All Are Welcome in This Place

By Pastor Sarah Anderson

This week we lift up Juneteenth, which commemorates the end to slavery in the United States. Next Saturday, June 22, join other Minnesotans for an all ages event at the State capitol for a day of celebration, education, and community building. The next time you’re in the building of CtK, check out the Racial Justice Team bulletin board across from the office, to further explore the importance of Juneteenth.

Additionally, as Pride month continues, so does our closer look at CtK’s Welcome Statement. The first paragraph focuses on the life-transforming nature of God’s love and grace, and the second paragraph continues with: “Christ the King is constituted by people of many backgrounds. Grounded in the promise of God’s grace, we are called to extend Christ’s welcome to all people. We welcome all, regardless of race, age, culture, national origin, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, gender identity, family status, marital status, physical or cognitive ability, theological knowledge, education, political perspective, economic condition, or religious background. Our journeys in life often look very different on the surface, but we believe that God’s love changes everything for everybody.”

Pointing out differences might just be the universal superpower humanity never wanted, because so often differences divide what is better when remained together. God created a world with a kaleidoscope of difference because it is beautiful and wonderful. For instance, in these summer months the beauty of difference is celebrated when an assortment of flowers fill our landscape and various vegetables grow in CtK’s Community Garden. Why do we celebrate some differences and not others? The apostle Paul’s reminder to the people of Galatia can be our reminder as well, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28)

Questions to ponder this week:

• When you notice yourself identifying differences between people, can you pause and wonder, ‘how does God see this person’?
• Spend time writing down the ways you celebrate and look forward to interacting with people who aren’t similar to you.