Striving to be an Inclusive Community

An overarching concern that became the focus of intensive study and discussion during the ‘80’s and which affected the style and direction of the ministry was the issue of “inclusive community”. At the heart of this issue are the challenges and struggles involved in becoming a community that is open to and welcoming of persons with a variety of backgrounds, interests, and life-styles. Part of the challenge meant trying to become a community that does not intentionally or unintentionally exclude individuals based on race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, socio-economic class, or any other basis of discrimination found in the human family. The seeds of this concern were sown in the 1977 congregational Study of the Ethics of Homosexuality and the introduction of feminist perspectives and issues in later years.

The intensive focus on this issue began in 1984 when a study group on “Inclusive Community” was initiated. The study group met for several months and developed a set of guidelines that was presented to the congregation in February of 1985 for further discussion and consideration as a community of the whole.

Five areas were identified as means toward the goals of becoming a more inclusive community

      1. Community decisions should be made by a consensus process.
      2. Inclusive language should be used in all aspects of community life, including in routine communications, worship liturgies and hymns, and the use of the Bible.
      3. The community should be open to all persons who confess Jesus Christ as Savior and who want to express their faith in word and deed through the life of this congregation.
      4. Sharing common concerns and intercessory prayer is the foundation of the community’s spiritual life.
      5. Inclusive community involves a continual process of learning and evaluation.

These guidelines have since been woven into the fabric of the life and ministry of the community at Lord of Light. Over the years they have affected the substance as well as the style of many of the ministry’s programs and priorities. A few of the ways in which this occurred are described below.

Among the first of the guidelines to be put into practice was the adoption of consensus style decision-making. This process, was formally incorporated into the congregation’s By-laws at the time and was followed by the Church Council and the congregation as-a-whole when arriving at decisions.

Another immediate result of the Inclusive Community Study was the establishment of a Translation Study Group in 1985. The goal of this group was to develop an inclusive language version of the Lectionary based on a translation of the original Hebrew and Greek texts. The study was led by Pastor Hora and Dr. John David Pleins, then a U-M doctoral student in Old Testament Studies. The resulting translation continued to be used for a number years in the ministry’s weekly worship service. It was also widely sold and distributed to other churches and ministries with an interest in inclusive language.

In addition to the use of the inclusive language Lectionary, the ministry also incorporated inclusive language into other aspects of worship as much as possible. For example, the congregation began to learn and use the hymns of Brian Wren, a noted contemporary hymn writer who imaginatively uses inclusive language. While the ministry made significant progress in its use of inclusive language in worship at the time, it also discovered that this is an evolutionary process that requires continual study and reflection and where change often occurs in small incremental steps.

Another event symbolic of the effort to become more inclusive was the decision by the congregation in December of 1987 to become a participant in the Reconciled in Christ (RIC)[1] program. This is a national program that encourages Lutheran congregations to affirm that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people are welcome as fully participating members of their communities. Lord of Light was one of the earliest participants in this program and since then members of Lord of Light have continued to help other ELCA congregations in the process of considering and seeking RIC status.


[1] Now known as “Reconciling in Christ.”