Dear St. Luke’s,

We are people that are brought together by common worship. We also have a common creed, but your status in the Church will never be questioned, if you do not believe every part of that creed. For example, in the Nicene Creed we proclaim the virgin birth of Christ. If someone came up and said that they don’t believe that, I would shrug and ask if they wanted to talk about it over coffee.

Every four years The Episcopal Church convenes a General Convention where we vote on policies and resolutions. At these conventions, we affirm the right to reproductive health, and the Church officially continues to take this position. Considering we are people brought together by common worship, and not because we always agree with each other, you can rest assured plenty of people within the Church disagree with this stance, and their positions are respected.

With that said, I personally believe that abortions should be legal, but avoided. We should create policies that would alleviate some of the causes of abortions, including abundant access to contraceptives and sex education, not limited to abstinence. It also would include social programs and laws that would ensure vulnerable pregnant women do not have to choose between being financially stable and being a mother. I do not believe that access to reproductive health, including abortions, should be legally restricted. In addition, lawmakers who took away women’s rights to abortion should feel safe in their homes.

I am showing you my hand not because I intend to change your mind, nor do I assume that I have the authority to sway or control your beliefs. I am saying these things in the hope that you will still love me even if I have just exposed myself as a sinner in your eyes.

The Episcopal Church is generally on the forefront of accepting groups that have long been marginalized and we fool ourselves if we believe that makes us 'non-judgmental Christians.' What this really says is some groups do not deserve to be judged as sinners. The world needs judgement, and honesty, because without it, we cannot have justice.

Our country is experiencing a tremendous divide in perceiving what is just. We are exposed as sinners in others eyes more and more often, and others see you as a sinner more and more often. If we take a biblical approach and strive to be Christ-like in this increasingly tense public arena, then we are not meant to abandon our convictions out of a desire for harmony and being nice. Instead, we should follow Christ’s example, as the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered in Luke 15:2, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Join us on Sunday. Break bread with us. Be honest. Never cease to strive for justice. Pray for the health and happiness of sinners. In Matthew 9:13, Jesus says "But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”" Know that you are always welcome in the Church, because we are not a gathering of the perfect, but a refuge for sinners seeking redemption who desperately need each other.

Blessings,

Nick