Compassion international stance on lgbtq
Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ+ Issues: United Church of Christ
BACKGROUND
Founded in 1957 with the joining of the General Council of Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church, the United Church of Christ (UCC) is recognized as one of the most welcoming and affirming Christian denominations, celebrating same-sex marriages since 2005 and ordaining LGBTQ+ pastors since 1972. Numbering more than 5,000 churches and cover to a million members, the UCC core values comprise an “Extravagant Welcome,” and the assurance, “No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you're welcome here.”
While individual churches endure autonomous, they also hold membership in regional associations and conferences and are represented at a General Synod convened every two years. Synod resolutions provide guidelines for all UCC churches but do not dictate policy. Experiences can, therefore, differ between congregations. A core headquarters in Cleveland, OH, oversees a range of national ministries, including that of Justice and Witness. Among other accomplishments, the Ministry of Justice and Witness partnered with the Unitarian Universalist Association to c
Now I shall unseal a can of worms. Let's see if the snit will hit the fan with this one. I'm losing compassion for Compassion International. (Wow...I'm already barraged by guilty feelings just by typing this!)
In case you don't realize, Compassion International is a major non-profit Christian corporation that works around the world to save children from poverty. They provide opportunities for people to sponsor children in developing countries, and the cash goes to the toddler for food, clothes, educational facility, and Christian education.
MY INTRODUCTION TO COMPASSION INTERNATIONAL
I first heard about Compassion assist in the early '90s when I began to notice that Christian Rock Musicians were promoting the organization from the stage, at their display tables, and even in their CD inserts. Not too long after that, some musical friends of mine became "Compassion Artists" and included promotions for Caring in their own performances. By the mid-'90s, some of my personal friends had become Compassion sponsors, donating money each month to help an individual child (or two, or three), with the kids' photos on their refrigerator.
When I would play shows on tour, and contribute the bill with Compassio
World Vision, Gay Marriage, and Breaking Off Sponsorship
These are kids reading sponsor mail at our Children’s HopeChest CarePoint in Uganda. The young woman in the middle is Miriam, and I got to squeal happily as her sponsor hugged her for the first time.
Yesterday Planet Vision announced a change in its policy for U.S. staff members, allowing for employment of individuals in legal same-sex marriages. They wrote a letter to staff, Christianity Today wrote this article, and then a level five hurricane of crap broke loose on Twitter.
I went to bed energetically thumb-typing into the notes section of my phone, because in general I endeavor not to spew directly onto social media. Since I woke up still feeling like someone placed an anvil on my chest, I need to share some thoughts. Orphan care is a subject that tends to build me really warm and foam at the mouth, but this morning, there’s no foam. Only major humility, monumental quantities of affectionate , and a intense, deep ache.
Just yesterday I was operational on a display about the importance of child sponsorship and what it can do for breaking the cycle of poverty and destruction. Sponsorship is an incredible present to both sponsor
“The Compassion Experience” and the Marketing of Religion
Photo by Tisha Berg
My family and I recently experienced this firsthand when we attended something called the Compassion Experience. It’s a marketing event for Empathy International, a Christian philanthropy that employs what they dub the “one-on-one” model of giving. Donations from each individual go to sponsor a single youngster. The patron receives a photo of the youngster, a description of their life, and is encouraged to communicate with the recipient child via letters. We attended this event at my wife’s idea because she wanted to expose our relatively sheltered children to a bit of what extreme poverty looks and feels enjoy. The Compassion Experience is immersive and impressively recreates the living conditions of the impoverished in amazing detail. We were qualified not only to notice but actually step into the world of the suffering child, touch the trash strewn on the floor, sit on their tiny, wobbly cot, and step into well-worn shoes, all while listening through headphones to the kid in whose home we were standing tell their story. True as that story may have been, it was a carefully scripted narrative designeCompassion for Those with Queer Attraction
DEFENSE
The Church recognizes everyone, including those with same- sex attraction, as people God loves and for whom Christ died.
Sometimes queer activists accuse those who disagree with them of “hate.” Or they may accuse others of irrational fear—of being “homophobic.” Although some individuals may dislike or fear homosexuals, these allegations are used indiscriminately to attack those who disagree and to secure down rational discussion. However, merely disagreeing with homosexuality does not involve either hate or fear.
Homosexual action is a distortion of the way human sexuality is meant to perform, but it is far from alone. There are many other distortions, including pornography, prostitution, and adultery. People with same-sex attraction are suffering a particular form of temptation, but everyone suffers temptation. We are all tempted to do things we should not, and we must all be clear-eyed about this fact and resist temptation.
People who have gay attraction have the identical inherent dignity as other human beings, and they must be treated with respect—so much respect that we offer them both the truth about human sin and