When new language about ordination became officially part of the Book of Order in 2011, it opened a new season in the church’s life. This “Season of Welcome” was marked by many joyful stories of deacons, ruling elders and teaching elders able to serve openly as LGBTQ people, and their ministry is now fully part of the broader ministry of the church.

CovNet Season of Welcome logoStill, there are some ways and many places where the church still struggles to live into this new day. Sessions and presbyteries still (appropriately) determine who may be ordained, and in some places we are a long way from full inclusion in church leadership. It remains important for us to tell those stories of those who serve.

Beginning in the fall of 2011, the Covenant Network gathered stories from LGBTQ individuals who heard a call to ordination and how they were experiencing the changes in the life of the church. We collected those at a special website called “A Season of Welcome.” In a couple of months, we’ll be migrating all of those stories to this main website. You can find them here:  https://covnetpres.org/a-season-of-welcome/

More stories are welcome! If you’d like to add your story to this permanent archive, please contact Tricia Dykers Koenig. And thank you!