Guest blog by Margaret Moreland, ELM board member and Ministry Engagement program convener

Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries has a new way for congregations to come out about their support of LGBTQ people in ministry.  This vibrant new poster will be available for all congregations whose pastors or other rostered leaders are members of Proclaim or who support the mission of ELM in other ways.  It was given out at the Proclaim Gathering this week and will be available at ELM display tables at seven synod assemblies this spring (see below for how you can get one, too!).

Seeing the poster at a church will encourage members of congregations that have Proclaim leaders to remember their connection to ELM and learn more about our ministry.  It can also be an evangelical witness to visitors who will see the values important to the church they visit.  It might inspire an LGBTQ person to consider ministry and find the support to follow that calling.   And we hope it may also get congregations thinking about calling an LGBTQ pastor in their next call process.

If your congregation wants to come out in support of LGBTQ leaders and the ministry of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries by hanging this new poster, please contact programdirector@elm.org to request a poster be mailed to you.

Thank you to University Lutheran Chapel Endowment Fund for a grant to print and distribute these posters along with other materials at Synod Assemblies.

By Margaret Moreland.  Margaret’s bio this week is brought to you by her spouse Bennett Falk: Margaret Moreland has practiced Tai Chi for more than twenty years, and she has worked for full inclusion of LBGTQ clergy for even longer than that. She is extraordinary every day.  We agree, Bennett!