Inclusion and Theology
Below are organizations that are not officially affiliated with the UMC, and that represent the intersection of faith/religion and LGBTQIA+ affirmation.
Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN) began in 1984 as a “faith-based response to institutionalized homophobia braided into the fabric of The United Methodist Church”.
Their website includes a church finder, to find affirming United Methodist churches; a job board for jobs at affirming churches; sources for becoming a reconciling church; information on complaints against clergy, throughout the US; resources for parents; and more.
The Virginia Chapter of RMN is not currently active, but you can Like their Facebook page to be updated when they ramp back up.
An extension ministry of RMN, UMATI exists to challenge the UMC to be a church free from gender discrimination at every level, equipping and empowering people to transform our church and society into places that celebrate gender diversity. Thei work takes the form of three interrelated ministries: offer support, fellowship, and connections to transgender individuals and their families throughout the UMC; provide tools, resources, and strategies to work toward the full inclusion of transgender people in the church and society; provide a public witness in support of transgender people in local congregations, at UMC Conferences, and in society.
An extension ministry of RMN, PRN is a group of United Methodist parents blessed with LGBTQ children. PRN began in 1999 and aims to present a visible witness of parents in support of ending the denomination’s anti-LGBTQ stance and provide their LGBTQ children the same rights as cisgender, heterosexual United Methodists.
PRN includes resources about gender identity; helping churches become affirming; making churches a safe place; resources for parents struggling to understand or support their LGBTQIA+ children; working with queer Youth; and more.
The HRC Foundation Religion and Faith Program is working to build a world where LGBTQ+ people of faith are celebrated for every part of who they are, while fighting to ensure that religion is not used as a weapon of hate and discrimination. Resources are included for a variety of religions and faith expressions.
Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA) is an intersectional social justice nonprofit that mobilizes Justice-Seeking People of Faith to take action on issues of peace, poverty and people’s rights within the church, the nation, and the world.
The Resource page of the MFSA website includes intersectional resources about gender justice and LGBTQ+ justice.
UMQCC is made up of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex people who are called, commissioned, and ordained clergy in the United Methodist Church. UMQCC seeks to act in solidarity with one another and others who have been marginalized in the church.
Recognizing that history is written from the perspective of those who preserve their records, LGBTQ-RAN's overarching purpose is to ensure the preservation and accessibility of the voices and experiences of a great diversity of LGBTQ+ religious leaders and groups. It provides collections and historical data about LGBTQ religious history for the use of historians, researchers, and other interested persons.
The National LGBTQ Task Force advances full freedom, justice and equality for LGBTQ people, by training and mobilizing millions of activists across the nation. One aspect of the Task Force’s work is to empower the shared identity — that someone can be LGBTQ and a person of faith with dignity and acceptance.
Search “faith” on their website for more.