The Church Should Be at the Leading Edge of this Conversation

The Anglican Church did not cause the tragedy in Orlando to take place.

The Anglican Church did not supply the gun that he used to take the lives of people in that club.

The Anglican Church did not cheer him on as he entered the building with the intent of killing those who were gathered there.

The Anglican Church did none of those things.

But the Anglican Church continues to treat our LGBTQ brothers and sisters as “other”.

The Anglican Church continues to marginalize the community by not fully welcoming them in.

The Anglican Church continues to demonstrate to the world that it sees the LGBTQ community as second-class citizens by not including them in the full communion of Christ’s church.

We did not cause the tragedy in Orlando to take place but by our inaction, by our inability to fully welcome people who love someone that doesn’t match our idea of “correct”, we indicate to the world that the LGBTQ community is “other” – that they continue to be “they” and will never be part of “us”.

What this says to the world is that it is OK to treat them badly, to roll their eyes at the sight of a couple holding hands, to sit in superiority simply because “we” have sex with the “correct” person.

What this exclusion says to the world is, do whatever you want to them – "they" are not "us" and that even God deems them as outside of the circle of the saved.

The Church should be better than that. The Anglican Church should be at the leading edge of this fight for inclusion.

And Jesus said, “Love one another as I have loved you.”