The UCC church is close to my home and heart. It’s the denomination in which I was raised and nurtured. And if you’ve been watching the news and blogs, then you know its God’s Still Speaking outreach campaign had a run-in with CBS and NBC. Specifically, its signature ad was rejected by these networks for bravely saying everyone’s welcome through its door. I’m not as outraged as a lot of folks are about the network’s actions. Mostly, I’m damn proud of my denomination. I’m proud they’ve stepped up to the plate and stared down the pitcher. Too bad foul balls resulted.
The banner pictured here isn’t outside my actual church, but another one in town. Here in Connecticut, the UCC state conference recently passed a resolution to perform gay weddings, but my church wasn’t thrilled with how the resolution came down and might write their own as a countermeasure. Individual UCC churches are allowed a great deal of autonomy — there is no heirarchy — but if my actual church decides not to follow the resolution, I’ll ask to have my membership transferred to the church pictured here. I won’t stay in a congregation that turns its back on my queer family and loved ones.
Granted, I’m pretty agnostic these days because much of my lifestyle flies too much in the face of most churches. That said, the only thing that’s kept me from outright heathenism is the UCC’s stance on social justice and equal access.
Their advertisement has given me some heart. Elsewhere, we’ve got an Alabama legislator calling for all mention of homosexuality be excised from Alabama libraries. (Will that include the bible? Seems to me there were several instances of man-to-man kissing in its pages.) We’ve got abstinence programs lying to our kid and over-inflated over-reactions to NFL sleaze. And among the nutjobs telling the government that porn = heroin is one guy who claims liberalism causes brain damage (and the entire group savages science so badly that I’m determined to put copies of Darwin’s book in my kids’ stockings for Christmas). So a church without bouncers is heaven to me.
In passing, might I add: Frank Rich and Annalee Newitz are, to keep with the theme, Godsends. And Henry Waxman is my hero. (Get a copy of his report here.)
