First United Methodist Church - Lawrence logo FUMC Reconciling Hearts
First United Methodist Church of Lawrence, Kansas

RECONCILING HEARTS  are…        

          --a subcommittee of the Mission and Justice Committee
          --of First United Methodist Church
          --in Lawrence, Kansas
          --located at 946 Vermont St., Lawrence, KS 66044
                    and its West Campus, SW corner,  Highway 40 and the SLT.
          --www.fumclawrence.org   785-841-7500
          --Contact persons:       Carol Abrahamson, 842-2572, ciadfaks@sunflower.com;
                                                Loanne Martin, 843-5562, loanne.martin@bakeru.edu
                                               Margaret Gordon, 842-1848, msgordon@ku.edu 

OUR VISION:

Making Lawrence First Church a safe and affirming place for persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities, centered on the unconditional love of God for all of God’s children

OUR GOALS:

…To generously share God’s unconditional love for all persons;
…To design educational opportunities that will inform the congregation of FUMC about Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and        Transgender (GLBT) concerns;
…To advocate for open inclusion of GLBT persons in FUMC


On February 24, 2008 the FUMC Administrative Board passed the following resolution and accepted the four suggestions presented by Carol Abrahamson on behalf of Reconciling Hearts Ministry.

Believing that we are all God's children, Lawrence First United Methodist Church affirms that persons of all ages, races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientation or identity, economic or marital status, and physical or mental condition are welcome to participate fully in the life of our congregation.

Furthermore, Reconciling Hearts suggests that…

  1. Lawrence First United Methodist Church adopt the preceding as a statement to direct its efforts toward becoming a more inclusive church;
  2. This statement of inclusion be incorporated into our publications on a regular basis;
  3. Our church's governing and program bodies be urged to discuss whether their existing activities and goals are consistent with the statement;
  4. That the entire membership, both individually and collectively, explore ways to make our welcome more obvious in our community.

 

On August 7, 2007 Carol Abrahamson, speaking on behalf of Reconciling Hearts Ministry, led a discussion with FUMC administrative board members about the work of Reconciling Hearts. Follow this link to her formal remarks to the board. In response to the presentation the Administrative board of FUMC passed the following resolution:
"The Administrative Board voices its support for on-going informational/educational activities of Reconciling Hearts Ministries and encourages them to continue providing information opportunities for our church."

This Web site is in support of that resolution.

Link to:

Blog site for FUMC Reconciling Hearts Ministry

Chronology of Events April 2006 - November 2007

Bishop Richard Wilke - discussion January 20, 2008

Forum - April 4, 2007 with Forrest and Donna Swall

Forum - November 12, 2006 DVD: "A Biological Explanation for Human Orientation"
     DVD notes to accompany the above

Forum - October 8, 2006 with Dennis Dailey

Forum - September 24, 2006 with Linda Penney and Diane Stiles

Minutes of planning meetings for Reconciling Hearts are available.

minutes 1-27-08
minutes 11-12-07
minutes 10-23-07
minutes 5-27-07
minutes 1-23-07
minutes 8-28-06
minutes 7-11-06

Refer questions about this web site to jniebaum@sunflower.com