuel became the only RIC Lutheran church in the Rockford area, and the RIC Task Force began discussing what other types of ongoing educational opportunities they will provide.
RIC Activities
- Gay Men Gathering (GMG), open to all gay men in the Rockford area.
- Lesbian Conversation Group (LCG), open to all Lesbians and women who are questioning their sexuality in the Rockford area.
RIC Task Force Sponsored Events
- During June 2013 the Shower of Stoles exhibit was presented in Emmanuel's Sanctuary and Community Room.
Please send questions and comments regarding Reconciling in Christ to the RIC Task Force Coordinator.
LGBT Youth
- 2013 ELCA former Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson made a video for the “It Gets Better” Project™ promising LGBT youth and young adults that they have a place in the church.
- Camp Out (TheNamingProject.org/campout.shtml) is a documentary that follows 10 Midwestern teenagers as they attend their first overnight Bible camp for gay Christian youth. In it, the six boys and four girls struggle to be true to both their spirituality and their sexual identity. The film features the ministry of The Naming Project (TheNamingProject.org), a faith-based youth group for all sexual orientations and gender identities at Bethany Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Camp Out was filmed primarily at Bay Lake Camp, an ELCA outdoor ministry in northern Minnesota. It won the 2006 Outfest Audience Award for Outstanding Documentary Feature, the Newfest Documentary Feature, and the Showtime Vanguard Award.