Bring an Egg Bake
For brunch this Sunday, May 21
The attendance of all members is requested at this congregational meeting on Sunday, May 21.
On Sunday, May 21, First Lutheran will have one worship service at 9am.
Within that time of worship, we will call to order a congregational meeting that simply asks for all our voting members to support our welcome statement.
After the meeting there will be a celebration of both the welcome statement, Sunday School and Confirmation. Members are invited to bring an egg bake to share at the brunch… SIGN UP HERE.
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On May 21, First Lutheran will have ONE worship service at 9am. Immediately after Holy Communion, we will call to order a special congregational meeting where we will endorse our Welcome Statement which is centered around three core values:
1) We Welcome All
2) We Build Community
3) We Serve Our Neighbors
First Lutheran’s staff, elected leadership, small groups and members have been considering the merits of this statement for nearly five years, and have focused our attention on its details since last summer. The statement was read in worship throughout the month of September and has been in the announcements ever since. In January, we offered a special Faith Alive! U where hopes, questions and concerns regarding our Welcome Statement could be shared. Pastor Karyn and I have both provided online commentary to describe scriptural foundations for this kind of welcome. We have also had many individual conversations about what being a Reconciling in Christ congregation will mean for us and for the greater community we are called to serve.
If you have not yet taken advantage of the online resources, book studies, small groups or the Faith Alive! U, it is not too late. In these final weeks before our special congregational meeting, Pastor Karyn and I will provide more online responses to questions asked at January’s Faith Alive! U. We are still very willing to have private conversations, and Pastor Libby Howe will offer another Faith Alive! U in May to encourage faithful conversations amidst challenging topics.
To be clear, it is NOT First Lutheran’s goal to simply be labeled a “Reconciling in Christ” congregation. Instead, we have chosen to accept the “Reconciling in Christ” values and goals because we believe they serve our primary purpose: to follow the ways of Jesus Christ. The RIC label is of little importance as compared to the substance and quality of our Christ-like welcome. The words of our welcome statement matter. Words matter a lot. But the words we endorse on May 21 are meant to move us beyond window dressing. Our welcome statement is meant to shape our community’s behaviors regarding the ways we accept and relate with people of all “ages, cultures, classes, races, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions.”
Please make every effort to become familiar with our welcome statement so that God’s Church at First Lutheran, Onalaska, would become known for the thoughtful, intentional, and robust inclusion of all God’s people—which is everybody!
First Lutheran Church Welcome Statement
We Welcome All.
God DELIGHTS in the beautiful diversity of humankind and UNITES us through the love, grace and forgiveness of Jesus. We CELEBRATE God’s creation in all its forms and the inherent worth, dignity and giftedness of people of all abilities, ages, cultures, classes, races, sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions.
We Build Community.
The Holy Spirit EMPOWERS us to be a community of disciples COMMITTED to individual and communal practices of listening, learning, forgiveness and reconciliation. Together, we work for the restoration of relationships, pursue racial equity and affirm those who have known the pain of exclusion and discrimination.
We Serve our Neighbor.
Jesus GUIDES us in ways of nonviolence, healing and peacemaking. We PROCLAIM God’s relentless, widening welcome and deepening love for all. We INVITE you to join us as we walk with Jesus toward greater love, understanding and mutual respect.
ALL are welcome here. ALL are loved here.
Questions?
Do you have questions about the welcome statement? Pastor Stanton and Pastor Karyn provide some answers in these videos below.