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SOCIAL CONCERNS COMMITTEE

SOCIAL CONCERNS COMMITTEE

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SOCIAL CONCERNS COMMITTEE

As the name implies, the Social Concerns Committee of First UMC, Oak Ridge, oversees our congregation’s efforts to address social justice issues in our church, denomination, community, state, nation, and world. Since our group is unable to address all issues of injustice, we select a handful of pressing topics each year and strive to help members of our church and local community discuss and take reasonable and appropriate steps in response to those topics.

RECONCILING MINISTRY
SOCIAL CONCERNS FOCUS

A RECONCILING MINISTRIES CONGREGATION

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In 2022, The First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge undertook a process of personal testimony, dialogue, studying educational courses/materials, and ongoing prayer to discern our role in accepting and affirming ALL people into our congregation. At the end of that process, we voted overwhelmingly to accept and live by the following statement written by the Reconciling Ministries Network: 

 

“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.”

RECONCILING MINISTRIES NETWORK

Since that vote, we continue to stay true to our commitment:

 

1.  through outreach, affirmation, and intersectional ministry with and for LGBTQIA+ persons in our community,

2. by creating opportunities to engage in dialogue, build relationships, and advocate for changes to UMC policies related to ordination equality, marriage equality, and LGBTQIA+ justice, and

3. by identifying ways to fold our commitment into the life of the church.

 

The First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge is a proud member of the Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN). Since 1984, RMN has worked to transform hearts, churches, and communities. The RMN is a group of over 46,000 people (mostly Methodists) and more than 1400 Reconciling Churches who support the inclusion of all persons in the United Methodist Church (UMC) and who celebrate the loving relationships between all people. The RMN is an independent organization and receives no funding from the United Methodist Church. RMN’s staff publish the names and locations of safe member churches on their website. RMN’s staff also provide opportunities for grassroots organizing, resourcing and educating, denomination-level change-making, pastoral care, and working with faithful people hopeful for a reconciled Church. RMN’s mission statement is: “Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN) equips and mobilizes United Methodists of all sexual orientations and gender identities to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.”

 

RMN members can be individuals or Reconciling Ministries which are churches, Sunday school classes, youth groups, regional groups, campus ministries, colleges, and more that have made the Reconciling commitment to intersectional LGBTQIA+ justice. That means that, however God made you, you are beloved and celebrated in these ministries. A Reconciling Church fully embraces and affirms all persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

SOCIAL CONCERNS COMMITTEE

THE SOCIAL CONCERNS COMMITTEE FOCUSES ON THREE PRIMARY ISSUES:

Living into our Welcome Statement

 

The RMN vote was an important step on our journey as a congregation but not our destination. We must now living into our Welcome Statement, which reads:

 

At First Church, we embrace Jesus’ message that God loves and accepts every person. Therefore, we welcome all to share in the life and ministry of this community of faith. Our welcome knows no boundaries of age, race, ethnicity, culture, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, economic condition, physical ability or mental ability.

 

Our Committee will be working to determine how inclusive we currently are; work to make FUMCOR more welcoming to LGBTQIA+ folks; offer educational opportunities for our congregation; represent our church at the Knoxville Pride event; send a liaison to PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbian and Gay Youth); support safe havens for battered/abused LGBTQIA+ people; and coordinate programs with other reconciling ministry congregations in the community.

 

Oversee a “Beloved Community: Local Solutions to America’s Divisions” Grant

 

We are working in conjunction with Rev. Annette Flynn, President of the Oak Ridge/Anderson County NAACP and Rev. David Allred of High Places Community Church to bridge racial divisions in our community.

 

Sponsor “Coffee, Dessert, and Difficult Conversations”

 

In the past, our Committee has sponsored these church-wide events which aim at encouraging Christian dialogue on difficult topics. As followers of Jesus, we must be able to have meaningful conversations and choose to show love toward one another even when we disagree.