Geneva UMC's Spirited Women joins Reconciling Ministries movement

Spirited Women, a Wednesday morning study group at United Methodist Church of Geneva, recently voted to join the Reconciling Ministries Network as a Reconciling Community.

Reconciling Ministries Network works for the full participation of all LGBTQ+ people in the life and leadership of the Church.

After discussions and discernment including a diversity study by Bishop Karen P. Oliveto (Diversity Without Division in the United Methodist Church), the group voted in June to accept the following Reconciling Ministries-authored statement and "become" a Reconciling Community.

"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. As followers of Jesus, we commit ourselves to the pursuit of justice and pledge to stand in solidarity with all who are marginalized and oppressed."

Spirited Women remains committed to focusing on study and fellowship, hopeful that our discussions will allow us to better engage with local and global pursuits of justice and mercy including supporting the local LGBTQ+ community.

Spirited Women meets in the summer on Wednesdays from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the north end of Wheeler Park, 822 N. First St., and in September to May from 9 to 11 a.m. in the church parlor, 211 Hamilton St. All are welcome.

For more information about the Reconciling Ministries Network or to register as a Reconciling Individual, please visit their website at rmnetwork.org.