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I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other.”
“He canceled the detailed rules of the Law so that he could create one new person out of the two groups, making peace. He reconciled them both as one body to God by the cross, which ended the hostility to God.
When he came, he announced the good news of peace to you who were far away from God and to those who were near. We both have access to the Father through Christ by the one Spirit.”
We as members of Mountain Park United Methodist Church and community of Mountain Park in Gwinnett County are unified in our “holy discontent” that one group would be admonished and excluded from the family of Christ. It is our privilege to engage with one another as part of the greater community to live the Gospel of grace to all and be fully welcoming to all. We stand in this place to act on the limitless love of God!
LEARN MORE BELOW ABOUT HOW YOU CAN JOIN US IN THIS SACRED WORK
Why This?
Learn more about this group and our commitment to LGBTQI+ inclusion.
Why Now?
How this intersects with our greater United Methodist denomination.
Why Here?
How we embrace God’s limitless love through our local church and in our surrounding communities.
Join Us!
Learn more about how you can gracefully engage.
WELCOMING STATEMENT
The Mountain Park United Methodist Church Agape Reconciling Community (ARC) strives to connect with our neighbors through The Holy Spirit to transform lives by embracing and celebrating the diversity of our neighborhood and world.
When we gather together in worship, in study, in mission, and in fellowship, we seek to gather as a complete picture of God’s creation so that we may grow in our understanding of our faith and each other through God’s grace. As disciples of Jesus, we recognize that though we may not agree on every issue, all people are created in the image of God. All are worthy of the call to ministry and the blessing of marriage. We believe that we must be a place of love, safety, and acceptance for all. We humbly acknowledge that God’s mercy and grace are limitless and that no rule or human fear can confine the depth and breadth of God’s love.
Consequently, the welcome we offer should be as wide and diverse as God’s love for us. We recognize that our human failings have caused Christians to exclude and inflict pain on some individuals and groups. This is not of God. Though we do not have all the answers, we humbly submit to God’s call to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. In this spirit we repent and stand in God’s grace to resist oppression and exclusion in all its forms towards all of God’s children.
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. Let us show you that God’s love is real and alive and that there are no limits set here. Welcome Home.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Bridge Building
Our work within the Bridging Community
The Mountain Park UMC Agape Reconciling Community (ARC) recognizes the crucial nature of each conversation in The Bridges Movement at Mountain Park. We support the dialog and mission statement being developed by each Bridges Conversation (Racial Reconciliation, LGBTQ Inclusion). Each Bridge cannot stand alone but works in harmony and unison with the others to inspire the church to be all the Holy Spirit asks us to be, Christ in the world.
Learn more about our other Bridges and how you can connect.