20Something
Tonight is the last 20Something meeting before our summer break, and although I think it's always good to take a break and step back in order to become refreshed and begin to see things with a renewed perspective, this particular step back may feel more like withdrawls. I will miss the warmth and inspiration each Wednesday night, and what has become my mid-week inspiration and awareness fix.
20Something is a place for GLBT people from 19-30 to gather to talk about God, to share their past and present spiritual experiences, and to become encouraged by other gay Christians their own age who are successfully reconciling faith and sexuality. I'm one of the leaders of the group, but I feel more like a student most nights, leaving with a feeling of complete inadequacy and awe over the work that God can do in a believer's life if you just open yourself up enough to properly receive it. Homosexuality becomes overwhelmingly irrelevant in this group. Yet that is how we are all connected.
Scot Pankey and I started 20Something November 3rd, 2004 at Cathedral of Hope in Dallas with verve and ambition, yet not knowing what kind of face the group would collectively take on, or if anyone would even show up. About twenty-five 20Somethings came that first night, and Scot and I took turns introducing ourselves to the group by sharing our coming out stories and our skeleton visions for where we thought God might lead us as a group, and we spent the rest of the time answering questions and trying to gain a spiritual feel for where we should begin. We saw a great deal of energy and willingness to learn in the faces of the 20Somethings that night, and after our first real meeting and our first in depth discussion a week later, we sensed that there was already an established wealth of spiritual knowledge and experience in the group. Each 20Something contributed more than he or she knew.
We usually divide into small groups each week and discuss a Bible study about love, peace, spiritual gifts, rejection, listening to God, and the like; whatever happens to be on our hearts at the time. The questions that are raised always spark some great discussion, and often lead to laughter, tears, and most certainly to increased understanding about where we all stand as gay Christians. I wish I had stood so stoically in the face of judgment and condemnation in my early twenties. These 20Somethings are committed to their own truths, and they remain confident in God in the face of judgment from lawmakers, from the religious right, and often from their own parents, grandparents, and siblings. They allow God to work through them despite the obstacles. They truly get it.
Some of these 20Somethings have great relationships with their parents. Some do not. Some are in committed partnerships. Some are not. (We've had one wedding, but more than one breakup.) Some are very comfortable with where they are in their relationship with God at the moment. Some are not. Some possess a certain assuredness that God is the one who created them to be gay, who endorses their gay relationships, and who loves them more profoundly than they could ever possibly understand. Some have not yet taken ownership of this truth. Some came out in their teens, some came out in their twenties, and there are others who remain closeted to co-workers and family members, and who have just barely come out to themselves. But through our shared experience in 20Something, we have all been driven to discover new territory on our spiritual journeys, and we've become increasingly blessed and fortified as members of the family of God. God is alive among us. And no Leviticus toting Southern Baptist can take that away.
Wednesdays may be a bit empty for the next few weeks without this routine spiritual connection, but when we re-convene August 10th I have a feeling we will have gained even more spiritual understanding with which to glorify God and motivate one another to keep seeking. And as we expand from this nucleus and reach out beyond the comfort of the place that we will create, others will begin to view us differently and identify us by our faith and perseverance; not by our minority sexuality. And this is how revolutions--no matter how large or small--are born. God initiates. We respond.
20Something is a place for GLBT people from 19-30 to gather to talk about God, to share their past and present spiritual experiences, and to become encouraged by other gay Christians their own age who are successfully reconciling faith and sexuality. I'm one of the leaders of the group, but I feel more like a student most nights, leaving with a feeling of complete inadequacy and awe over the work that God can do in a believer's life if you just open yourself up enough to properly receive it. Homosexuality becomes overwhelmingly irrelevant in this group. Yet that is how we are all connected.
Scot Pankey and I started 20Something November 3rd, 2004 at Cathedral of Hope in Dallas with verve and ambition, yet not knowing what kind of face the group would collectively take on, or if anyone would even show up. About twenty-five 20Somethings came that first night, and Scot and I took turns introducing ourselves to the group by sharing our coming out stories and our skeleton visions for where we thought God might lead us as a group, and we spent the rest of the time answering questions and trying to gain a spiritual feel for where we should begin. We saw a great deal of energy and willingness to learn in the faces of the 20Somethings that night, and after our first real meeting and our first in depth discussion a week later, we sensed that there was already an established wealth of spiritual knowledge and experience in the group. Each 20Something contributed more than he or she knew.
We usually divide into small groups each week and discuss a Bible study about love, peace, spiritual gifts, rejection, listening to God, and the like; whatever happens to be on our hearts at the time. The questions that are raised always spark some great discussion, and often lead to laughter, tears, and most certainly to increased understanding about where we all stand as gay Christians. I wish I had stood so stoically in the face of judgment and condemnation in my early twenties. These 20Somethings are committed to their own truths, and they remain confident in God in the face of judgment from lawmakers, from the religious right, and often from their own parents, grandparents, and siblings. They allow God to work through them despite the obstacles. They truly get it.
Some of these 20Somethings have great relationships with their parents. Some do not. Some are in committed partnerships. Some are not. (We've had one wedding, but more than one breakup.) Some are very comfortable with where they are in their relationship with God at the moment. Some are not. Some possess a certain assuredness that God is the one who created them to be gay, who endorses their gay relationships, and who loves them more profoundly than they could ever possibly understand. Some have not yet taken ownership of this truth. Some came out in their teens, some came out in their twenties, and there are others who remain closeted to co-workers and family members, and who have just barely come out to themselves. But through our shared experience in 20Something, we have all been driven to discover new territory on our spiritual journeys, and we've become increasingly blessed and fortified as members of the family of God. God is alive among us. And no Leviticus toting Southern Baptist can take that away.
Wednesdays may be a bit empty for the next few weeks without this routine spiritual connection, but when we re-convene August 10th I have a feeling we will have gained even more spiritual understanding with which to glorify God and motivate one another to keep seeking. And as we expand from this nucleus and reach out beyond the comfort of the place that we will create, others will begin to view us differently and identify us by our faith and perseverance; not by our minority sexuality. And this is how revolutions--no matter how large or small--are born. God initiates. We respond.
posted by Jen Austin at 3:30 PM
4 Comments:
I like how you said,"God initiates, we respond". I saw in another post that you mentioned something about how when we choose God, God chooses us. I'm curious about how these two fit together. Do we choose God or does God choose us?
Anonymous -
I think when we make an effort to move toward God (or choose God) with our actions and decisions, God draws us in and then chooses to use us for good on a grander scale. In effect, we choose God, then God chooses to reveal more of God's self. I also believe God chooses us to some degree, in that we have predestined tasks to perform. Responding to that call is a choice.
Kim -
You are a blessing! 20Something became a better group the night you walked in the door. Your contributions are invaluable.
Jen
That makes sense. good explanation.
This is a sad story and an even sadder situation that you as a group would think that the Almighty Saviour, that shed His blood for you and me, would except this sin that you have chosen for your lifestyle and to convince others that God made you this way. It is true that he loves you but it is still true that he hates sin,
without respect of person.
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