5 things to know about Tim Walz's faith, church and the ELCA

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Saturday, August 10, 2024

A hand holds up a small transgender pride flag. The blue and pink stripes represent the colors for a boy and girl, while the white stripe represents self-declared gender identities, such as transitioning, intersex, neutral and undefined gender. | Getty Images

Pilgrim partners with an LGBT advocacy organization

The "prayer corner" notes Pilgrim's status as a "Reconciling in Christ community of faith." The website for the LGBT advocacy group ReconcilingWorks: Lutherans for Full Participation, identifies Pilgrim as one of several "Reconciling in Christ" partners.

The nonprofit organization characterizes its mission as seeking "the full welcome, inclusion, and equity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual/aromantic (LGBTQIA+) Lutherans in all aspects of the life of their Church, congregations, and community." It offers training for churches called "Let's Talk About SOGIE" that instructs congregations on "ways to extend hospitality to our LGBTQIA+ siblings."

ReconcilingWorks also has a "youth and family ministry" with links to resources including PFLAG, which is listed as "the nation's largest family and ally organization" that works to unite "people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) with families, friends, and allies" and achieve "equality and full societal affirmation of LGBTQ people through its threefold mission of support, education, and advocacy."

PFLAG insists that "families need to be free to access care that is in their child's best interest." It portrays gender transition surgeries that remove healthy body parts from trans-identified children as "life-affirming" and "life-saving."