Reconciling in Christ

Mount Olive Lutheran Church is a Reconciling in Christ Congregation.

As the church of Christ we are called to minister to and with our neighbors. We are challenged and called by the Gospel to be agents of healing and change within our society, breaking down barriers and restoring relationships. Often restoration and reconciliation are needed between the Christian church and people of faith who have been marginalized by misinterpretations, misunderstandings and even deliberate distortions of the Holy Scriptures.

At Mount Olive we have taken and continue to take that call to be reconcilers literally. To that end we have worked toward tangible, visible expressions of our commitment to this call. The movement toward a fuller expression of hospitality and welcome at Mount Olive Lutheran Church for all people of faith has been a steady journey for nearly a century. This journey toward the full involvement of all people, most recently gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons (GLBT), has been an intentional one on the part of many faithful Christians, predominantly straight, women and men at Mount Olive Lutheran Church.

Here at Mount Olive it is "no big deal" to be straight or for that matter to be gay, lesbian, transgender or bisexual. The big deal is to worship, to be faithful disciples of Christ, to live out the Gospel message of grace, and to share in the life of this community of Christians as fully as we are able during our sojourn together.

The congregation voted unanimously at a specially called congregation meeting in 1999 to become a Reconciling in Christ congregation. This was a tangible expression of the reality of GLBT persons being welcomed into the congregation for many years. In so doing we have partnered with Lutherans Concerned/North America to encourage other congregations and the larger Christian church to move from exclusion of GLBT persons to the full inclusion of all persons of faith, including GLBT Christians, in the life and worship of the church of Christ.