Dear Glen Morris United Church, 

 

As the United Church prepares to gather for their 45th General Council meetings happening in early August, one of the pieces of work I am looking forward to is the delivery of a formal apology from the denominations to members of the 2S & LGBTQIA+ community who have been impacted by discrimination within the church.

This will mark a very special moment in a decade-long process that has spanned various roles in my ministry. While working at the General Council Office in 2016, I helped develop Iridesce: The Living Apology Project. When I left that position, I continued to support the work of this project as the co-chair of Affirm United/s’affirmer ensemble for the next five years. Since then, I have participated in a national level committee to discuss and prepare reports for the General Council and, most recently, have served on the committee responsible for drafting the words of the apology being read by the Moderator in just a few weeks. I look forward to sharing these words with you once they are published!

I have learned a great deal about apologies during this time and feel so grateful to have learned alongside so many people about grace, transformation, justice, community, and reconciliation. I hope that the apology will bring healing, especially to those who have been waiting a long time to hear these words. I also hope the apology will offer an example and challenge to other churches to take the work of 2S and LGBTQIA+ justice as necessary and prophetic work. 

You can learn more about the apology in this recent Broadview article which include a few of my thoughts: 

This United Church group fought 2SLGBTQ+ ordination in the 1980s | Broadview Magazine

 

May the peace of Christ be with you, 

Rev Michiko