August 8, 2023 

Dear friends,

I greet you with joy on this beautiful summer day on which I write this letter. The bright sun, light breeze, the sounds of birds and an active community all remind me of how good our God is! I pray you are knowing and enjoying God’s presence, as well.

And looking back over the first half of this year, I am also reminded of God’s goodness. As a community of faith we have so much to celebrate and give praise for!

• The Table (Thursday night Dinner Church) continues to grow and be a meaningful place of welcome and community for many people. We are regularly more than 30-strong when we gather for food, worship and conversation. 
• The gardens on the north side of the property are all being tended by neighbors this year. And these gardens are not just producing beans and cucumbers! We celebrate the relationships and connections with our neighbors that are growing there, as well.
• The Prayer Walk in the Native Prairie is also connecting Union Chapel Indy with its neighbors. This beautiful space welcomes people every day as they come to enjoy nature and encounter the Spirit of the Divine in that space and experience.
• And as a congregation we voted affirmatively (85%) to become a Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN) congregation. This process of learning and discernment that the Council brought to the congregation in May for a vote confirms our commitment to welcome, love, affirm and include all people of every “gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, who are also of every age, race, ethnicity, physical and mental ability, level of education, and family structure, and of every economic, immigration, marital, and social status, and so much more.” As leadership made clear when I came to serve here, this congregation’s heart has always been one of inclusion and welcome. The founding story of this congregation highlights its inclusive nature as it began as a place for ecumenical gathering and worship. This move toward receiving the RMN designation only makes this a more visible and outwardly focused commitment. I am so proud to serve alongside each of you in living out this commitment.

I give God thanks and praise for the way God has used this congregation this year to reach more people with God’s love and mercy. I am humbled to serve with a congregation that has such a heart for the marginalized and the community at large.

As we continue to reach out to the community with an open and affirming posture, we will take the next steps in the coming weeks and months with the Reconciling Ministries Network. 

First, I thank Tony Matteucci and Ruthann Harp for being Union Chapel Indy’s official representatives with RMN. Their leadership throughout this process has been significant and meaningful. Along with Council Chair Janet Linquist and the entire Church Council, they have guided us well in learning, praying, and discerning this path for us.

And then next on the calendar is a celebratory photo of the congregation to send to the RMN organization. We will do this on Sunday, September 3, immediately following worship. If it’s easy for you, please plan to wear a solid-colored shirt that day, so that we can create our own visual ‘people’ rainbow outside at the newly installed rainbow art on the east side of the church building.

Also that day following the photo we will enjoy ice cream, with free will donations supporting RMN and Trinity Haven, a local service for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults who are experiencing homelessness.

In full, the statement that the congregation affirmed is…

“We celebrate God’s gift of diversity and value the wholeness made possible in community equally shared and shepherded by all. We welcome and affirm people of every gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, who are also of every age, race, ethnicity, physical and mental ability, level of education, and family structure, and of every economic, immigration, marital, and social status, and so much more. We acknowledge that we live in a world of profound social, economic, and political inequities. As followers of Jesus, we commit ourselves to the pursuit of justice and pledge to stand in solidarity with all who are marginalized and oppressed.”

This statement echoes the words of Paul in Galatians…

“...for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26-28, NRSVUE)

May our bold witness to the grace and unity we share in Jesus bless not only this congregation and ministry but the community at large and the Kingdom of God. Thank you for your courage and faithfulness as we seek to be the church in this time and place.

Many blessings,

Rev. Elizabeth Gilbert
Senior Pastor, Union Chapel Indy