Transcript:
Greetings, beloved in Christ. I hope that you are well on this day.
It is June, and June is Pride Month. And not only am I celebrating Pride Month this year… This year, I am celebrating the 50th anniversary of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church's decision that our LGBTQIA siblings are entitled to a full and equal claim to the pastoral care, the love, and the support of this Episcopal Church. And while not every Episcopalian agreed with that decision, I believe it was the right decision.
I believe that our God has created us in all of our diversity, and that our God calls us to the fullness of our humanity. And it doesn't matter whether we are same-gender loving, and it doesn't matter whether we inhabit our gender the way the world would like us to. What matters is that we commit ourselves to seeking and serving Christ in all others, to loving our neighbor as ourselves, to striving for justice and peace among all people, and respecting the dignity of every human being. Those values are at the core of what it means to be an Episcopalian.
And I want to say to all of you, you are welcome in this church. In the Episcopal Church of Colorado, I, as Bishop, claim you as my siblings in Christ, as my fellow laborers in the vineyard for the Kingdom of God. And I want you to know above everything in this world, God made you, God loves you, and you are welcome in this Church. Blessings.