​Hello Harmony members and supporters - 

We are delighted to welcome Community of Christ Riverview, a congregation located in the Michigan Mission Center, as our newest Harmony Welcoming & Affirming member congregation. 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈✝️

Here is their statement:

"We are a welcoming community centered on the worth of all persons. Responding to God’s call, we affirm and include LGBTQIA2S+ persons at every level of our congregation. We recognize each person as whole, sacred, and unconditionally loved by God. You are welcome here, and we are blessed by your presence."

- Adopted on Sunday, July 23, 2023

On behalf of the Harmony Board of Directors, we wish to extend our sincerest gratitude to the dedicated members of the Riverview Congregation for prioritizing this holy work. May your ministry be blessed and truly provide for the needs of God's people wherever they may be on their journey.
Please join us in congratulating Beyond the Horizon for their commitment to inclusion in our beloved denomination. Consider contacting Linda Stanbridge (Harmony Facilitator) to share any words of encouragement and gratitude. You may also consider making a donation to the Riverview Congregation (contact Linda for details) for their dedication to this holy work. 

In the coming months, Riverview Congregation will host a celebration service to commemorate this major milestone. Stay tuned!
 
NOTE: Congregations in the Michigan Mission Center interested in the Harmony Welcoming and Affirming program should contact Linda (she/her) at [email protected] to learn more.
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We are encouraged by the number of congregations currently participating in our Welcoming & Affirming Program, and we look forward to sharing more good news like this!


With excitement and hope,
 
Your Harmony Board of Directors

Several members and friends of Harmony have graciously donated their time to make a beautiful quilt for Pride this year. The pattern designer, Rebecca Mae (www.rebeccamaedesigns.com), has generously agreed to allow us to use some of the photos of the design from her website as part of this silent auction. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who made this possible!

This one-of-a-kind creation celebrates diversity, inclusivity, and the power of unity, all beautifully stitched together with passion, love, and care.

This quilt showcases a kaleidoscope of brilliant colors, each representing a unique aspect of the Queer/2SLGBTQIA+ (Queer) Community. From bold, vibrant reds that symbolize love and passion to calming blues that evoke a sense of serenity and harmony, every shade blends together, creating an awe-inspiring display of unity.

Measurements: 72" x 84" (Lap/Twin Quilt)

All proceeds from this silent auction will directly support Harmony, allowing us to continue the vital work of creating a more inclusive and affirming future for Community of Christ around the world.

Don't miss your chance to own this symbol of love and inclusivity! Let your bid be a voice for equality, acceptance, and pride, and let the quilt become a cherished symbol of hope and celebration in your life.

Place your bid and let the colors of the rainbow dance in your heart! 🌈✨

Support Queer Voices in Community of Christ with Harmony's 2023 Pride Shirt

This year's Pride shirt design has been greatly influenced by the rise in anti-Trans legislation around the world, especially in the United States where more than 460 proposed anti-LGBTQ+ bills are currently being considered. Learn more here.

About the Campaign and Harmony

Proceeds from Harmony's (formerly GALA) third annual Pride shirt campaign will be used to break down walls of division and misunderstanding surrounding issues of sexuality and gender identity in Community of Christ. Harmony works tirelessly to ensure Queer / 2SLGBTQIA+ persons can fully participate in Community of Christ at all levels of the church and in all areas without exception.

Last year, we had over 260 (100 more than the previous year!) orders from around the world. Place your order today, and consider shipping another directly to a friend or loved one who would really appreciate it.

About the Design

Two hands, representing the larger Queer Community and its various intersections, support and protect the growth of a budding plant with Trans flag colors on its leaves. This is symbolic of Queer unity and oneness to protect and ensure the safety, dignity, and legal rights of the Trans Community during these difficult times. We owe it to the Trans Community, who has continually supported other members of the Queer Community for decades, to stand up and fight for their right to exist and thrive.

The phrase, "Justice & Joy" is part of Community of Christ's hymnody. Taken from the chorus of "For Everyone Born" (Community of Christ Sings #285), this is a call to action, reminding us that God delights in our social justice work.

And God will delight
when we are creators of justice and joy,
compassion and peace: yes,
God will delight
when we are creators of justice,
justice and joy.


See YouTube video from the Beyond the Walls Choir singing this beautiful hymn.

Additional Pride Information and Resources

Harmony has produced a lot of great Pride resources to help congregations put together a successful booth at their local Pride events. Visit https://www.harmony.lgbt/pride-resources.html to learn more.

Questions? Contact us at [email protected].

Following our Easter celebrations of resurrection, new life, and new beginnings, it is natural to begin to explore new opportunities for invitation and mission in our communities. Without a doubt, this is the desire of Jesus Christ who calls us to establish communities of joy, hope, love, and peace around the world. As we explore these opportunities, we’d like to take this moment to share with our allies – particularly those in positions of power and influence – a reminder that it is dangerous to exclude Queer/2SLGBTQIA+ (Queer) voices when discussing their fates as part of congregational, mission center, field, or global church efforts.​

Harmony has put into place several mechanisms to help us ensure Queer representation remains at the forefront of every aspect of our programming. We share this for your awareness and to perhaps even assist your expression of ministry with naming and claiming some key boundaries in this holy work.
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• Harmony’s Welcoming & Affirming Program is built in such a way that ensures those impacted by the work oversee the work. Doing the work without Queer involvement is dangerous, and remaining unaccountable to the marginalized while claiming to be affirming and inclusive is sinful. Harmony trains and assigns facilitators to work with congregations. While some mission centers and congregations may wish to appoint individuals to do this work, Harmony retains the right to properly vet and train them before approving these requests.
• Harmony’s advocacy efforts are centered on the notion that Queer voices should be at decision making tables…especially when those seated at these tables have historically harmed us and in some cases continue to harm us. We will be “good intentioned” to death if we do not have a say in our own future.
• Harmony continues to operate as a completely separate non-profit from Community of Christ. Our organizational structure is a reflection of the church’s views in the 1980s when Harmony (formerly GALA) was founded. Church leaders at the time would not allow GALA to organize as an official church affiliate. Instead, we needed to form our own organization, fundraise, and support our own programs without church assistance. What was once a sad reminder of our rejection from the church, has since proven to be a helpful tool, providing us with more freedom to challenge the church’s position on Queer inclusion when necessary.
• Welcoming & Affirming status is not forever. Harmony continuously checks in with its member congregations to provide further support, continuing education opportunities, and assessments. This is to ensure Queer individuals remain safe, respected, and leave Welcoming & Affirming congregations with their dignity intact.

Nothing about us without us is for us.

Navigating Christian spaces as a Queer/2SLGBTQIA+ (Queer) person takes a great deal of courage!

Taking this year's Community of Christ 2023 World Conference theme ("Courage") to heart, Harmony has designed a compelling and thought-provoking shirt that seeks to refocus the conversation away from what it means to be a courageous church and instead highlight the admirable courage exhibited by the most vulnerable among us for simply existing.

Orders can be placed at the link below and will ship on a batch basis (this brings costs down). The first batch will ship March 15.

Despite improvements in recent years throughout Community of Christ, members of the Queer Community remain subjected to mistreatment, micro-aggressions, ignorance, and bad theology. As such, it takes a great deal of courage for Queer individuals to walk through our doors, navigate our policies, experience our worship services and programs, attend our conferences and events, and walk alongside us as believers.

Christian churches - including Community of Christ - have caused (and continue to cause) a great deal of harm to members of the Queer Community and their families. This campaign reminds us that it is imperative that our inclusive efforts remain rooted in the reality that reconciliation is necessary and deserved. Without reconciliation, Queer people will remain marginalized by those in power who stand by while mistreatment continues.

Shirts are available only in black this year as a symbol of bold strength.

We have priced these shirts with a small mark-up to help recover the cost of design; however, in most cases this is less than $2.00 USD. As such, if you are in a position to add a donation at check-out, all funds will go to support Harmony's ongoing mission to provide advocacy, education, and resources for Queer voices in Community of Christ.

Whether you're attending World Conference in-person or not this year, purchasing a shirt will help raise awareness about our cause, the work we've already accomplished, and the work still yet to be done.

If you aren't interested in purchasing a shirt, but would like to make a donation to ensure this work can continue, you may do so at www.harmony.lgbt/donate.

Yesterday’s news release by The Associated Press following an interview with Pope Francis is worthy of cautious celebration. Sitting down with AP News, the Pope publicly criticized laws that criminalize homosexuality around the world, stating quite clearly “being homosexual isn’t a crime.” The article goes on to say: 

“Francis acknowledged that Catholic bishops in some parts of the world support laws that criminalize homosexuality or discriminate against LGBTQ people, and he himself referred to the issue in terms of ‘sin.’ But he attributed such attitudes to cultural backgrounds, and said bishops in particular need to undergo a process of change to recognize the dignity of everyone. ‘These bishops have to have a process of conversion,’ he said, adding that they should apply ‘tenderness, please, as God has for each one of us.’”

Harmony celebrates and acknowledges this critical milestone in which a prominent, international Christian leader publicly, intentionally, and explicitly chose to use their influence to save Queer/2SLGBTQIA+ (Queer) lives. While the Pope unfortunately continues to clearly define homosexuality as “sin,” he simultaneously creates a clear distinction between criminal acts (civil code) and sin (scriptural interpretation).

We understand that these comments by Pope Francis remain deeply problematic for members of the Queer Community, and we continue to pray for wisdom and change within the Catholic Church in order that more welcoming and affirming position statements continue to be released. However, we also note that even this seemingly simple statement is incredibly significant in its own right. For far too long, criminalization and sin have been viewed by Christians as synonymous when it comes to Queer issues. Having the leader of a major Christian denomination using their power, privilege, and influence to unequivocally condemn the criminalization of homosexuality worldwide is disarming to religious conservatives claiming to be carrying out God’s work through violence, physical harm, conversion therapy, and murder against members of the Queer Community. This statement has the ability to save lives and change hearts on a global scale.

Today, we call on Community of Christ leaders to publicly, intentionally, and explicitly call for an immediate end to the criminalization of and violence toward Queer persons around the world. 

Holy work is often nonlinear. It requires cyclical revisions grounded in restorative justice. We recognize that our own unique institutional histories are anything but simple. Regardless, we continue to offer our support to prioritize this life-saving, holy work in order that we never miss an opportunity to offer sacred specificity: that God loves their Queer children just as they were created to be and that the Church has often made misguided decisions concerning the care of some of the Creator’s most vulnerable in the name of compliance and conformity. 

Let us continue to courageously appeal for the very best for one another. If we don’t - who will? As the hands and feet of Jesus - we must.

Your Harmony Board of Directors​

We are thrilled to share that the USA Interim Policy authorizing Queer/2SLGBTQIA+ (Queer) participation is interim no more! In collaboration with the USA Team of Apostles, the preexisting interim policy has been reviewed and revised and has now been officially replaced by the December 22, 2022 version.

While there is no change in practice, the policy now has updated language, streamlined structure and associated links, and utilizes universal same-sex marriage legalization in the USA as a simplifying factor. (As a reminder, the 2014 interim policy pre-dated the Supreme Court decision that made same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states. This has further been solidified by the Respect for Marriage Act passed in 2022.)

This revision - and the intentional and collaborative resources required to make it a reality - fulfills a commitment made to USA church members in the policy’s first iteration. This commitment read, “The church in the USA will follow these interim policies for two years. At the end of this time the interim policies will be evaluated and revised as needed.” We are grateful for a new precedent in which marginalized communities impacted by church policy are included in the process of their own inclusion.
Notable changes include:

• The removal of the term interim in the policy titles.
• The removal of Policy Number 70.03. (“INTERIM POLICY FOR AUTHORIZING AND PERFORMING SAME-GENDER COVENANT COMMITMENT SERVICES ONLY IN THE USA”)
  • Same-sex marriage is now legal and available in all 50 states and territories. Consequently, covenant commitment ceremonies are no longer the highest level of recognition available to same-sex couples and are not recognized by the church.
• The removal of harmful and unnecessary immigration requirements.
  • The previous interim policy required that individuals in same-sex marriages first meet immigration criteria prior to consideration for ordination. The interim policy stipulated that in order to be considered for priesthood, individuals in same-sex marriages must be citizens or permanent residents of the nation in question, reside in that nation, and be registered as a church member there.
• The use of accurate language to describe members of the Queer Community.
  • In the interim policy, incorrect language was used to describe Queer church members as experiencing “same gender orientation.”
• A departure from more legalistic language and an adoption of more affirming language intended to promote possibilities as opposed to restrictions and/or uncertainty.
• The inclusion of links to Community of Christ’s new Our Ministry Tools site ensures ongoing relevancy and added functionality as new resources become available. (i.e. new resources can be easily added to Our Ministry Tools and corresponding links can be added to the policy document without major disruptions or lengthy revision processes)
• The policy document is now 12 pages in length as opposed to 18 in its previous interim form.
• The overall tone of the policy document opens up possibilities for the document to be used more invitationally.

While this newly revised document improves upon its predecessor, Harmony looks forward to continued collaboration with church leaders as we work together to promote public, intentional, and explicit support of the Queer experience in Community of Christ - both in the USA and around the world.
As this policy is specific to a single nation (USA), cofchrist.org will not be hosting this document or information related to it. As a denominational hub of administrative and resource-related content, OurMinistryTools.org will be updated to reflect this new policy. In an effort to make this document as accessible as possible, Harmony will proudly host all Community of Christ Queer/2SLGBTQIA+ policies currently in effect on our website as a resource to you. You can expect updates to our website in the coming weeks to reflect this commitment to you. In the meantime, we have provided links to the updated policy as well as the now replaced 2014 interim policy for your information.

​Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected]. 

In service,

​Your Harmony Board of Directors