Northampton Friends Meeting wishes to affirm that we extend to all members of our community, whatever their sexual orientation, the same quality of love and support. We are one community of faith; we experience the varieties of love in our community as gifts of God. We affirm that we are all children of God and that we all have the same potential to reflect the Divine Light in our lives.
Our faith underlies these affirmations:First, concerning the spiritual basis of our beliefs, as a group our hearts resonate deeply with the biblical injunctions to "love God" and to "love your neighbor as yourself." We experience all forms of loving relationships as manifestations of God's love on earth.
Second, we believe that Friends' testimony on equality is central to our Quaker faith. Just as Friends have historically witnessed for equality among all races and both sexes, so do we now witness for equality among people of all sexual orientations. We understand equality not as sameness but as equality of respect.
Third, we affirm that our sexuality and sexual identity are integral components of who we are, not separate from who we are as spiritual beings. For lesbian, gay and bisexual members of the community, this allows for a wholeness of being, a feeling of personal unity within the context of the community. We bring our whole selves to our relationship with the Divine and find that sexuality within a loving relationship, whether homosexual or heterosexual, has the potential to bring us closer to God.
We as a Meeting feel we have been blessed by the presence and participation of lesbians, gays and bisexuals as individuals and, for some, as partners in same sex couples. We are committed to providing spiritual care and acceptance to all these individuals, believing that the spiritual growth of each person best ripens in the context of a community of faith and with the support and loving regard of that community. Furthermore, we are committed to seeking out ways to actively provide that love and support, being mindful of the oppression lesbians, gays and bisexuals face in our society.
At the first Meeting for business of the newly formed Northampton Friends Meeting in February, 1994, the following minute was joyfully adopted:
The Meeting affirms the goodness of committed, loving relationships and offers recognition and support to those who share this ideal and desire to enter into a permanent relationship based upon it. By tradition, the Meeting recognizes committed union in a celebration of marriage under the care of the Meeting.
The same loving care and consideration will be given to both same-sex and heterosexual applicants as outlined in Faith and Practice.
The Meeting shares a vision of a future that extends all the same rights to homosexual couples as are now enjoyed by heterosexual couples under the law. The Meeting's vision of marriage will not be complete until the unification of the legal and the spiritual is complete and available to all.
We recognize the additional difficulties faced by same sex couples in our society and commit ourselves to remaining vigilant and informed in our care of these couples. We further acknowledge that same sex marriages and celebrations of commitment are taking place in the wider Quaker community. Should one of these couples move to our Meeting, we will support their relationship as we would any other couple married under our care.
The Meeting is committed to nurturing all of the families within its community. We recognize that families composed of gay, lesbian or bisexual parents and their children face additional difficulties in our society. The Meeting hopes to be a safe haven for these families and commits itself to providing special support to both the children and the parents. We strive to help all the Meeting's children learn to value and respect all individuals whatever their sexual orientation. For children who grow to question their own sexual orientation or who believe themselves to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual, the Meeting wishes to offer support and affirmation.
The Meeting commits itself to promoting acceptance, dignity and respect for lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Lesbian, gay and bisexual people are still struggling to be granted full civil and human rights in this and in other societies. We stand together in this struggle for justice. We oppose social, economic, and legal discrimination and all forms of violence against anyone based on sexual orientation. Heterosexual Friends will thus share with lesbian, gay and bisexual Friends the responsibility of protecting their safety and their rights. We are committed to carrying out the spirit of this Minute within our own Meeting, within the larger Quaker community and in the world at large. As a Meeting and as individuals, we seek to heed the movement of the Spirit leading us to both recognize and act to redress the array of affronts, injustices and violence encountered by lesbians, gays and bisexuals.
Through our collective struggle with issues related to gender and sexual orientation, our Meeting has experienced much joy, much pain, and important community and individual growth. In adopting this Minute, we affirm our commitment to continue this important work. We trust that in proceeding faithfully we will receive the gifts that all our ways of loving bring and the clarity and strength to carry out our leadings.