Draw the Circle Wide
Draw the Circle Wide works to express the love of Christ for all members of the LGBTQ community, advocate for equality in all facets of society, and call for full inclusion in the United Methodist Church.
At the 2023 North Georgia UMC conference, an Affirmation calling to Center Justice and Empowerment for LGBTQIA+ People in the UMC was submitted by Glenn UMC Lay delegate, Jay Horton, and was approved. Attached is the approved resolution.
Events
Lost-n-Found Youth
Lost-n-Found Youth provides support for Atlanta’s unhoused LGBTQ+ youth, ages 18 to 25. Its ambitious goal is to end homelessness among this group. The organization supports a youth drop-in center, where lunch is served daily, and two transitional houses for 16 youth, where breakfasts and dinners are available. Glenn’s prepares and serves Lost-n-Found’s clients with a monthly hospitable hot meals and makes grocery runs to help stock the transition homes’ pantries. Glenn supports LnFY through Glenn’s Alternative Giving Catalog and by volunteers preparing and serving monthly meals. For more information contact Joan Lord.
Resources
For resources curated by our Transforming the World team, visit our Draw the Circle Wide resource page!
Our History
In 2011, Glenn started the Rainbow Advocacy Group (now Draw the Circle Wide) to discern Glenn’s continuing role in affirming LGBTQIA+ rights and rites in the church. In 2014, Glenn joined the Reconciling Ministries Network, a move favored by 87% of Glenn voters. In 2015, Glenn was awarded the Emory University Office of LGBTQIA+ Life’s Outstanding Ally of the Year Award and recognized for its creation of an inclusive, respectful and safe climate for the Emory LGBTQIA+ community.
For decades, members of Glenn have advocated for changes to language added to the UMC Book of Discipline in 1972 that limits the rights of LGBTQIA+ persons to participate fully in the UMC. Despite concerted efforts by a growing number of United Methodists, the denomination has yet to remove that harmful language. We at Glenn believe that this is absolutely unjust and completely contrary to the teachings of Jesus, and our leadership continues to advocate at the Annual Conference (state) and General Conference (international) levels for welcome and inclusion for all.
As we fight for full inclusion in the UMC, we are also working to support members of the LGBTQAI+ community. We welcome couples of the LGBTQIA+ community to use the worship spaces of Glenn for their weddings, and are grateful for our relationship with Emory University that allows us to host these joyful and sacred ceremonies. For more information about weddings at Glenn please see the Weddings page linked here.
In addition, we provide financial support to LGBTQAI+ affirming organizations, and hosted our first reconciling worship service for the surrounding community in October 2021. In 2019, Glenn continued its long tradition of marching in the Atlanta Pride Parade, but for the first time invited other UMC’s and reconciling communities to join us in marching for inclusion.
Contact justice@glennumc.org, Carol Allums or Rev. Brent Huckaby to learn more.