CHURCH RELATIONS

I was in Lexington, Kentucky, recently with Floyd Poenitz and several other Kinship members to create awareness about Kinship at the CALLED Convention for Adventist pastors in North America. On the whole, it was a positive experience with lots of wonderful interactions.

I came away from the experience with the impression that most of the people we met support Kinship’s goals of making the church more inclusive and accepting of LBGTQ+ individuals, their families, and friends. We met a few people who voiced their opposition to the issue of homosexuality, based on a misunderstanding of Scripture, but most people affirmed Kinship’s ministry of inclusion.

Another impression was that in far too many cases, Kinship was not well-known among rank-and-file Adventists. When asked, “What do you know about Kinship?” a surprising number said, “Nothing,” or “Not much.” And that despite being part of Adventist church life for over 40 years.

We have a communications team that works hard to put Kinship’s name and ministry before the broadest number of people. But the communication tool that works best is person-to-person. When we share with our friends and fellow church members our relationship with Kinship, we create more opportunities for them to experience the warmth and acceptance that is Kinship.

By the way, I hope to see you at Kampmeeting July 14-17. Visit bit.ly/kampmeeting for information.

— Stephen Chavez, Director of Church Relations
     Seventh-day Adventist Kinship International