How we serve the lgbt communities

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LGBTQA+ community has been
a target of numerous attacks

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and abuse.

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And therefore we as a church

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could not possibly turn our
blind eye to their suffering.

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Because we as Christians are called
to be resource people who suffer

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because it is there
where we meet our Lord.

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Therefore, when there was
a first very dramatic

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outburst of hatred towards
them, on May 17, 2013

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we realized that we had to
raise our voice in defense

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of those the representatives
of the LGBTQ community.

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We made first statement
immediately and then produced

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rather lengthy
theological explanation

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as to why should we embrace
sexual diversity among us

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which caused enormous
turmoil within my church

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and outside my church.

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Some churches have setup
an alliance against our church

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in order to fight what
we stand for.

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And what we stand for is about
loving acceptance of everybody

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be it heterosexual, homosexual,
whomever they are.

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They are human beings
and therefore they deserve

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to be treated with dignity,
with love and respect.

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And I think this was yet
another step for our church

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to go beyond the comfort
zone and embrace diversity.

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And I should say that
I'm very proud of our people.

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But even elderly people would
say that we don't know this.

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We don't know how it works.

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We did know the theme at all

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but we trust that God has called
you to serve everybody.

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And this is what we are doing.

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In the aftermath
of the May 17th event,

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on the seventeenth
of every month,

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we we celebrate Eucharist

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have been celebrating Eucharist
in support of the LGBTQ community

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and all those
who have been humiliated.

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And when very often when members
of this community are abused

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and sometimes there are very
sad cases where they are killed,

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we observe their memorial
services in the church

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when even family members
do not want to accept them

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even being dead.

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So this is yet another
sidelined community in Georgia

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that we intend to serve along
with many other communities.