St. Michael's Church Opens to All

The congregation of St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Amagansett voted unanimously on Sunday to become a Reconciled in Christ congregation, meaning it is publicly welcoming to all, including gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people. At its annual meeting, members of the church adopted a resolution to welcome all “without regard to race, ethnicity, cultural background, economic or marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental abilities, age, and all those the world seeks to separate or isolate.”

It was the culmination of a yearlong process, said the Rev. Katrina Foster, who is also pastor of Incarnation Lutheran Church in Bridgehampton, which is already a Reconciled in Christ congregation. That process included two members’ attendance of a workshop called Building an Inclusive Church.

On a recent Sunday, four members of the church addressed the congregation, in lieu of a sermon by the pastor, on how they came to believe that St. Michael’s should be welcoming of G.L.B.T. people. Marge Harvey, whose late husband was a minister, was the first to speak. She observed how the church has evolved, including allowing the ordination of women.

“It was important to the congregation because it was an affirmation of what they have been believing and doing,” Ms. Harvey said yesterday. She was referring, in part, to Ms. Foster’s coming out as gay on the floor of a churchwide gathering in 2007, when the Lutheran Church allowed openly gay pastors but forbade same-sex relationships. Ms. Foster is married, and she and her wife, Pamela Kallimanis, have a daughter, Zoia.

Ms. Foster’s move resulted in several bishops threatening to defrock her bishop if he did not defrock her, but two years later, the church abandoned its policy forbidding same-sex relationships.

Zoia spoke of an experience at the funeral of a close family friend in which the preacher “started shouting at the entire congregation about how homosexuals are going to hell,” Ms. Foster said. “My daughter talked about how shocking and devastating that experience was . . . and why we need to be welcoming.”

Another spoke of his difficulty in marrying his wife, who had been divorced, in the Catholic Church, while another discussed her own coming out and how that experience allowed her, at age 50, to “finally be herself,” Ms. Foster said. “We need to be public so others know that we are here.”

“Many people come here to visit and vacation,” Ms. Harvey said. By the church’s becoming a Reconciled in Christ congregation, “they know they are welcome,” she said. “It’s not only G.L.B.T. people, but all people — all races, ethnicities, backgrounds. We want to be known as a welcoming congregation to everyone. That’s the key thing.”