Day 277.

Sunday, October 4, 2009.

My church has been going through some conflict in the past year, regarding accepting same gender relationships into membership or not. It has been a really rough time on the church leadership team and while I am ready to move forward in our work together, I wasn't sure if much of the congregation was ready to trust each other again.

I am grateful to be able to look people in the face again.

I didn't realize it until today, when we had a day's worth of meetings with a faith-based conflict resolution team, that I often haven't been able to look people in the face in church and really be myself. I have avoided conversations that seemed to loaded, and while I myself felt trustworthy, I didn't know if the congregation saw me that way anymore. Today I realized I had been sort of metaphorically holding my breath...and I began to exhale today.

Thanks to the rest of the congregation who showed up for this work together. I know there are good things in store for us all. I continue to pray especially for the people who have left, including the couple for whom this whole issue was central - it was about them, even when we tried to make it not. I hope they are in a place of peace.