Creating A Safe Place - The Table’s RIC Journey
When Robin asked me to write this, I was a little confused on what to do. I’m supposed to tell you why it would be beneficial to become an RIC church. However, when I went to the RIC training, I was 13. I’ll be 16 soon. That was a long time ago because a lot happens between 13 and 16. You go from middle school to high school. You take harder classes. You join different clubs. You start preparing for your permit test. You start to look for a job. You pick a few jobs that peak your interest that you might end up doing. You look at possible colleges. You prepare for graduation. You make new friends and lose touch with old ones. About a million things seem to happen from 13 to the very end of 15. There’s a lot of changes that go on between then and now. But out of all those changes, I noticed that one thing never did, and it was church.
I’ve always had church. I’ve always been involved doing multiple different jobs like sewing the altar cloths, preaching sermons, Christian Education Committee, and now the RIC CoreTeam. This committee means a lot to me because it focuses on being open to all. The reason I even went to the training in the first place was because of my friends. I knew that not all of them went to church. As you may know RIC touches a lot on the LGBTQIA+ community and quite a few of my friends are part of that community. I knew that people in the LGBTQIA+ weren’t always welcome in church, but I don’t think I ever realized the severity of it.
It seems as if all churches that say “all welcoming” are only welcoming if you’re willing to switch your personality on Sunday morning or willing to ignore parts of it. Meaning that a lot of people don’t feel welcome to come to church. Through all of life‘s experiences, I’ve always had the church as a safe space. I couldn’t even begin to imagine not being welcome on a Sunday morning for loving who I wanted to love, my skin being a different color, or not fitting the mold society set.
Luckily my entire life I’ve always been an avid note taker. I have the statistics down from Friday, May 17, 2019, as I sat in 49 East Main Street storefront, I heard the heartbreaking news that only 8% of the ELCA is welcoming to specifically the LGBTQIA+ community. Not only that, but 57% of people in the community don't feel welcome and 35% say church isn’t a safe place for them.
I think that it is of utmost importance that The Table strives to become an RIC church. The reason I started this all is for my friends, and I’m going to keep going for everyone to have a safe spot in the church. And I think that the change can start here if we put our hearts and work effort into it. I couldn’t imagine my life without the church, and it makes me sad to think that not everyone feels safe in a church environment.
I think that if The Table takes this step forward we can make the change. We can make everyone truly feel welcome by acknowledging the parts of people that previously were told to be put away on a Sunday morning. Let’s take the stories and experiences from others, learn from them, and grow together as a faith community. Let’s not brush things under the rug but address them. Becoming part of this we can create a universal experience for everyone regardless of who they are. Everyone can find a safe spot in the church if we make a safe spot. I really think that it would be beneficial for us to come together and make RIC a part of our faith community. This way we can make a change and create a brighter and inclusive future for all people in the church. Through all of life’s changes, people should have a safe spot, and this is the way to create one. At 13, I was called by God to spread this message, and I still am, so let’s make this part of The Table.