This letter, from the Lakeside Elders, was read aloud by David Root, Chair of the Elders Board, on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023 at Lakeside’s third Conversation About Sexuality evening. We are now presenting it to you in written form.
First, a quick summary of our process.
Three years ago, the elders realized that we needed to examine Lakeside’s position on marriage and sexuality, in particular, our views on the acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community, and whether our current policies and practices needed to be re-visited. A decision was made by the board to appoint a committee.
The committee was tasked to review the topic of sexuality and to come to the elders with recommendations. That process took longer than expected due to the challenges of the pandemic as well as changes to our board of elders during that time, but as the committee faithfully completed their work and presented their report, we began our own discernment process.
We spent much time praying, reading, deliberating, and listening to the Holy Spirit. We also had discussions with many people in our congregation as we sought to discern what Jesus would have us do. We shared resources that clearly presented the views we have traditionally held as a church, as well as resources that were different from our traditionally held beliefs.
Beginning in the fall of 2022, we opened up the conversation to our congregation. We asked Marc and Robyn to lead our church through many of the reasons why a topic like this is so much more complex than may originally be perceived. In parallel to these nights, our staff and elders had the privilege of having conversations with so many in our church, hearing your stories, your questions, your concerns, and heart postures in all these conversations.
Every month as we deliberated, we sought to discern the next steps in helping our church through this conversation. While we are sure some within the congregation believe that we had already made up our mind, that simply was not true.
Over the past month, we’ve found ourselves more and more united on a theme that we feel marks a way forward in this conversation. Now that we have reached this place, we want to share our conclusion and the next steps in the process. This does not end the conversation on issues of sexuality and gender, but it does create a mile marker, so to speak. We realize there will probably be many more questions and a lot more clarity sought over the next few months, and we are committed to making ourselves available for that.
So with that said, we want to give you a glimpse into our decision.
First and foremost, Lakeside is a group of Jesus followers whose goal is to help people discover and fully follow Jesus. As a team, we feel we have stepped into that even more as we have studied the book of Luke together since early 2021. Sitting for so much time, week after week, with the stories of Jesus, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we have understood more deeply the concept of “fully following Jesus.”
While on the journey, a new area of focus has surfaced, that we refer to as “deep faith, wide embrace.” The more we fall in love with Jesus (deep faith), the more our love grows for people we may feel less comfortable around (wide embrace). Jesus modelled this wide embrace when He reached out to those who were not in the religious tradition of the day, including religiously and socially despised individuals such as tax collectors, Roman Centurions and the woman at the well.
This was such a constant theme in the life of Jesus, the elders voted to include it as part of our five-year strategic plan. Focusing on Jesus, how He lived, who He interacted with, and what He taught, has made these phrases very real. They have helped us discern how we can move forward to address the challenges and opportunities before us.
We see this theme in the early church, among Jesus followers with different beliefs. In Romans 14-15, Paul addresses an issue that is dividing the Roman church. There are two groups of Christ followers, and each has their own set of convictions about eating habits, each shaped by their respective culture, and the jews, shaped by scripture as well. This may sound trivial, but these were tightly-held convictions about right and wrong living – a moral issue with each side sure they had it right, and not wanting to associate with the other. Life together was new terrain for both sides, and conflict over this “disputable matter” arose. Paul counselled these believers towards a posture of mutual embrace for the sake of the gospel. This is a perfect example of “deep faith, wide embrace.”
While the disputable matter at hand for the Roman Christians was which foods were acceptable, the disputable matter for us is about what sexual ethics are appropriate for a Christ follower wanting to discern God’s way.
As elders, we believe continuing to embody this posture that Paul calls “mutual embrace,” or in our words, “deep faith, wide embrace,” is where we sense God leading us. We are committed to growing as a community to become a place where our deep faith continues to drive our wide embrace, so that people with diverging beliefs can fellowship and grow together in relationship with Jesus.
This is not exclusive to the conversation on sexuality and gender. We are committed to growing as a community to become a place where our deep faith continues to drive our wide embrace, so that people with diverging beliefs – on many issues – can fellowship and grow together in relationship with Jesus.
So much of our current society focuses on divisions and differences. These may be political, racial, socioeconomic – the list is endless. At Lakeside, we have theological challenges facing us as we move towards a wider embrace, but we feel led by the Holy Spirit to help Lakeside become a community where a wide embrace of people with diverging beliefs can fellowship together and be strengthened in our differences as we strive to help people discover and fully follow Jesus.
We have a history of not letting diverging beliefs separate and divide us, and we hope to continue to lean into this legacy. Even on our elder and pastoral teams, we have different personal convictions on many issues including, but not limited to, sexuality and gender. As we have continued to wrestle together, we have come to the place where we believe that as a community, we can treat sexuality and gender identity in a way that does not divide, but rather allows each of us to walk out our convictions as we grow closer to Jesus and to each other, even when we see things differently.
Within our congregation, on the topic of sexuality and gender, there are many who hold thoughtfully supported theological beliefs leaning to a traditional view. We also have many congregants with thoughtfully supported theological beliefs who hold an affirming view. And there are those who hold very valid theological views somewhere in between.
While many have thought our discernment process will be one of picking sides, we have been deeply drawn toward, and influenced by, Paul’s example of mutual embrace in the scriptures. We believe it is where God is leading us as a church. To be a place that is neither “open and affirming” (with no room for alternative views) nor “traditional and non-affirming” (with no room for alternative views), but another way – an alternative place of radical acceptance and inclusion rarely seen in this world.
We see the way forward as being a space where, regardless of your convictions on issues of sexuality and gender identity, you are invited to be a fully participating member of our church.
To be clear, this means that we will be embracing members of the LGBTQ+ community as full members in the body of Christ, and will celebrate covenantal, monogamous marriage, whether that be between heterosexual or homosexual couples.
It also asks us to embrace those who hold more traditional views, and consider same-sex marriage to go against scripture. We acknowledge that individuals within the community will hold diverse perspectives within (and perhaps beyond) this range.
We will strive to accept and embrace one another within this tension.
In the coming months, we will work as an elder team to continue clarifying our thoughts on the future direction of Lakeside. This will mean changes to our partnership process to include these changes, working on our statement of faith, and ensuring that our goal of being a place to help people discover and fully follow Jesus is realized to an extent never seen before as we embody the heart of Jesus with a deep faith and a wide embrace.
As an elders team, we are excited by this new direction and where we sense the Lord is taking us. We realize this is new information, and will spark different questions, emotions and thoughts in different community members.
If you are looking for clarification regarding this update, have a question, or just want to share a quick thought, you can do that by clicking here. We’ve created a “one stop shop” portal where you can ask a question, make a comment, or request a meeting with a pastor or elder. We really did mean it when we said we are here to journey with our church, and we want to make that as simple as possible for you. We would love to hear from you.