RECONCILING MINISTRIES NETWORK - 9/23/2010

New Reconciling Community

by Audrey Krumbach

Micah 6:8 Sunday School Class of Christ Church United Methodist, Louisville, KY

Christ Church United Methodist in Louisville Kentucky worships over 1100 people on an average Sunday. Eighteen separate adult Sunday School classes meet each week, and in worship at 11:15 four pews at the front of the church are set aside ever week just for families with young children. A community of this size represents a great variety of approaches towards Christian faith, and this congregation is being led into a more honest and loving declaration of that diversity by the Micah 6:8 Sunday school class.

The Micah 6:8 meets weekly in room 104, according to the church’s incredible website, and topical lessons have included human rights, care for the environment, Jesus and Sexuality, elections, and biblical book studies. Rooted in a traditional southern love of scripture, the class takes seriously the prophet Micah’s question, “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

This spring, the class adopted the following welcome statement, and in doing so became a Reconciling Community, offering a public welcome to the lgbtq community of Louisville. Basing their welcome statement on the favorite Methodist phrase “open hearts, open minds, open doors” this class has truly explained what a Christian welcome looks like.

The Micah 6:8 class is a community in which we seek to open:

Our Hearts to each other;
Our Minds to truth; and
Our Doors to everyone.

OPEN HEARTS: We believe that the love of Christ has the power to open every heart to every possibility.

OPEN MINDS: We believe that open minds are made possible by the love of Christ having first opened our hearts. We strive to keep our minds open to the truths that can be learned through scripture, traditions, experience and reason. Open Hearts and Open Minds can keep us open to all the sources from which truth can be made evident.

OPEN DOORS: Open Hearts cause us to want to open doors to all whom we love. Open Minds cause us to reject the artificial distinctions which closed hearts erect among the children of God. We pledge to keep our doors open to all who would seek to love God and their neighbor.

WELCOME: The doors to our community are open without regard to race or national origin, age, healthy or infirmity, sexual orientation or gender identity, marital status or economic condition. We feel ourselves to be immeasurably enriched by all who bring their open hearts and open minds to our fellowship.

To learn more about this vibrant church, visit their website at: http://www.ccum.net.