We invite you to get to know more about 2012 Workin Scholar Rebecca Seely. Below is a portion of her reflection on the piece “New Beginnings” by Joel R. Workin.
The church needs to be part of this, to embrace new beginnings. It needs to come to be more itself by changing, to live out Jesus’ love for all people, whoever God made them to be. This requires institutional change now and a willingness to change in the future. But the church is more than an institution—it is a living breathing body comprised many living, breathing souls. My soul and your soul and the souls of our friends and seeming enemies all need new beginnings too. And we give them to each other and to ourselves not only through fighting the big institutional fights, but also by seeking to rediscover one another in our wholeness. I feel called to make space for people to be able to tell their stories to one another and hear one another—to rediscover themselves and God in one another and then to welcome one another in our newness. The congregation I hope to pastor, the LGBTQ youth group I hope to run—these will be just some of the places where I hope people will be able to experience God’s love for them and then go out and share the light with others.