In response to Albert Grandmaison’s letter of June 18 regarding the decision of the United Methodist Church of Auburn to become a Reconciling Congregation, which welcomes gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transvestites into its church family, I would like to share our reconciling statement: “All persons are of sacred worth. As brothers and sisters in Christ we covenant to follow his example of unconditional love, compassion and justice in our mission and ministry. Therefore we continue to welcome and nurture the full participation of people of every age, cultural heritage and ethnic origin, sexual orientation, economic status, faith background, family structure, gender, gender identity, marital status, race, social standing and varying capability.”

This is a Biblically based statement and was presented to our congregation as the culmination of a four-year process, including study groups, guest speakers, sermons and worship services, small group discussions, sharing our stories, workshops, videos and prayer. As a church, we were not duped and all were encouraged and offered numerous opportunities to share their thoughts.

I am extremely proud of my church and look forward to expanding our ministry to become truly inclusive.

Ruth M. Cannon, Lewiston

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