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LOCAL WELCOMING CHURCHES CHALLENGE CARDINAL GEORGE

Chicago, IL, 12/29/11 — Area members of the Chicago Coalition of Welcoming Churches (CCWC) reached out individually and collectively this week to challenge Cardinal Francis George’s remarks last week comparing the “gay liberation” movement with the Ku Klux Klan in a Fox interview.

“The Cardinal's words reveal reckless disregard for the power of speech and the consequences of such an analogy,” says Rev. Jacki Belile of CCWC. “Tragically, it reveals the reality of the Right’s distorted fears of LGBT advances for dignity.”

“Those advances require us to challenge the institutions of power -- including the Church-- when they are on the side of prejudice and division,” says Mr. Brent Holman-Gomez, CCWC Coordinator. “The LGBT liberation movement is no threat to religion or spiritual community that is justice-seeking, and it is inflammatory to suggest otherwise.”

Founded in 2000, CCWC is a local coalition of about sixty LGBT-affirming churches and ministries -- only a portion of the growing number of such churches -- which fully affirm their LGBT members. (Nationwide, there are thousands of “welcoming churches.”) Rev. Rex Piercy, pastor of Congregational United Church of Christ in Arlington Heights, initiated the Coalition’s response. Area leaders have crafted social media announcements, an Open Letter to the Cardinal, and a New Year of Welcome Outreach Campaign. “Churches concerned about the damaging impact of a voice like the Cardinal’s, who gets so much coverage, must take a stand in a time like this,” says Piercy.

The varied responses from Coalition members were immediate. Members of the local chapter of Dignity/Chicago have conducted interviews and posted responses on Facebook and their website, www.dignity-chicago.org. If there is hostility in the gay community toward the Church, then the remedy from the Church is love,” says Mr. Chris Pett, President of Dignity/Chicago. Dr. Susan Thistlethwaite, a faculty member at Chicago Theological Seminary and frequent contributor to The Washington Post, has written the Cardinal an open letter inviting him to join CTS in the 2012 Pride Parade.

For more information about CCWC and these ongoing responses, contact Rev. Jacki Belile at jacki@livingwellministries.net or visit www.chicagowelcomingchurches.org.

The Cardinal's comments were made in an interview about the dilemma faced by the potential earlier start time of the Pride Parade next summer, which posed logistical concerns for leaders of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church because of its location on the parade route. The concerns have since been addressed by a decision not to change the parade's start time.

We celebrate Christ's message of love and acceptance as a precious gift to be shared. Use it to uplift yourself and others. We are God's children. God loves us for who we are and celebrates our diversity!

God made you who you are, every aspect of you, including your sexuality! It is people, not God, who condemn. No one has the right to shame you or make you feel less than human simply because you are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.

We claim this promise as the heart of Jesus' message:

Jesus also said, "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another." (John 13:34)

It's that simple. God loves us, and wants us to love and care for one another. The churches on this web site provide safe, supportive, and affirming environments where God-given diversity is celebrated. We invite you to attend one of these churches and to join in a spiritual journey that leads to a more loving relationship with God, others, and yourself.

Our Mission:

The Chicago Coalition of Welcoming Churches is a collaboration of Christian churches in the Chicago metropolitan area which welcome and affirm all persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. The Chicago Coalition of Welcoming Churches has two goals:

1. to bring an inclusive, positive message from the innovative and progressive churches in the Chicago metropolitan area; and
2. to connect the leaders, members, and guests of our partner churches for fellowship and education.

We seek to be a visible witness to the good news of God's love and acceptance of all people.

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