Tonight we attend a fund raiser to help raise awareness for the need for marriage equality in Oregon. Our good friend and former U.S. Senate candidate Steve Novick spoke about this important civil rights issue.
The United Church of Christ became the first mainline Christian denomination to endorse full marriage equality in 2005 and I agree with what our General Synod stated then:
The message of the Gospel is the lens through which the whole of scripture is to be interpreted. Love and compassion, justice and peace are at the very core of the life and ministry of Jesus. It is a message that always bends toward inclusion. The biblical story recounts the ways in which inclusion and welcome to God‘s community is ever-expanding – from the story of Abraham and Sarah, to the inclusive ministry of Jesus, to the baptism of Cornelius, to the missionary journeys of Paul throughout the Greco- Roman world. The liberating work of the Spirit as witnessed in the activities of Jesus‘ ministry has been to address the situations and structures of exclusion, injustice and oppression that diminish God‘s people and keep them from realizing the full gift of human personhood in the context of human communion.
As a minister in the United Church of Christ and as an Oregonian, I've preached about how I look forward to the day when marriage equality is finally realized, and when our hearts are opened to the reality that God's love shines on us all - no matter our sexual orientation.
You can learn more about the campaign for marriage equality in Oregon by visiting:
http://love.marriagemattersoregon.org/
Steve Novick speaks to the crowd that gathered tonight in support of marriage equality.
