Welcome to ReconcilingWorks!!
Reconciling is what Paul says in the epistles we are all called to do. Reconciling prevents disagreements from growing into permanent separation one from another.
We are not only Lutherans concerned about LGBT inclusion; we are Lutherans working for full participation through a ministry of reconciliation. We are not just worried Lutherans anymore. We are Lutherans working at the intersection of oppressions to build power to create the change we seek.
Ultimately we are all called to spread the good word of the saving grace of the love of God expressed by Jesus of Nazareth for all of us, all of us without regard to race, ethnicity, skin color, gender, economy status, gender identity, sexual orientation, height, or any of the other measures, characteristics, differentiations that have been used to privilege one group over another on the basis of difference.
The logo includes the phrase “Lutherans for full participation.” Our mission statement says we work at the intersection of oppressions, seeking to eliminate them and discrimination, first regarding LGBT people as children of God, but at the same time viewing all other oppressions in the same light, seeing them for what they really are: related denials of the equality of children of God, devaluations of the intended wondrous diversity of creation and antithetical to following Christ. Racism, sexism, ageism, ableism, patriarchy, heterosexism, homophobia and all the other artificial distinctions that seek to raise one group into privilege and preference over another are creations of the same sin.
The previous heart symbol of the Reconciling in Christ program morphs into the more nuanced, expressive, and integrated ReconcilingWorks heart, reflecting at the same time the hopeful nature of our work grounded in Scripture and the challenges of the world as we find it. At the heart’s center is Christianity, the church, represented by the fish symbol. The diversity of the world, our church, our organization is reflected in the varied colors of the stained glass-like panels in the heart. Green and blue in the lower two panels remind us of land and sea. Arcs cross and form the sections of the heart indicating the multifaceted intersection of oppressions that diminish our world, even the church, which has been itself a source of oppression and discrimination. The heart is the key to reconciliation, beating with the fervor of our faith, with the love of God and with life borne of reconciliation in Christ.