The church and the LGBTQ community have what some might call an uneasy relationship.
The general consensus, which is perpetuated by the media and films such as For the Bible Tells Me So, is that the church is unwelcoming toward the LGBTQ community; and that it spews doctrine claiming that being gay is a sin.
Like all generalizations, though, this one has plenty of holes. There are plenty of churches that preach love, rather than hate, and are accepting of all people.
The Urban Village Church, which lead pastors Christian Coon and Trey Hall founded in July 2009, is one of these institutions. With four locations across the Chicagoland area, it does everything it possibly can to spread inclusivity through the words of Jesus.
But unlike some churches that claim that LGBTQ people are "loved by God," Urban Village takes things its message a step further, according to Coon.
"We do all that we can to let everybody know a ) that they're loved, b ) that they're welcome in our space and c ) that once they're welcome we're not expecting them change their orientation," he said.
It's more than just a bunch of words, though. For example, whenever a new person comes in for services, that individual is immediately invited for coffee with one of the pastors.
During these get-to-know-you meetings, the conversations can get intense pretty quickly.
"We've heard so many stories of LGBT people pouring their hearts out and telling us everything," Coon said. "Sometimes they are horror stories of their church experience in the past, or even if they had a good relationship with the church, they knew they couldn't fully be who they were."
Rich Havard—who spent the last year at Urban Village's Wicker Park site "train[ing], nurtur[ing] and support[ing] leaders who feel called to start new faith communities"—communicated with Windy City Times about other visible ways in which the church helps to promote inclusivity.
"We're a Reconciling Congregation, which means we actively work toward full LGBTQ inclusion in the United Methodist Church," he emailed. "Before the [U.S. Supreme Court] decision in June [legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide], we hosted a prayer rally for marriage equality. And we celebrated when marriage equality became the law of the land. We also march in Chicago's Pride Parade every summer; this year, 125-plus folks from our church marched to proclaim God's love for all people.
Another thing that sets Urban Village apart from other churches is its willingness to perform marriages for same-sex couples. With that has come some pushback, especially from Christians of other denominations.
Coon talked about what it is like having conversations with others who hold different beliefs about the sanctity of these marriages.
Some people, he said, are just impossible to speak with because they simply aren't going to listen and are intent on saying that he's wrong. It's those folks whom he "doesn't have time" for.
Then there are those who actually want to engage with him. When these instances arise, Coon is able to deliver, what he thinks, is a pretty convincing argument for why marriages for gay couples don't go against the word of God.
"I will begin to tell them stories of my own experiences of two faithful individuals who found love," he said, "and I would say that the love is bounded in a mutual love of God, and it's grounded in the grace of God, and there is no way that I am going to deny that couple who so clearly are in love with each other and who clearly want that foundation of their marriage to be in their faith [from marrying]. I could not conscionably say no to that.
"If they disagree with me than they will probably go back to those handful scriptures and we're back to the Bible again. It comes down to how you interpret scripture and that lens you use, and we just have different lenses, and I'm going to err on the side of grace and love."
For more information about the Urban Village Church, visit UrbanVillageChurch.org .
