Lincoln’s First Plymouth Church strives to harmonize religious, gay communities

While the LGBTQA and faith communities may seem to be at odds, the First Plymouth Congregational Church is helping to merge the two groups.

The church is a gay-friendly church that welcomes members regardless of sexuality. The church hosts the Plymouth-Pride Fellowship, where those in the LGBTQA community can socialize.

The Rev. Nancy Erickson, associate minister of First Plymouth, said the fellowship formed out of the LGBTQA community.

"I met a couple of new members of the church who were gay," she said. "I've been feeling that we needed to have a LGBT-friendly church."

Erickson said she asked the new members of the church to start it because she wanted it to be a grassroots campaign.

The first potluck was in October 2005. Since then, the Plymouth Pride Fellowship tries to organize a social event each month.

The number of people involved has grown since 2005, Erickson said, but it tends to fluctuate.

"One of the things we've noticed is that we have more non-church members who come," she said.

The church has seen a hunger among people for community, Erickson said.

"We meet that need for people who have felt disenfranchised by the church," she said. "We do have people who have been treated badly because of the way some people have misinterpreted the scriptures."

One of those people who felt disenfranchised by the church was Nebraska native Alison Knudsen, who became involved with First Plymouth Church and the Pride Fellowship after moving back from California.

"I needed to find a church where it was OK that I was gay," she said.

She said after finding First Plymouth Church, she felt it was a safe place for gay Christians.

"It was a wonderful thing. I wanted to help out as much as possible," she said.

Knudsen has been involved with the church and the fellowship since about 2007. She has been a member of the board of the First Plymouth Church for a few years.

"I am not afraid to walk into a church anymore without fear of being condemned."

However, this was not always the case for Knudsen.

"I figured out (I was gay) when I was 17," she said. "And I was not OK with it."

Knudsen said she denied she was gay for about five years because she was afraid of God's reaction.

"I was depressed and upset and angry all of the time," she said. "It took accepting who I am to further my spiritual and emotional journey."

She said if she is at a bar or a place where she hears that the church is not accepting of homosexuality, she tells the person about Plymouth Pride.

"The best I can do is live my life as an example," she said.

Knudsen has seen how important a church that accepts homosexuality is for members of the LGBTQA community.

"I have a friend who was raised going to a conservative church," she said. "And she believed she was going to burn in hell for being gay. For the first few times she came to Plymouth Church, she cried because she knew she would worship God without being told she was a sinner."

Erickson said some people teach a literal reading of a scripture, which is not accepting of homosexuality on the surface.

"Overall, scriptures, all of the scriptures, teach God's love for all of people," she said. "And that would trump any particular verse that would condemn homosexuality."

Knudsen agreed.

"I've done a lot of research on my own of Christian scriptures," she said. "I've concluded that (homosexuality) does not offend (God)."

There are a lot of people saying that homosexuality is a sin, which is a perversion of the gospel, Knudsen said.

However, those people have helped disenfranchise people from the church.

"I've seen so many people in my community turn their back on God," Knudsen said.

She said she had spoken with a woman on Wednesday who was leaving the church because she was tired of the church saying homosexuality is a sin.

There has been a debate among churches on whether there should be churches that are gay-friendly.

"I know there are churches that don't agree with what we're doing," Erickson said. "But I couldn't say there has been a backlash."

Erickson said when people hear they are sinners because they are homosexual, those who hold religious teachings may believe it. She said First Plymouth Church and the Plymouth Pride Fellowship is a place of safety for those of faith in the LGBTQA community.

For more information about Plymouth Pride Fellowship, email Erickson at nancy@firstplymouth.org.

KIMBUCKLEY@DAILYNEBRASKAN