‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ Matthew 22:37-39

Bethany Affirming Working Group

February 2023 Letter to the Community of Faith

In February of 2023, Bethany United entered into an Affirm process. According to the Affirm United website, “Affirming Ministries acknowledge that God‘s love is wider and more encompassing than they can imagine, let alone live out, and they commit themselves to sharing that news with others who may have heard a quite different message about what it means to be church. Because voices of condemnation, exclusion, and hatred are loud and persistent within the church and in society, Affirming Ministries make a public statement about who they are and what they believe and goes beyond issues of gender diversity/sexual orientation to work for justice and inclusion for all people, celebrating God’s gift of diversity.”