Our first day in Massachusetts was in the middle of a Noreaster! After traveling from New York City, we went to the Unitarian Universalist Church in Danvers for dinner and a service. There were several people who stood up to share beautiful songs and words of encouragement, and we left feeling refreshed and ready for our first evening at Gordon College the next day
in spite of the continued downpour.
Following a dinner with selected faculty and students, we gave a presentation on “Loving Like Jesus” in the chapel to the Gordon College student body. After our presentation, there was a time for us and the professor Gordon had selected to respond to us to answer questions written down by audience members.
I always enjoy hearing directly from the student body, and there were several thoughtful questions that led to some great discussion when we went back to the student union after our time in the chapel was over.
I walked down the short path from the chapel to the student union with some students who had stopped me after the presentation. I honestly feel that out of all of the schools we have been to so far, I was able to have the most genuine conversations about the complexity of the Christian faith with students at Gordon. The students that I interacted with during that first night seemed to have an appreciation for the idea that our human understanding is finite, and that God’s truth has been revealed to us gradually over time in history. I came away from the table feeling like I had been sitting with my family in an actual dialogue instead of simply an exchanging of ideas.
I can’t pretend to know whether this should be attributed to any preparations that the Gordon community made before our arrival, or even whether the sample of students I spoke with are indicative of the rest of the population on campus, but I can say that I felt glad to be in the company of other people who continue to test their own faiths.
There are obviously still changes that I would like to see made on Gordon’s campus in order to make it a safe space for their LGBT students, but I felt a great sense of integrity in the community’s approach to their conversations with us. I felt like the people I spoke to were able to agree that the past treatment of LGBT people within the church is unacceptable, and that they are searching for the next steps they can take.
I look forward to seeing what the next day will bring.