Welcoming Cumberland Presbyterians is a grassroots movement of LGBTQIA+ Cumberland Presbyterians and clergy, elders and laity who wish to increase participation in the church by living out our confessional calling to seek reconciliation among all groups of people and embrace all people in the life of the church. We have read and studied the memorials from Arkansas and Grace Presbyteries and find them to be divisive, exclusionary, unnecessary and even dangerous. It is our recommendation that the General Assembly deny these exclusionary memorials because they attempt to usurp the rightful and appropriate authority and discretion of presbytery and session to ordain who they see fit. The following concerns are not an exhaustive list, but we hope it will be a starting place for further conversation with our LGBTQIA+ siblings and their supporters.  It is essential we recognize that the church consists of those who in good faith come to different interpretative conclusions on the complex issue of sexuality and its members will exercise the prerogative to live according to their conscience. We believe the wisest path forward for the church is to continue to respect the rightful authority of presbytery to ordain who they see fit, respect freedom of conscience on same-sex relationships, and practice tolerance and forbearance towards those they disagree with rather than attempting to force universal conformity. It is very concerning that these memorials fail to recognize that LGBTQIA+ people are already faithfully serving the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and have been gifts to the denomination throughout its history. When Scripture declares God will pour out God’s Spirit on all flesh and that God is no respecter of persons this includes LGBTQIA+ people. But these memorials attempt to remove faithful servants of God from leadership and limit how God is moving in the hearts of members of the

We offer this prayer as the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church meets in its 191st session this week in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Loving God, we offer you thanks and praise! As the week of General Assembly begins, we hold in prayer all who are travelling and making final preparations. We lift up each and every commissioner and youth advisory delegate and ask that you grant them openness, wisdom and courage as they seek resolve controversies and reflect your love in the life of the church. We ask a special blessing on those who have travelled to General Assembly seeking unity and peace. May the whole body find this unity and peace in Christ and may we see in each other the face of Christ. May hearts and minds be open to one another and to the moving of the Holy Spirit. The church means so much to so many and no one wants to lose their church family. Strengthen the bonds that connect us; let love and friendship grow. We pray that the diversity of the church be honored and that restrictive and exclusionary memorials and statements be denied. Give those attending grace beyond measure and the courage to speak up against that which divides, marginalizes and excludes. We lift up your faithful beloved LGBTQ+ members and leaders who only wish to answer their calls and continue to serve God in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Break down the barriers between us and help us to show love and grace in conversations with one another. Keep us all open to continued growth in faith and understanding. Guide and lead us, the General Assembly, the commissioners, the youth advisory delegates, the committees, all the judicatories, and the whole church ever forward into your healing love, justice and reconciliation. God, work

November 20th is Trans Day of Remembrance--a day we honor and hold in prayer those who have lost their lives due to transphobia and anti-trans hatred, draw attention to continued acts of violence endured by trans people, and commit to making the church and world a place where trans, non-binary, and gender diverse people can thrive. A special joint Trans Day of Remembrance worship service led by Rev. Ainsley Herrick, Rev. Joy Warren and Michael Leslie was held November 14, 2021 and broadcast on Facebook live. You can watch the service here. Transgender people face hate, violence and suicide at extremely high rates. Globally, more than 409 trans, gender-diverse and non-binary lives were taken through violence and hatred in the last 12 months. We call on members and leaders throughout the Cumberland Presbyterian Church to love, befriend and embrace our trans, gender-diverse and non-binary siblings and stand together against discrimination, violence and hatred. The Cumberland Presbyterian Confession of Faith persuades us to respond to the violence against trans, non-binary, and gender diverse people by honoring their inherent dignity, advocating for victims and seeking to end the violence perpetrated against them: "The covenant community, governed by the Lord Christ, opposes, resists, and seeks to change all circumstances of oppression--political, economic, cultural, racial--by which persons are denied the essential dignity God intends for them in the work of creation." (6.30) “In her corporate life and through her individual members, 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.” (6.31) "[The church] seeks to embrace each person and all groups of persons within the family life of the covenant community." (6.16) “The church, corporately and through her individual members, seeks to promote reconciliation, love, and

We offer this prayer as the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church meets in its 190th session this week in Louisville, Kentucky. Let us pray: Loving God, you have fearfully and wonderfully made all people in your own image. We thank and praise you for the beauty of your creation. We ask you to lead and guide the General Assembly as this body seeks to discern your will, and better reflect your love in the life of the church. Grant the members of this body wisdom, courage, mercy and minds open to your Spirit. As this body deliberates on a statement on human sexuality, we confess and grieve the harm such statements have caused in the past. We lift up in prayer our LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, intersex, asexual, and more) siblings along with their families. The debates and decisions made this week will impact them most directly. Bathe them in your love. Reassure them and keep them from all spiritual, emotional and physical harm. We are grateful and pray for all those who seek God's will on how to lovingly respond to our LGBTQIA+ folks in the church and the wider community. Help us all to listen....listen for your voice speaking in one another's voices and the voices of our LGBTQ+ siblings and allies. Grant us patience with one another and the capacity to set aside anything that keeps us from demonstrating your love to those most vulnerable. Christ, make us one with all people in your ministry of reconciliation. Help us break down the barriers between us and help us engage one another with patience and grace so that we can overcome misunderstandings and bring peace. O God, make us one in you, filling us with your grace and compassion. Have mercy on us. Have

Welcoming Cumberland Presbyterians is a grassroots ministry within the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination made up of clergy and laity which exists to increase participation in the church by welcoming and fully including people of all sexualities and gender expressions. We have read and studied the proposed Statement on Human Sexuality submitted to the General Assembly by the Unified Committee of Theology and Social Concerns. The following lines from the proposed statement wisely call for us to accept our differences while affirming our love for one another:  We acknowledge that within both Cumberland Presbyterian denominations there is a wide range of biblical understanding and interpretation. With that said, we should resolve – first and foremost – to love one another, and as an expression of that love to listen to each other, affirming the even greater common ground we enjoy and embrace as Cumberland Presbyterians. Our goal need not be one hundred percent agreement on biblical interpretation, but rather a mature awareness and consideration of the diversity of theological perspectives that a global and multi-ethnic denomination manifests However, despite it’s conciliatory parts, we find the statement exclusionary, divisive, contradictory and harmful. Below is a short list of concerns. It is not an exhaustive list, and we hope it will be a starting place for further conversation with LGBTQ+ siblings. The Statement fails to recognize that LGBTQ+ people and their faithful service are and have been gifts to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church throughout its history. The language used indicates a lack of understanding of LGBTQ+ Cumberland Presbyterians as well as the consensus science which demonstrates that same-gender sexual orientation (including identity, behavior, and attraction) and variations in gender identity and expression are a part of the normal spectrum of human diversity. We know that the committee received input from this community, but the

The signatories of this document wish to register the following Protest against the action taken today by West Tennessee Presbytery regarding the Resolution. Accordingly, we ask, a) that this Protest be entered into the minutes of West Tennessee Presbytery, and b) that this Protest be referred to the Committee on Judicial Concerns, as provided for in Section 5.64 of the Presbytery Manual of Operation and approved by the 158th General Assembly—or failing that, to the Synod of Great Rivers as provided for in Section 4.304 of the Rules of Discipline—with a request for a review and ruling as to the Constitutional and/or Confessional merits of our Protest. Our Protest is multi-faceted, being concerned with both the procedural legality of the Resolution and its disregard for our heritage—the very DNA—of the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination. Procedural Objections The Resolution, in its opening paragraph, establishes the “1996 Statement of the General Assembly on Homosexuality” (“Statement”) as its starting point, and proceeds immediately to quote those parts of the Statement that support the Resolution’s intent, exclusive of the final paragraph of the Statement. In its subsequent Whereas statements, the Resolution goes on to affirm selected parts of our Confession of Faith, and uses passages of scripture that are interpreted in such a way as to support the intent of the Resolution. The excluded Statement passage (endorsed by 1996 General Assembly as part of the rest of the Statement), while inconvenient to the purpose of the Resolution, reads as follows: “This statement is to be understood as a theological and social statement and not to be understood as a rule or principle for ordination but never to usurp the authority of presbytery or session to ordain.” 1. While we have no quarrel with the freedom of conscience the Resolution’s author(s) have exercised in arriving at

Delegates at the June 2017 meeting of West Tennessee Presbytery received a “Statement on Homosexual Activity and Marriage in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church” and referred it to the October 7, 2017, meeting for discussion and consideration. The statement requested that ministers and elders who are “unable to agree with these statements” should “state their disagreements and be prepared to defend them, as we are....” This response is our attempt to answer that request. We do so, not because we need to justify our differences of opinion and insight to the signatories of the Statement, but because we share their concern for the unity of the church. REGARDING THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH The Statement notes, correctly we think, that the related issues of acceptance of LGBTQ+ leadership in the church and same-sex marriage clearly have been a source of controversy and divided opinion. The advisory statement adopted by the 1996 General Assembly did not produce the “unity and clarity” that was perhaps intended. Neither do we think the adoption of this Statement by West Tennessee Presbytery is likely to produce unity and clarity. Unity in the church is not accomplished by the adoption of position statements. In truth, seeking to bind the consciences of members of our church family by force of vote leads to disunity and damages the very relationships essential to our mission, relationships we hope to preserve. Our Confession of Faith says, “The church is one because her Head and Lord is one, Jesus Christ. Her oneness under her Lord is manifested in the one ministry of word and sacrament, not in any uniformity of covenantal expression, organization, or system of doctrine.” (5.02) It is worth noting that even the 1996 General Assembly statement affirmed that presbyteries and sessions have the authority to come to their own

Today, we're learning about the variety of groups that make up the rainbow community of people. The identities illustrated in this graphic help us to understand the differences or variations—the diversity—that exists in the arena of human sexuality. Through awareness of and respect for this diversity, we come to recognize people who are often too excluded and made invisible. According to the Cumberland Presbyterian Confession of Faith, “The church recognizes and ministers to people living in a variety of family patterns, including those persons who by choice or circumstances are single. It seeks to EMBRACE each person and all groups of persons within the family life of the covenant community.” COF 6.16 To “EMBRACE”, according to Merriam-Webster, is to hug, to cherish, to love, to welcome, to take in or include as part of an inclusive whole. What does it mean for the church to embrace all persons, including those who are lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, and pansexual? First of all it means cultivating and nurturing an appreciation for the vast diversity of God’s work in creation. It means loving all the members of every group represented in the rainbow community. It means befriending people who may be different from us, eschewing legalism and judgment. It means humbly putting ourselves in the shoes of the other. It means listening in order to understand, rather than listening in order to prepare our next argument or rebuttal. It also means recognizing that members of the rainbow community are faithful members of the body of Christ. Oftentimes we are blinded to their presence because of prejudicial attitudes and discrimination, even as the number of persons identifying with one or another segment of the LGBTQIA+ community within the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, as a reflection of the broader human race, likely