Welcoming Cumberland Presbyterians* is an independent grassroots movement comprised of individuals from the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America. Although this movement is neither officially sanctioned nor claims any endorsement by either denomination, the folks comprising the movement remain steadfast in our commitment to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America and to their confessional foundations, to sharing the love and grace of Jesus Christ with the LGBTQ+ community, and to actively striving towards a more just and inclusive Church.
We are dedicated to upholding the Cumberland Presbyterian Confession of Faith, which calls us to recognize and minister to people in a diversity of family patterns and embrace them in the life of the church (CoF, 6.16). Our aim is to promote greater involvement in the church by pursuing reconciliation among all groups (CoF, 6.32), including the diversity people and families, and welcoming everyone into the church’s life. Our primary objective is to support LGBTQ+ individuals within the church, fostering understanding on matters of sexuality and gender, and advocating for equality in all aspects of church life.
We affirm that people of all sexualities, gender identities, and expressions are equally and unequivocally loved by God and are an essential part of God’s design for diversity within creation. The children of God encompass individuals from various races, abilities and disabilities, languages, ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds, nationalities, sexualities, and gender identities. This vibrant tapestry of diversity not only enhances our community but also calls us to cultivate a profound understanding and embrace of one another as beloved children of God.
We recognize that unity does not require uniformity, and we acknowledge the church’s divine calling to foster hospitality by embracing all individuals with Christ’s love (CoF, 5.02, 510). We acknowledge the discrimination and exclusion experienced by numerous groups within the church and are dedicated to striving for a more just and and inclusive church community for everyone. Amidst disagreements, we are committed to forbearance, dialogue and cultivating a church that graciously welcomes and makes rooms for everyone whom God calls.
MEMBERS OF PRESBYTERY
The members of each presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church bear the responsibility of voting on proposed amendments that will impact the ability of our diverse sessions and presbyteries across the denomination to ordain and call the individuals they deem qualified for their specific contexts. To assist you in this important decision-making process, we have created a comprehensive resource page which includes personal narratives from LGBTQ+ Cumberland Presbyterians, along with relevant scriptural and theological materials. We trust that these resources will aid you in your collective discernment of the wisest course of action for the Church.
The church recognizes and ministers to people living in a variety of family patterns…It seeks to embrace each person and all groups of persons within the family life of the covenant community.
The covenant community, governed by the Lord Christ, opposes, resists, and seeks to change all circumstances of oppression by which persons are denied the essential dignity God intends for them in the work of creation.
The church is an advocate for all victims of violence and all those whom the law or society treats as less than persons for whom Christ died. Such advocacy involves not only opposition to all unjust laws and forms of injustice.
God is still leading us to a better understanding of what it is to be a disciple and fully human; and that includes new insights into our human sexuality.
The Welcoming Blog
A space for Cumberland Presbyterians to share insights about the inclusive ministry of Jesus Christ, where all are welcomed to God’s table, no matter age, color, race, nationality, socio-economic condition, mental or physical ability, sexual identity or gender expression.
