Dear Plymouth,
Thirty years ago, our Plymouth elders and ancestors voted to become an Open & Affirming congregation, actively, radically choosing to welcome LGBTQIA+ people into the fold. As a sign of our continuing solidarity with LGBTQIA+ people, we proudly fly the Pride flag – all the time, not just in June when it’s fashionable.
To grow and strengthen our commitment to liberation, diversity, inclusion, belonging, equity, and access for all people, our clergy preach the Word in ways that challenge and inspire us – all the time, not just in June or February or the other “occasion months” when it’s expected.
And how do we do our own work so that we aren’t relying solely on the prophetic voices of our clergy folk or the flags we fly or the affirmations our elders made?
Well, we pray and we give thanks. And we study and we learn.
In service of all of this – our prayers, our thanks, our studies, and our learning – I invite you to check out the newly re-opened Plymouth Library. Set a spell at the gathering table. Peruse the catalog and see what speaks to you in a “gosh, I never thought about that” kind of way. Notice that our holdings contain many books that are banned in other parts of the country. Celebrate that we have created and maintained a space for books and other resources that push us to question our assumptions, that push us to grow.
The Library Committee has generously created a resource guide detailing the LGBTQIA+ books currently available to us, everything from A Tale of Two Daddies to Sex and the Constitution: Sex, religion, and law from America’s origins to the twenty-first century to Transgendering Faith: Identity, sexuality and spirituality. The guide also contains information about LGBTQIA+ resources beyond our doors and ways to support authors of banned books. A hard copy of the guide can be found in the Library and an electronic copy can be found here: Plymouth Church Library LGBTQIA+ Resources.
We are blessed, indeed.
May we continue to push ourselves and our community to hold the doors wide open in radical welcome as we head into our next 30 years of actively choosing to be an Open & Affirming congregation in all the ways.
In solidarity, peace, and love,
Tracy Simpson, Plymouth Moderator