Archive

Wokingham Pride 2022

A message from St Paul’s Church

“God is love, and those who live in love, live in God, and God lives in them.” 1 John 4:16

These words from the Bible are at the heart of our Christian faith, they sum up in one perfect sentence who God is and who we are.  God is love, and we were made out of love, and made for love.

At St Paul’s, we are proud to be part of Inclusive Church and we know and believe that God’s love is for everyone, that our sexualities and gender identity reflect the beauty of who God is.  We also know that as much as Pride is a celebration, a chance for people come together to rejoice in how much things have changed over the past 50 years, it also serves to highlight that there is still more work and education and acceptance that needs to be done.  We know from Jesus’ teaching and inclusion that everyone, everyone, is welcomed and wanted and valued, and this is what we at St Paul’s believe and affirm too.

We believe in God who delights in us and delights in you.
We believe that God’s love for us is absolutely unconditional.
We believe that each of us reflects the beauty of who God is.
We believe that you are fully known, loved and valued by God.
We believe that God loves us, that God loves you, and accepts you for all that you are and all that you will be.
We believe that God made each of us diverse and unique.
We believe that this is true every second of every day, and Pride gives us a chance to say this clearly, and an opportunity to say that we support you, we stand with you, and we know that you would receive a warm welcome at St Paul’s, knowing that you are already accepted for who you are.

Last year, Richard and Cara recorded a short video message to share on Facebook from all of us at St Paul’s Wokingham, and we ended with this prayer.  This year, this Pride, and every day, our prayer remains the same:

Reverend Cara Smart and Reverend Canon Richard Lamey

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.