Lgbt Ministry?

[Lilllabettt]

I seem to be Captain Misunderstand around here lately. what does that say about me hmmmm? maybe need a little more grace.

[cmaD2006]

Ok in an attempt to bring the discussion back to what the OP asked ... the OP asked about ministering to the LGBT community and if anyone had experience in this.

I don't want to close this thread but I really need to ask that if you want to continue debating please take it to the debate table.

[CatherineM]

Ok in an attempt to bring the discussion back to what the OP asked ... the OP asked about ministering to the LGBT community and if anyone had experience in this.

I don't want to close this thread but I really need to ask that if you want to continue debating please take it to the debate table.

Quite right.

I have a lot of experience. Lesson number one was take people where they are. This lesson was taught to me by a very tall, angular man in a short red dress who asked to be called Shirley. I did. It didn't make the world collapse.

Lesson number two, it isn't always about sex. One of the reasons we prefer to say SSA instead of gay is labelling. I had a lesbian couple come to me for estate planning who had never had sex with each other. They had both been abused as children. They loved each other, had been together for 40 years, and were interested in making sure they could be at each other's death bed.

Lesson three, don't be afraid to admit you don't know something. I had a 50ish year old client who had lived their life without knowing what sex they were. I didn't know what kind of doctor to call, but I found out. Turns out she was female.

Lesson four, no matter what sin someone commits, they do not deserve a horrible death, and God does not serve vengeance with viruses. I learned that by attending funerals for young men.

Lesson five, sometimes all someone needs is your presence and your touch. I learned that from a man who was dying alone, abandoned by his friends and family, in a nursing home where the staff would not touch him without double gloved.

You don't have to agree with someone's actions to work with them. I had to represent the husband of a good friend of mine when he got arrested exposing himself in a gay movie house. I represented friends arrested for drunk driving. We are all sinners and we all have hidden sides. Focus on the person, take them where they are at, address their woundedness, and leave the labels for soup cans.