A Reflection from Pastor Desirée
There are moments in the life of a congregation when something long hoped for finally becomes clear. Not because it was rushed. Not because it was trendy, but because the time was right.
At Mount Olivet, becoming a Reconciling in Christ congregation in 2026 feels like one of those moments. This past Sunday, Mount Olivet celebrated becoming Reconciling in Christ with joy and gratitude. We worshipped with prayers and liturgy written by our partner ReconcilingWorks. We sang songs composed by our Queer siblings in Christ. During the postlude, we danced with a rainbow unicorn to “Pink Pony Club,” a song especially meaningful to many in the LGBTQIA+ community who have often felt more accepted in nightclubs than in churches. Then we gathered around tables in our community room for a bountiful meal and ice cream! You can see pictures of this amazing day HERE.
Reconciling in Christ (RIC) is a public commitment to welcome, celebrate, and advocate for LGBTQIA+ people in the full life of the church. It is a way of saying clearly what we believe about the wideness of God’s love and the dignity of every person created in God’s image.
Yet this milestone is about more than a designation. It is about identity.
When I first arrived at Mount Olivet fifteen months ago, I remember feeling surprised that Mount Olivet had not become an RIC congregation years earlier. There was already such a deep spirit of warmth, openness, and generosity here. The seeds had long been planted. But sometimes congregations, like people, grow into clarity in seasons rather than all at once.
There is an ancient Greek word often used in the church: kairos. It means more than ordinary clock time. It points to a significant time, a grace-filled moment, a season when something becomes possible because God is especially at work.
Chronological time asks, “What time is it?”
Kairos asks, “What is this time for?”
This time, it seems, is for courage.
This time is for clarity.
This time is for witness.
We live in a moment when many LGBTQIA+ neighbors, especially transgender people and youth, are facing renewed hostility, harmful rhetoric, and setbacks in public life. In such a season, a congregation’s welcome cannot remain vague or assumed. Love needs language. Belonging needs visibility.
That is precisely why Mount Olivet’s decision matters now.
Becoming Reconciling in Christ does not change who this congregation has been at its best. It reveals it more fully. It names publicly what has been growing inside our walls and in our hearts. It aligns values with action. It tells people who may be searching, wounded, or uncertain: There is a place for you here. In fact, we are not complete without you.
And perhaps that is one of the gifts of God’s timing. What may have seemed delayed can become deeply meaningful when it arrives in the moment it is most needed. Congregational identity is never static. It is always unfolding as communities listen for the Spirit, respond to the needs of the world, and ask what faithfulness requires in the present tense.
Mount Olivet’s answer in this season is clear. We are called to be a community of welcome. We are called to be a people of courage. We are called to embody the love of Christ without condition. And in God’s good timing, we are becoming more fully who we already are.
With Love and Deep Gratitude ~ Pastor Desirée