Our Vision Our
Philosophy Who We Are
We
envision a Seventh-day Adventist church body in which
straight, gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and trans-gendered members
truly exemplify the love of God in their relations with each
other -- loving unconditionally without demanding proof that
others are "worthy" of love. For God loved us
unconditionally, as unworthy as we are.
To this end we wish to foster understanding
and dialogue to help reduce the fear of homosexuality that
is too often evident in Seventh-day Adventist churches and
to replace it with an active love that finds its source in
the heart of God. (Particularly see our FAQ.)
We envision our discussion lists as aiding
subscribers in recognizing their supreme value in the eyes
of God. And we envision cyber communities in which persons
with different sexual orientations "bear one another's
burdens" and so fulfill the law of Christ, encouraging
each other in our relationships with Christ. [back
to TOP]
As Seventh-day Adventists, we agree with the fundamental
teachings of the Seventh-day
Adventist Church. We recognize that we are all broken by
sin and become whole only by experiencing the healing love
of Christ. We are saved through faith by His grace alone and
not by anything we do or refrain from doing. Thus we have
nothing in ourselves of which to boast, for all that we have
-- whether in possessions, talent, or character -- is from
Him.
We believe that the unconditional love of
God draws us to Him and empowers us to change more
effectively than exhortation or condemnation. And we believe
it is God's purpose for His church to exemplify the
unconditional love of Christ in a society that is
performance-oriented.
We understand that same-gender attractions are real and
not just a chosen behavior. Whether they are caused by
heredity, pre-natal influences, environment, or a
combination of these factors, they are an integral part of
an individual and are morally neutral. Those with a
homosexual orientation are no more and no less sinful before
God than heterosexual individuals. Before God we all stand
on equal ground -- condemned as sinners in need of the
saving grace of God. God is just as ready, willing and able
to save homosexual sinners as heterosexual sinners. Praise
be to His Name!
We believe that God designed sexual expression as a
component of the life-long bond between one man and one
woman. And He designed that our shared, intimate
relationships with each other would draw us closer to Him.
But when we look around us and see the many broken families
and other fractured relationships in our society, it is
evident that we have all fallen far from this ideal.
Just as God drew near to people in a fallen society in
the past, so we believe He deals compassionately with us in
our fallen condition today. And so should we treat each
other with love and compassion, because only as we
experience human love do we begin to understand the
unconditional love of the Savior -- the only One who can
meet the love-hunger of the soul.
We are not qualified to judge what is sin in another
person's life -- particularly when it comes to intimate
human relationships -- because sin is a matter of the heart
(James 4:17) and only God can see what is in a person's
heart. Thus Christ's parable of the tares and the wheat
cautions us against being too enthusiastic about rooting
sinners out of the church. God does ask us to witness to the
power of His love in our own lives, and we can thus
encourage each other in drawing closer to Him who is our
strength. In faith, we will trust Him to guide each of us in
the way that He knows is best for us.
John the Beloved tells us that God is love.
Nothing we do can put us outside of His love. And we believe
that experiencing God's love transforms our lives from the
inside out." Our own Ellen White wrote prophetically
that "The last rays of merciful light, the last message
of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His
character of love. The children of God are to manifest His
glory. In their own life and character they are to reveal
what the grace of God has done for them." (Christ's
Object Lessons, pp/ 415/416) Thus it is our desire to
communicate God's character of Love and
manifest His glory through this internet initiative. [TOP]
Who We Are
GLADventist
is an informal association of Adventist persons interested
in addressing the issues surrounding homosexuality in a
manner consistent with the character of God, of whom His
beloved disciple testified, "God is love." (1 John
4:8) We are united in our vision and philosophy
for this list.
This ministry was founded by Inge Anderson and Ralph
Seland. Inge has been
the driving force behind initiating various email
lists, the design and implementation of the web page, as
well as the expansion of the ministry. Ralph has been much
of the inspiration behind the project. Among other things,
he transformed the
book, My Son,
Beloved Stranger from hard copy to web format,
and and he served as chief moderator of several discussion
lists for several years. (The book, though written by Seventh-day
Adventist author Carrol Grady, aka Kate McLaughlin, is
hosted on the GLOW site to
avoid too much duplication.) Ralph is currently on leave of
absence.
Inge Anderson is solely responsible for the overall tone
and content of the site. Her wide involvement with
Christians of various faiths has given her a vision that
reaches far beyond the borders of the Seventh-day
Adventist church, to all who long to know that they are
beloved by the Creator who cared enough to become one with
us. (While this site is specifically addressed to Adventists
and purposely uses some Adventist jargon, our companion
site, God's Love - Our Witness,
is designed to minister to a wider circle of persons seeking
a relationship with God.) She is fortunate to have the
backing and involvement of her family, with members who
contributed time and effort in suggestions, designing and
critiquing, besides giving up large chunks of their spouse's or mother's time in the process. Credit
goes to personal friends and to over a hundred individuals
involved as silent supporters or contributors through
messages on email lists. This project would not exist
without them. [TOP]
Adventist
dialog and support site for gay, lesbian, trans-gendered