Dear Friends in Christ,
Exciting news comes to you from our recent Lutherans Concerned/ North America (LC/NA) national board of directors meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota! By consensus , the board approved a proposal to form an affinity group in LC/NA for transgender Lutherans.
The proposal reads as follows:
"That the Board of Lutherans Concerned/North America support and endorse forming a Lutherans Concerned/North America affinity group tentatively called 'TransLutherans' in order to broaden our advocacy for more widespread and effective transgender welcome and inclusion in the Church, as well as for advancing the work of seeking justice for all transgender people."
Our hope is to begin populating the group during the lead-up to Reconciling Works 2012, which takes place in Washington, D.C., July 6-10. All transgender and gender non-conforming people are invited to join this group and further to join us at this history-making event in the capital of the United States. TransLutherans is envisioned not only as a group that will lift up and provide support for trans people, but also as a group that will advocate for trans people in the life of the Church.
This advocacy can involve many things, including but not limited to:
(1) providing a pool of people who can advise synods and congregations throughout North America on matters involving welcome and inclusion in the Lutheran Church
(2) education about transgender, transgender people, and their lives -- successes, joys, frustrations, barriers, discrimination, and the all-too-often physical threats, assaults and even murder visited upon them
(3) working for full inclusion of trans people in the church using the grassroots organizing and engagement practices within the church that have proven so successful in moving from intolerance to policy change, tolerance, towards full inclusion and ultimately celebration of the lives and contributions made by transgender people
(4) working to achieve policy change in the ELCA dealing with transgender people in ministry.
Ultimately, TransLutherans will have a significant impact on the Body of Christ by helping to free all of us to fully express our individual gender identities, whether transgender, gender non-conforming, or gender conforming, in all the fullness and richness of their diversity, always recognizing that they are precious gifts bestowed on us by the Creator of all that is and will be.
If you have questions about TransLutherans or would like to join us, contact JamieAnn Meyers at trans@lcna.org. And watch for more news of TransLutherans on our LC/NA web site, in our quarterly journal, "Concord," and at Reconciling Works 2012!
Yours in Christ,
JamieAnn Meyers
Transgender Representative, Board of Directors of LC/NA
No comments:
Post a Comment