As a Reconciling in Christ (RIC) congregation, Faith Lutheran Church continues a journey of learning, listening, and growing together. Since August 2024 members have worked to better understand what it means to welcome everyone into our faith community.
What Does Reconciling in Christ Mean?
The Reconciling in Christ program, guided by Reconciling Works, helps Lutheran congregations publicly commit to welcoming LGBTQIA+ people and working for racial equity. At Faith Lutheran, this commitment reflects our belief that God loves everyone. Therefore, it calls us to share that love through worship, service, and care for one another.
Listening and Learning Together
Our journey has included many opportunities for conversation, reflection, and learning. To support this work, the RIC committee invited members to share their thoughts. On December 15, 2024, the congregation took part in a poll about welcoming people of different races, sexual orientations, and ability levels.
Among those who responded, a vast majority said they would feel comfortable inviting someone different from themselves to worship at Faith Lutheran. In addition, members offered ideas for making our congregation more welcoming.
Their suggestions included learning about different experiences, offering warm hospitality, and inviting people to worship. They also encouraged us to greet visitors, use inclusive language in worship, reach out to the community, and making space for honest conversations.
Together, these responses reminded us that welcome means more than words. We show it through a friendly smile, an invitation to coffee hour, and a willingness to listen. Most importantly, we help everyone feel they belong.
As part of becoming a Reconciling in Christ congregation, Faith Lutheran voted to affirm four commitments:
- welcome LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC pastors,
- open our sanctuary for LGBTQIA+ weddings.
- support the national Reconciling Works program financially.
- create a public promise that explicitly names LGBTQIA+ people and vows to fight racism.
WELCOME STATEMENT
As the people of Faith Lutheran Church of Bristol, we recognize Jesus’ announcement of the Kingdom of God as God’s embrace to all people. Embraced by God, we proclaim our welcome unreservedly to all colors, all gender identities, all sexual orientations, all religions, all cultures, all abilities, all ages and sizes, inviting all individuals to full participation in the life of our community of faith.
Continuing the Journey
As we move forward, we keep learning from one another and deepening our understanding. We will also look for new ways to share Christ’s love with our neighbors and the wider community.
In this way, we put our faith into action and make our welcome clear. We want people searching for a church to know they can belong, take part, and be themselves at Faith Lutheran.
Our Reconciling in Christ commitment marks an important step, not the end of our journey. For this reason, we promise to keep listening, learning, and growing. Through our words and actions, we strive to reflect God’s inclusive love.
