He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? –Micah 6:8 ESV
The church I attend is in the midst of a series of sermons based on the text Micah 6:8. I appreciate this text because it talks about what God says is good for us: to see that justice is done and to be fair to other people, to love mercy or to love kindness and loyalty, and to live humbly walking with God. When I think about this verse, I think about our relationship with others. I see the social injustices all around me and it makes me want to do my part to make sure the world is a more just place for everyone.
You only have to listen to the news to realize how unfair, how unjust our world is. The poor and middle classes get poorer, and there is little equality between men and women, the powerful and the powerless, White people and people of color, rich and poor people, the straight and LGBTIQ communities, citizens and immigrants, those who care for the environment and those who don’t. Whoever we are, it’s good to look out for those who are mistreated or in need of a helping hand. When we see injustice around us, we need to get involved.
Kinship exists today because LGBTIQ Adventists needed to connect, to know they were not alone, and to be cared about and cared for when families and churches wouldn’t. Although there are so many positive changes for our community, we still have some of those same needs today in Kinship. Many within the Adventist denomination are standing beside us, supporting us, and caring for us, but the wider church has a long way to go. And it’s not up to me if the church ever gets there or not. We only need to live our lives in a healthy and happy way.
Those of us who choose to remain in a denomination that doesn’t value who we are, have a few congregations that stand with us and support who we are. I wish there were more. And those who have moved beyond Adventism hopefully still find friends and community within Kinship. We still need each other.
Kinship has gone through some transitions this past year. We’ve elected some new board members and several of our leadership staff have moved on. We’ve added some new projects and discontinued others. We have some great new plans for 2018. And in my next column, I will be covering some of those plans. Until then, I just want to let you know that we need more members who have certain talents and skills. We are still looking for a Director of Development.
We also need someone who would be willing to lead a new project that involves online media expertise. If Kinship has ever touched you in a way that makes you want to give back, please contact
Yolanda Elliott
President
SDA Kinship International