Southminster Presbyterian Church is called to be an open and affirming community, celebrating God’s love by seeking a caring and just society. There is a place for you here! That means that our congregation is committed to welcoming people of every race, language, age, gender, ethnicity, economic status, mental or physical ability, sexual orientation, and gender identity into the full life, ministry, membership, and leadership of the church.
Our faith community includes both LGBTQIA+ and non-LGBTQIA+ folks who are drawn to God’s desire for inclusion, warmth, and love for all of our neighbors. Beyond our walls, we celebrate Boise Pride every year, marching in the parade, hosting a booth, and in Pride Worship in our sanctuary that weekend.
For many years, Southminster has been proud to be a member of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, a group within the Presbyterian Church (USA) working for the full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ individuals. The work of the Covenant Network and other advocacy organizations within the denomination were essential for progress in equity and inclusion. We rejoiced in 2018, when our denomination strongly affirmed a commitment to the full welcome, acceptance, and inclusion of transgender people, people who identify as gender non-binary, and people of all gender identities within the full life of the church and the world. We went further to lament how our policies and actions have caused gifted, faithful, LGBTQIA+ Christians to leave the church.
More recently, the Session of Southminster endorsed the Matthew 25 initiative of our denomination, which calls on us to work intentionally on building congregational vitality, dismantling structural racism, and eradicating systemic poverty.
We invite you to keep reading below for more information about these commitments to inclusivity.
The Call to Covenant Community
Southminster Presbyterian Church is a proud member of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, and our pastor, Rev. TJ Remaley, serves on its board of directors. Confident in God’s hopeful future and grateful for the ever-widening welcome of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Covenant Network of Presbyterians seeks an equity still not fully realized for LGBTQIA+ people in church and society, by
- Engaging the church to invite all of God’s children into safe and welcoming congregational spaces of affirmation, healing, dignity and purpose;
- Educating the church to expand our welcome of LGBTQIA+ people, to affirm their gifts for ordained office, and to uphold marriage equality for all; and
- Equipping the church to bear witness to justice through advocacy and activism at the international, national and local church levels; speaking a prophetic word in anxious and divided times; and standing with others in fighting hate and oppression against any of God’s children.
The Covenant Network of Presbyterians calls the church to bear a unified witness to generous hospitality and faithful justice.
A Matthew 25 Congregation
We are a Matthew 25 congregation of the PC(USA), covenanting to do our part in the work of eradicating systemic poverty, dismantling structural racism, and building congregational vitality.
