SDA Kinship Hosts Retreat for Queer Adventists in Denmark
24 September 2024|
The European branch of Seventh-day Adventist Kinship International, Inc., a private support organization for active and former Adventists from the LGBTQ+ community, founded in 1978, recently hosted a meeting in Denmark. The meeting was intended to offer an opportunity to connect to like-minded individuals and talk together about their shared faith.
Around 4,800 members in over 60 countries belong to SDA Kinship; 60 guests from eight European countries and some from the USA collected to celebrate God and grow in their faith. Those who ran the event quoted for APD:
“In the Christian community, friendly and pastoral exchanges were cultivated; the Bible was studied; devotions were held; a church service was celebrated; experiences were shared in interviews, along with singing, prayers, eating, and laughing.”
The daily devotions and the sermon for Sabbath service were by the Swedish pastor Karin Wieczorek, along with linguist, theologian, and Danish scholar Dr. Kjeld Renato Lings as the main speaker.
Members of the organization recognize that they are often ostracized or rejected for their sexuality, and feel the disappointment that their chance at finding a Christian community is thwarted by others reducing their identity to their sexuality. This form of rejection has been a serious obstacle, hindering individuals in their faith walk, especially when such isolation has seemed antithetical to how they know the Church is meant to be. SDA Kinship has worked to confront this pariah effect, creating spaces where they can acknowledge their experiences as Queer people without making it the sum total of their personhood.
As quoted from coverage for the event,
When asked what he took away from this weekend, a first-time attendee said: “I sit here and just keep crying because I have never experienced this appreciative sense of belonging before.”
One guest noted: “I am impressed by the seriousness and depth with which the Bible is studied and spiritual questions are discussed here.”
Floyd Pönitz, president of Kinship International, said to Adventist Today,
I am pleased that there are official Adventist entities that don’t hesitate to report on the good work that Kinship’s ministry is doing around the world. It is nice to be recognized for our contribution, not only to the LGBTQIA+ Seventh-day Adventists but also to the associated families and allies. Our hope is that someday Kinship will not be needed and LGBTQIA+ Adventists will be welcomed in all churches as equals in the Lord’s work.
SDA Kinship is hoping to continue its recognition of the Queer experience by allowing those who identify as LGBTQ+ to find safe environments for them to be recognized as Adventists and encouraged in their walk with God.
