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Diversity in the Church can be difficult to grasp, but it is something worth looking into.

Some people say that they stay away from, or have distanced themselves from the Church, because it is not committed to the inclusion of a diversity of people. But I think that often it is exactly the opposite.

Some people stay away from churches because they are too diverse. They include too many people we don’t like. (By “Church” I mean the collection of Christian communities and structures you can find in Canada and around the planet such as the Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed and Pentecostal.)

We can start by noting what many people consider to be the test for commitment to diversity. There are many kinds of diversity: racial, economic, sex and gender, educational, cultural and demographic. More could be mentioned. But the litmus question for many, when it comes to assessing a Church (or any organization) on its diversity, is this: Does it allow members of LGBTQ+ communities to hold positions of responsibility?

While some churches such as the Anglican have been for some time inclusive in this regard, other churches have not. Notably, the Catholic Church is found wanting by many. It has remained officially opposed, to take the most obvious example, to anyone in a samesex relationship taking a leadership role in the church.

Other Churches such as the Baptist, Presbyterian, Mennonite and Reformed have a mixed record on LGBTQ+ inclusion. Baptist congregations are quite independent so they are not uniform in their practice. Some of the churches have restrictive policies. But at the same time their members have a wide range of attitudes towards LGBTQ+ persons. Several church denominations are having ongoing official conversations questioning their responses to LGBTQ+ persons.

For some inside and outside the church, the lack of full inclusion is an irritation. For others it is more than that, it’s an injustice that remains and has been for a long time, in need of fixing. This lack of justice, of inclusion, makes some people pull away from the church.

However, I think that many other people stay away from the church because it is too inclusive, too diverse. Here’s what I mean.

“The church is full of hypocrites,” so it is often said. How true. The church has hypocrites in its seats. It also has people who navigate life with remarkable integrity. In addition it has convicted pedophiles in its prison chapels; but it also gives shelter to the founders of food banks and addiction support groups. It has Alabama rednecks (not that all Alabamans are rednecks) but also kind-hearted social justice advocates. It harbours capitalists and Marxists, Canadian Prime Ministers and Somali slaves. Saints. And sinners. Pillars of society, and malcontents of every description. It is home to many LGBTQ+ persons who struggle to make their churches home. But also it is home to some who oppose them.

What’s really bothersome about being part of a church is something you discover almost as soon as you join one. It has people who will disappoint you. If you hang around long enough, you will be hurt by some of them. As I sometimes like to say, in church you will find people who are weak and pathetic. But then again, so are you. So am I. Don’t let that worry you too much.

Some years ago I asked one of our children if he was gay. The answer was yes.

It was difficult for me to hear it. If you have experienced this with a child of yours, you will understand that it means the slipping away of many assumptions, assumptions about the long-term health of family, the possibility of grand children, and relations between father, mother and child. A number of justified expectations fall away. It was difficult for me. It was even more difficult for him.

There were discussions with people in my Church circles. I published an article about our journey. But after a while I grew tired of being an object of discussion. I withdrew from those conversations. I didn’t want to rub shoulders with those who did not want to embrace our family as fully as I wanted them to. Too much diversity.

At the same time, some terrific things happened. God led me to serve in churches and settings that were affirming of my son and family. Many church friends drew around us. Our family discovered some very good resources, among them a book called What God Has Joined Together (Meyers and Scanzoni, Harper Collins, 2005).

Still I stayed away from deliberations about gender issues in church settings.

Recently I’ve been asked to participate again in discussions about the inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons. I don’t want to do it.

But that’s probably not very important. After all, if God sent Jesus for all kinds of people, that includes those who disagree with me. It includes people who I find a challenge to talk with. Inclusion and diversity are admirable. But they are not easy.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.