Grace Church has been a member of the Reconciling Ministries Network since October 2010. As a Reconciling congregation, we believe all persons are created in the image of God, worthy of God’s love and grace. We celebrate our diversity and recognize the sacred worth and dignity of all persons without regard to gender, race, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, physical or mental capacity, education or economic or marital status. We welcome all into full participation in the life of the church and will work for the full inclusion of all persons into the life and ministry of the United Methodist Church.
As we journey to reconciliation, we proclaim this statement of welcome to all who have known the pain of exclusion and discrimination within the church. At the same time, we recognize that there remain differences of opinion among us. We do not seek to erase our differences. Instead, we journey together in faith toward greater understanding and mutual respect.
To learn more, please contact Rev. Levon Sutton at levon@graceunitedmethodist.org or George Kahl at george@graceunitedmethodist.org. Click here to learn more about the Baltimore Washington Area Reconciling Methodist group BWARM or the Reconciling Ministry Network.
Reconciliation Statement
Grace Church officially became a member of the Reconciling Ministries Network in October 2010. The following, written by the Reconciling Committee and approved by congregational vote, confirms Grace’s commitment as a Reconciling Congregation.
Created in the image of God, all persons are worthy of God’s love and grace. We welcome all into full participation in the life of the church, and will work for the full inclusion of all persons into the life and ministry of the United Methodist Church.
We celebrate our diversity and recognize the sacred worth and dignity of all persons without regard to gender, race, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, physical or mental capacity, education or economic or marital status.
As we journey to reconciliation, we proclaim this statement of welcome to all who have known the pain of exclusion and discrimination within the church. At the same time we recognize that there remain differences of opinion among us. We do not seek to erase our differences.
We welcome all in our journey together in faith toward greater understanding and mutual respect.
Our call for an inclusive welcome and for the ‘Embracing in love of all God’s’ children by the membership of Grace United Methodist Church demonstrates our commitment to be truly a church with Open Minds, Open Hearts and Open Doors.
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
II Corinthians 5:18-20
An Open Letter to the Baltimore-Washington Conference
The General Conference of the UMC has recently passed “The Traditional Plan” which works to exclude LGBTQ+ persons in our church. Responding to this, the laity of the Baltimore-Washington Conference have written an open letter in protest of these decisions. We encourage all UMC members to read this letter and sign it if they feel so led. The letter can be found HERE.