Clearing a High Hurdle
I'm on the Reconciling in Christ team at my church. Long story, short, we're working to advance our church towards being actively, openly, and fully welcoming and affirming to LGBTQI+/BIPOC within our leadership and congregational body.
We've been at this for coming up on 2 years now. We've done “Temple Talks” (one of us addressing an issue related to our mission during our Sunday worship service – for instance, I spoke on the occasion of Juneteenth last year). We've brought in speakers to address us after church about items like the “Clobber Passages” (bible verses commonly used against LGBTQI+ folks). We've held town hall style communication sessions where we open the room to questions and concerns. We've done all of this over the last 2 years, and we're rapidly approaching our congregational vote on whether to formally adopt the title of being an RIC church, and all the responsibilities that come along with that.
I know we have a lot of allies in the congregation. We do. There have been a consistent hum of voices echoing the information we've put out, and each time we speak to a group, there are a lot of nodding heads. And that's great. It always raises my spirits and bolsters my desire to see this through. But, it might not be enough.
I mentioned that our congregation has to vote. We don't need a simple majority to adopt this change, if we did, I think the vote would carry. We need a 75% super majority. And that terrifies me. Because while there a lot of voices joining ours in advocating for this, there is also a steady-beating drum of “Why is it necessary?” Of “We don't want this jammed down our throats.” We've actually been told that we're driving people out of the church (lol, good riddance then) when actual evidence says otherwise (2 families have joined our congregation specifically citing our RIC initiative as the reason for joining us.)
We sent out a survey to the congregation on Sunday, asking for anonymous feedback on whether they feel the RIC initiative either reinforces/pairs with our church's mission of community outreach and support, if they're not sure about how/whether it meshes with that mission, or if they feel it's antithetical to that mission. So far, the survey results are positive, but I can't help but remind myself that we're only getting the feedback of people that A) feel strongly enough to complete a survey and B) bother to turn it in.
75%. That's a really high hurdle to clear. It shouldn't be, but it is.