Reconciling
PINE IS PROUD TO BE A RECONCILING CHURCH!
In 1994 Pine UMC voted to declare itself a Reconciling Church. Pine UMC was the first Asian American church in the country to do so. Today there are only three other Asian American United Methodist Churches which are reconciling. As a Reconciling Church, we are a part of the larger Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN) which is a growing movement of United Methodist individuals, congregations, campus ministries, and other groups who are working toward the full participation of all people in the United Methodist Church regardless of sexual orientation. The RMN is an independent, not-for-profit organization with no official ties to the United Methodist Church. However we are a part of the United Methodist tradition of social concern and action, a justice seeking, Spirited-people. For more info, check out: http://www.rmnetwork.org and check out our statements below.
Bible Studies for LGBTQ & Allies
Come and check out the LGBTQ Bible Study we hold twice a month!
We have a great support group going, and a few have come to reconcile their faith with their sexuality through the Bible studies and fellowship.
Pride Sunday Worship
Every year Pine Church celebrates the San Francisco Gay Pride Weekend with a service to remember that is our responsibility to keep our doors open to all of God's children. It is usually held in June.
Network on Religion and Justice
Pine UMC also supports and participates in the NRJ-API-LGBT (Network on Religion and Justice for Asian Pacific Islander, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender People). NRJ is housed at the Pacific School of Religion at the Graduate Theological Union. For more info, check out: http://www.netrj.org
2021 Reaffirmation of 1993 Statement of Reconciliation
During the HIV-AIDS epidemic that struck San Francisco in the late-1980s and early-1990s, Pine UMC responded with our declaration to be a Reconciling Church. This also occurred while the United Methodist Church was not of one mind in regards to inclusion of LGBTQ+ people. This resulted in Pine UMC being the first historically-Japanese American, first predominantly Asian American UMC to proclaim itself as open and affirming of LGBTQ+ people.
Nearly 30 years later, Pine UMC continues to draw from and build upon the legacy of those who have gone before us. Springing from the roots of allies seeking reconciliation in the midst of broken community, we now rise as a church of both allies and LGBTQ+ church members in resistance to all forms of systemic oppression, within the Church and in wider society. The ministry of Welcome has brought LGBTQ+ people into this church and its mission. Having LGBTQ+ people as a thriving part of our faith community now leads us towards something more.
In line with the Reconciling Ministries Network, “we celebrate God’s gift of diversity and value the wholeness made possible in community equally shared and shepherded by all. We welcome and affirm people of every gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, who are also of every age, race, ethnicity, physical and mental ability, level of education, and family structure, and of every economic, immigration, marital, and social status, and so much more. We acknowledge that we live in a world of profound social, economic, and political inequities so as followers of Jesus, we commit ourselves to the pursuit of justice and pledge to rise in solidarity with all who are marginalized and oppressed.”
Grounded in our faith in Jesus’ radical love, we renew our commitment to lovingly encourage and challenge both ourselves and each other, as we resist hate and oppression of all peoples. We pledge to strive for the truest sense of compassion, and rise in solidarity with everyone in these various intersections and lived experiences, seeking out our interconnectedness and working for reconciliation, justice, and peace in our local and global communities.
1993 Statement of Reconciliation
From now on, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if any one is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
- II Corinthians 5:16-19 (RSV)
Homosexual persons no less than heterosexual persons are individuals of sacred worth. All persons need the ministry and guidance of the Church in their struggles for human fulfillment, as well as the spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship which enables reconciling relationships to God, with others, and with self.
- United Methodist Social Principles, The Book of Discipline, 1992, ¶71.G.
Be it known that
Pine United Methodist Church
of San Francisco, California,
declares itself to be
A Reconciling Congregation
within The United Methodist Church.
We affirm the participation of lesbians, gay men, and their families;
We seek to heal the gulf between The United Methodist Church
and its gay and lesbian members; and
We desire to minister to and with all persons,
including lesbians and gay men and their families.
STATEMENT OF RECONCILIATION
Pine United Methodist Church
"A Church for All Peoples" and "A Reconciling Congregation”
All persons are recipients of God's love and grace. God intends the church to be a community which embodies love, grace, and justice for all people. As a sign of faithfulness to God's covenant with all humankind, we discern that God is challenging the Christian community to accept lesbians and gay men as sisters, brothers, and co-workers in the household of faith.
We affirm the participation of lesbians and gay men in all aspects of our life together. We seek to address and advocate the needs and concerns of gay men and lesbians in our church and society. We strive to utilize the gifts of all persons in our ministry without regard to sexual or affectional orientation.
We are distressed by the presence of homophobia within The United Methodist Church and in our society. Such fear and hatred reflects neither God's love nor God's intent for the community of faith. We hope that our affirmation of the wholeness of all persons will bring reconciliation to all people within the church who, because of prejudice, homophobia, or ignorance, find themselves in exile from the family of God.