Given By Sami Emmons
On this Welcoming Sunday, one of our fellow Pilgrims shares her story. She has been coming to this church for the last three years. This is why she feels a welcoming church is so important. Growing up, she went to a Christian Science church with her grandparents and became very active in the church. She loved it! She was deeply spiritual. When she was 14, things began to change. She still felt God’s love but the church’s teachings were not accepting of her sexual orientation. Her fellow members did not treat her well. In addition, social media was growing. It spoke of how Christians were against gay marriage. This was very discouraging.
Church was no longer a place she felt loved. For a long time, she did not attend church. There was no longer value in religion. Things changed when her grandmother died. She longed to reconnect. Many of the churches she looked into said they accepted gays. They also accepted sinners and adulterers. She wanted to be accepted for who she was, not in spite of who she was. One day, a friend recommended Pilgrim. Her first visit was also Coming Out Sunday. She was amazed. She finally found a place where the acceptance was real.