LGBTQIA+ SMALL GROUP - READING CIRCLE: 2nd MEETING

BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE CHURCH: 12/02..."Those who waste their time stalking, scolding or disapproving whoever are actually doing it to themselves".

Second meeting of the LGBTQIA+ Small Group -  discussions on "Building a more inclusive Church". In this meeting we read discussed about the article "What kind of gay am I?" (  http://www.direitoafe.com/2018/12/what-kind-of-gay-am-i.html ) , prayed and shared experiences about inclusive faith. 

Our next meeting will be on December 17th (Saturday) at 5 pm. 

LGBTQIA+ SMALL GROUP - READING CIRCLE: 1st MEETING

BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE CHURCH - 11/18..."It’s important to feel included. It’s a fundamental human need, and when we feel excluded, it hurts. When we don’t feel like we belong, we tend to look for a place where we are more comfortable. We need to help everyone feel that they belong at church".

The First United Methodist Church of Miami is a Reconciling Congregation which is providing safe places for all LGBTQIA+ people. Last Friday, it was launched a Small Group to welcome LGBTQIA+ people and allies who want make their church a more inclusive place. This Small Group is under the leadership of pastor Marvel Souza and pastor Raphael Lira who have 13 years experience in leading inclusive works in Brazil. 

The first meeting started with a moment of prayer. Right after, each participant was encouraged to share experiences of inclusion. After that, pastor Marvel brought a reflection about Bible text on Acts 10:34-35: "Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right"". 

Pastor Raphael highlighted that his husband and him are experiencing real works of inclusion at the First United Methodist Church of Miami and at the Saint John's on Lake United Methodist Church. However, he recognizes that there are much more to do towards being a more inclusive church. 

Pastor Marvel spoke about his two different experiences of inclusion - one in an inclusive church which is part of the lots of other inclusive churches that were created as a way to gather LGBTQIA+ worshipers who had left their original churches due to the harmful effects of prejudice against them. His other experience of inclusion happened when he found the Reconciling Ministries Net Work which is a movement inside the United Methodist Church standing for LGBTQIA+ rights. 

After that, each participante we're encouraged to answer four questions that helped them reflecting about being a more inclusive Church: 

1. What's the definition of inclusion? 
2. What does it mean, to be a Reconciling Congregation? 
3. What's the difference of politeness and full inclusion? 
4. What are you willing to do to make the Church a more inclusive place? 

When each participant  finished sharing their concerns about the questions, pastor Marvel read out loud the Bible text of 2Corinthians 5:18-19 and asked them to read the whole text, 2Corinthians 5:1-20, as a homework. 

The next meeting will be held on December 2nd, at the same time and place. Some of the meetings will be outdoor due to the COVID-19 issues.

*To be connected with this project, click the link and be part of the Meetup Group: 

https://meetu.ps/c/51bhb/Zvm0J/d

MARVEL SOUZA'S BIOGRAPHY

Source:Curriculum lattes CNPQ - http://lattes.cnpq.br/8274959377551914

Marvel Souza's Biography

Reverend Marvel Souza was born in São Mateus do Sul (South of Brazil) and moved to Brasilia when he was 8 years old. Currently, he lives and serves as an openly gay pastor in the First Church Miami leading the Brazilian Ministry. 

His ministerial life began 25 years ago, when he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to start his teachings in the Methodist church where he developed his first works based on his then recently acquired theology background. He served as a layman for five years. He was consecrated to the diaconate, having served for six years with dedication, dynamism and responsibility. At that time he introduced a theological formation course. This course was more successful than expected and was given in many different churches. Furthermore, he was the leader of a small congregation in a farm sector around the Brazilian capital for one year and a half. He became a Presbyter in this church, later having also been promoted to Pastor in 2013. Currently he preaches, provides pastoral counselling and fosters religious teachings in the First Church Miami. This is an Open Door Church which is open to anyone, regardless of gender, race, nationality, sexual orientation, social status, language or physical condition. He also works as a Japanese teacher, besides being one of the few Japanese translators in town. He has a degree in English language and North-American literature, two degrees in Theology, a post-graduation in Compared Theology, a specialisation in Japanese language teaching for foreigners and a Master's Degree in the History of Christianity. Furthermore, Reverend Marvel Souza is a dedicated pupil of Greek and Hebrew. Amongst Reverend Marvel's preachings, one may highlight the following:

1. Spiritual Measures - Apocalypse 11:1;
2. Thoughts on John 2:11;
3. Three thoughts on the Jesus' upbringing - Luke 2:52;
4. Son of the right hand - Genesis 35:16-18;
5. Through blood and through water - John 19:34;
6. It's God's! - Matthew 6:13;
7. The two gardens - John 20:11 and Genesis 2:8;
8. Judas, perfect background, doubtful character - John 12:4-6;
9. The rooster crowed! - John 13:36-38;
10. At midnight - Exodus 12:29;
11. Kinds of Grace - Romans 5:20;
12. God is affected, involved and moved by you.

Recently, Reverend Marvel concluded the writing of commentaries on the Commented Bible Grace upon Grace, which is a one-of-its-kind publication in Brazil. This work brings comments related with the Ecclesiastic Inclusion of all persons through the perspective of the Message of Grace. This work's repercussion in social media and the press took place because the Brazilian Biblical Society supported its publication by allowing the pastor to use their copyrighted version of Biblical texts (VARC) so that he could make his commentaries.

With his spouse's aid, Pastor Raphael Lira, with whom he's been married for fifteen years, Reverend Marvel Souza has been spreading the Gospel message to everyone in the USA.  

WHAT KIND OF GAY AM I?

"WHAT KIND OF GAY AM I?"

"Those who waste their time stalking, scolding or disapproving whoever are actually doing it to themselves".

It saddens me when people use the Bible to find grounds for their sins and prejudice. I've read and heard a lot of things for and against homosexuals (What kind of things have you ever heard about Bible against LGBTQIA+ people). 

When we are overly concerned about something that denotes a neurotic behaviour. Either we are trying to disguise something, or our subconsciousness is pushing us to out something that is ingrained into us. "What bothers me too much on others is actually a part of me". This is a classical psychoanalytical statement. Be careful! Those who waste their time stalking, scolding or disapproving whoever are actually doing it to themselves. There is something deep inside that has not been dealt with yet and that bothers us. (Have you ever heard or known somebody who used to persecute homossexuals and then you got to know that this person was actually homossexual?)

I can say that, to a certain extent, all of us have got a gay within us with whom we relate. We can out him and make peace with it, or we can reject him. Being gay is something that is within us and not something we can simply do away with. Many people over the course of History have chosen a minority group to be destroyed: Jews, indigenous peoples, Africans, women, and nowadays, gays. (Do you think the US is a safe place for LGBTQIA+? What can we do to make it safer?)

Not very long ago we had been discussing whether women should or shouldn't be pastors and bishops. Many people were for it, but many weren't. In both cases, people used the Bible to support their points of view. After a couple of decades, we can all laugh at that debate, which was nothing but a reflection of that historical moment when men were losing their hegemony on power to women (both in and out of Church). It was a case of prejudice and sin seeking to be justified by the Bible. (Has anyone ever used the Bible to condemn you for being who you are?)

Those who keep trying to find verses here and there to justify their prejudices find it hard to understand what Jesus taught so many times during his ministry: love your neighbour as yourself. That pretty much sums up all of the Law. To me this is the central matter: people are not ready to love the gays because they threaten their masculinity and their femininity. And if what's under threat is being male or female it is exactly because these categories were never set in stone. When a gay person comes out, that is disturbing both to society and to individuals. Why are they disturbed about it? If we know so well what male and female mean (as defined by our culture), there is nothing to worry about! (

Working our inner gay is a far more positive effort than trying to repress the gay outside of us. Doing the latter won't solve our sexual neurosis. When I am able to let go of my prejudice and hug a gay person as a human being then I will have discovered what true love is, the one that Jesus spoke so much about. And let's not forget that every homosexual person has a mother and a father. If he or she were your child, would your posture be the same? Think about it. 

Text by Reverend Marvel Souza