GRAND RAPIDS –
Rev. Cheryl Burke will speak at Plymouth United Church of Christ in Grand Rapids on April 21 about the rite of marriage and the LGBT community. Rev. Burke will share her experience with union services and marriage as an ordained UCC clergyperson and as a partnered lesbian woman with three children. She will speak during worship at 10 a.m. at the church located at 4010 Kalamazoo Ave. SE, in Grand Rapids.
The United Church of Christ has a decades-long history of promoting full inclusion of LGBT persons in the community of faith and society. In 2005, the United Church of Christ's General Synod passed a resolution affirming equal marriage rights for couples regardless of gender, making the UCC the first mainline denomination to allow same-sex marriages in the United States. The resolution also urged congregations and individuals of the United Church of Christ to support local, state and national legislation on marriage equality and to work against legislation and constitutional amendments that deny those rights.
Rev. Burke currently serves as an Associate Conference Minister for the Michigan Conference of the United Church of Christ based in Lansing. A graduate of Hope College, she earned her Master of Divinity Degree at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. Cheryl's partner is the Rev. Dr. Julie Kilmer, also an ordained UCC minister.
Plymouth United Church of Christ welcomes and supports people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. In 1998, by a vote of its membership the church became an "Open and Affirming" congregation. This is a specific designation for UCC churches nationwide, which have voted to declare publicly that they expressly welcome and affirm LGBT individuals.
For more information, call Plymouth UCC at 616-455-4260, visit http://www.plymouthchurchgr.org, or email the church at [email protected].
Lesbian Pastor To Speak About Gay Marriage
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