Six New Things – Week of May 31, 2021
Blessed LGBTQIA+ Pride Month! We’ll have resources to celebrate Pride throughout the month: today, everything has to do with diversity and celebrating differences:
ONE
Illustrated Ministry celebrates the expansive image of God in everyone and happily joins communities around the world in celebrating Pride Month! Churches enjoy handing out their You Are Loved stickers and buttons at Pride events. See also their Eres Amad@, You Are Loved (Jesus), and Be Loved, Be Kind, Be You. stickers, as well.
To spark healing conversations, try Julie Rodgers’ personal story, Outlove: A Queer Christian Survival Story (Broadleaf).
TWO
Encourage young ones to appreciate diversity with Different: A Great Thing to Be! (Waterbrook).
THREE
Help kids on the autism spectrum embrace what makes them unique with The Survival Guide for Kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder (And Their Parents) (Free Spirit).
FOUR
Transform perceptions of our Black siblings reading The Darkness Divine: A Loving Challenge to My Faith (Skinner).
This conversation may be furthered and/or heightened with Let the Light in: Healing from Distorted Images of God (MennoMedia).
FIVE
Our resistance to diversity is rooted in theologies, practices, systems, and rituals generated and perpetuated in church contexts. Let’s Reimagine Church. Some options for reclaiming theologies of grace and love include:
Leading American Lutheran theologians ask how Christian communities might resist systemic injustices in Truth-Telling and Other Ecclesial Practices of Resistance (Rowman & Littlefield); learn how to grow through challenging conversations with Brave Church: Tackling Tough Topics Together (Upper Room); and learn how to live into the diversity of your community by listening to the experiences of First Baptist Duluth pastor Mark Hearn, in Hearing in Technicolor: Mindset Shifts within a Multicultural Congregation (B&H).
See our Reimagining Church lib guide for additional resources!!
SIX
Two exciting worship opportunities to lift up diversity:
Check out Sojourner’s El Camino – The Way sermon series: sign up to receive recommended sermons, tips for preaching about immigration, and tools for congregations seeking justice with immigrant communities; featuring two sermons from MN Annual Conference UMC preachers!!
[Find additional resources around immigration in our Immigration & Refugees lib guide.]
And:
Keep your eyes and ears open for The Ministry Lab’s Summer Worship Series, featuring Rev. Tyler Sit [New City Church, Minneapolis – UMC; author of Staying Awake: The Gospel for Changemakers (Chalice)], Rev. Karen Larson (Berne Church, Zwingli. PC(USA)/UCC), and Rev. Jia Starr Brown (First Covenant, Minneapolis – non-denominational; creator of Journey to Freedom), with original liturgies prepared by United Theological Seminary students: three fantastic worship services that will celebrate diversity – to use in whole or in part – throughout the summer.
