At the October 2018 Annual Council (#GCAC18), Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders approved a widely debated document that unprecedentedly proposes, among other things, “public reprimand” and “disciplinary measures” that include removal of conference leaders from committees due to matters of what is determined to be “non-compliance.”
We agree with the North American Division of the church that the voted document “does not follow the biblical values proclaimed by the Protestant reformers and the founders of the Adventist Church.”
When SDA Kinship commissioned the creation of its new logo in 2017, "unity in diversity" was a key concept. This is because we firmly believe that our community is stronger when everyone has a seat at the table without fear of being intimidated, silenced, or ostracized. We believe this is also the ideal for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. But for our Adventist allies (both individuals and institutions), we fear this is no longer the reality.
With the newly formed Doctrines, Policies, Statements, and Guidelines Regarding Homosexuality Committee (DPSGRH) stacked with anti-LGBTIQ members, the action that was taken on Sunday, October 14, will likely do nothing but further isolate our members from the church and increase the strained relationship felt by many. This is not the church that God envisioned.
Seventh-day Adventist Kinship International, known for its advocacy work on behalf of LGBTIQ Seventh-day Adventists for over 40 years, has one message for President Ted Wilson and the members of the DPSGRH Committee: We exist, we belong, and we will remain steadfast in our fight for (at a minimum) a seat at the table.