Jennifer Hosler
Acts 10:1-48 (lectionary was 10:44-48)

In the past two years, we have undertaken congregational processes to specifically consider how our congregation could become publicly inclusive of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer individuals (LGBTQ+). For many years, our congregation has been functionally inclusive in many ways. We’ve had LGBTQ+ persons involved in worship leading, preaching, and as church staff. One of the church’s former pastors conducted a queer wedding. Yet, until April 2023, Washington City Church of the Brethren had not gone through formal processes by which to publicly label our church an “Open and Affirming Church. We had not adopted a public inclusion statement (a prerequisite to joining the Supportive Communities Network of the Brethren Mennonite Council on LGBT interests). Today, we will come together after worship to vote to affirm our inclusion statement. With our vote today, we can finally submit our application to join the Supportive Communities Network. We can be clear as a community about who is welcome in our church (the short answer is everyone!). This has been a long, long time coming. While it would have been great to reach this point sooner, I think we can look back with understanding on both our limited congregational capacity and our commitment to a healthy process. I think it is helpful to know how far we have come, so I am going to recount that briefly and then reflect on today’s scripture passage.

Where We’ve Come From

As a church, we are small. Tiny, even, according to sister Dana Cassell (who has been a recent guest preacher and has blogged about our church). We don’t have a lot of people to plan intentional processes and facilitating inclusion conversations can take some special care. Sometime in 2021, a few people in our congregation asked about a process for joining the Supportive Communities Network of the Brethren and Mennonite Council on LGBTQ Concerns (referred to as SCN and BMC). Informal conversations started but we realized we needed some additional capacity. Recognizing that our leadership was spread very thinly in 2022 after one of our ministers accepted a full-time pastorate elsewhere, we brought on an intentional interim pastor, whose mandate included facilitating conversations to help us move this SCN process forward. That happened and we did have a survey and some conversations, which bore some fruit.

In spring 2023, as the interim tenure ended, Ad Council and the ongoing pastors decided on a series of meetings to finalize our discernment journey on this issue. We sent out regular email communication to gain buy-in and awareness of the process. We preached sermons to frame inclusion out of a biblical theology. We held three sessions in a hybrid format, with participants in person and over zoom (like WCCOB Sunday worship)

In our first session last year, we reviewed the contexts: our congregational context, the denominational context, what the Supportive Communities Network is. We also discussed potential implications of an inclusion position at congregational, district, and denominational levels. In our second session, we continued with some scriptural discussions. We also spoke with one another about the community implications of inclusion and celebration of LGBTQ+ siblings in Christ. Finally, in our third session (April 2), we voted to unanimously approve full inclusion LGBTQ+ in all aspects of church life, ministry, and ordinances. We also voted unanimously to approve the congregation seeking membership in the Supportive Communities Network of the Brethren and Mennonite Council for LGBTQ interests.

We did it! And then, we stalled a little. Our lack of capacity meant that we kept wanting to move this forward and write our own statement, but many other urgent issues often took precedence for Administrative Council and the pastoral team. Finally, thanks to Tom’s work to draft an initial statement, solicit, and incorporate diverse feedback, we have a statement.
The Spirit of God does Not Discriminate – Thanks be to God!

It feels particularly beautiful that today’s lectionary passage is one of inclusion. In Acts 10, we come to the scene of a radical redefinition of who God’s people are. While the Hebrew Scriptures and Mosaic law had made space for foreigners or non-Hebrews to worship Yahweh, the space it made required cultural conversion and adherence to Hebrew laws on circumcision, food, and other purity issues. Now we come to the early church, growing and leaving the gospel to the known world: to Jews first and then to Gentiles. After the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the disciples keep learning more and more about what continuing the work of Jesus means and what God’s Spirit is doing in the world.

Our broader context in the book of Acts is that of the disciples preaching Gospel of Jesus and continuing to expand the boundaries of who is welcome in Jesus’ name. In Chapter 8, we see the Holy Spirit come upon Samaritans, after they accept the Good News of Jesus the Messiah. In that day, Jews aid Samaritans did not interact. Now, these former apostates are being welcomed into God’s family. And not only them. Next in Chapter 8, as Nate mentioned in his sermon last week, we also see the apostle Philip travel down the road to Gaza and encounter a eunuch from Ethiopia. This foreigner, a eunuch whose gender identity did not fit the common binary, asks Philip to explain how Jesus was the fulfillment of the Hebrew scriptures. After affirming belief, the eunuch then asks, “Is there anything preventing me from being baptized? There is water right here!” Philip baptizes the Ethiopian eunuch into the gospel of Jesus.

Today’s text in Acts 10 gives us another view at this expansion. We learn about a Roman man named Cornelius, a centurion who was committed to faith through prayer and generous giving. Cornelius sees an angel of God telling him to find Peter, in the city of Joppa or Jaffa. Cornelius sends some servants to go and find this Peter. Peter, meanwhile, is praying on a roof in the heat of the day and gets visions of ritually unclean food, with a voice telling him to come and eat. Peter protests, explaining that he’d never broken his dietary laws.

Coming out of the vision, Peter is “greatly puzzled” but then immediately encounters Cornelius’s servants, who have come to find this Peter. Peter hears of Cornelius’s own vision and travels to find him. They each share their supernatural encounters that have led them there. Peter preaches the gospel, starting out with, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every people anyone who fears God and practices righteousness is acceptable to God.” As Peter speaks, the Gentiles who are gathered receive the Holy Spirit, speak in tongues, and praise God.

This was not expected. Peter and the other Jewish believers are “astounded” to see the Holy Spirit work and move in this group of uncircumcised Gentiles. Just like at Pentecost, the Gentiles speak in tongues and praise God. It is not a lesser coming of the Spirit, a little dose of God for the outsiders. These Gentiles do not need to discard their culture or identities. Like the eunuch did in Acts chapter 8, these Gentiles come to God in the fullness of their identities. God’s presence comes too in its fullness, without discrimination.

Then Peter says, “Is there anyone here who would withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit, just as we have?” Presumably no one challenges Peter or the Holy Spirit at work. Peter then orders them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
We as a church have asked ourselves, is there anyone here who would withhold baptism or membership or communion or leadership from sincere followers of Jesus? We have said, “no” to withholding and “yes!” to full inclusion in all aspects of church life, ministry, and ordinances. Like the early church in Acts, we too get to participate in wonder and gratitude that the Holy Spirit fills and works through all people, without partiality, including our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and other siblings in Christ. Thanks be to God.

Inclusion Statement
“The Washington City Church of the Brethren (WCCOB) welcomes all children of God who seek to be disciples of Christ Jesus. With Jesus Christ as our Savior, Teacher, and Guide, we actively welcome and embrace those who experience marginalization, discrimination, hostility, and exclusion. Our congregation’s welcome and embrace extends across sexual orientation, gender identity, age, race/ethnicity, immigration status, ability, social status, or cultural identity. Our diversity is our strength. All members of the WCCOB are invited into full participation in the life of the community, including leadership. All who seek to more fully embrace the Gospel of Christ are welcome.” AMEN.