West Des Moines United Methodist Church has a group of members who are members of the Reconciling Ministries Network

Reconciling Ministries Network is an organization of primarily United Methodist individuals. Its work is guided by the following core principles:

Spiritual Grounding

Reconciling Ministries Network is committed to the justice imperative of the Gospel and to grounding its ministries in the Wesleyan practice of personal and social holiness. RMN is committed to utilizing inclusive language and respectfully recognizing the diverse approaches to scripture, tradition, reason, and experience of the congregations and communities with whom it relates.

Reconciliation

Reconciling Ministries Network is committed to reconciliation that leads to the healing and transformation of animosity into honest relationships that respect all God’s children. Reconciliation is a profound ongoing individual and collective commitment from all those affected to establishing new relationships embedded in mutual recognition. Authentic reconciliation requires the naming and the speaking of truth to create relationships and communities grounded in peace with justice.

Naming Privilege, Ending Oppression

Reconciling Ministries Network aspires to fulfill our baptismal covenant to recognize and utilize our privileges to resist oppression in whatever form it presents itself in our movement, church, and world. RMN has a commitment to ending institutional oppression in all its forms by working at the intersections of oppression and focusing on an ongoing examination of internal processes and external actions at all levels including its selection of issues and organizing strategies. Further, RMN will strive to create beloved community, as imagined by Dr. Martin Luther King, by being vigilant in all its activities about those forces that create wedges between us, with particular attention to racism, transphobia, and the history of colonialism.

Integrating Sexuality with Spirituality

Reconciling Ministries Network believes that human sexuality is a good gift from God. RMN is committed to supporting the integration of healthy, loving expressions of sexuality and spirituality for everyone. We celebrate the sexuality and spirituality of same and opposite gender loving persons and pledge to provide resources that lead to a deeper understanding of God’s precious gift.

Relationships

Reconciling Ministries Network acts in hospitality across theological divides and is committed to the creation of community, interconnectedness, and deep relationships.

Systems Change

Reconciling Ministries Network is committed to policy change and the creation of long-term solutions and practices that create full inclusion in The United Methodist Church and our broader society. RMN works for full equality in membership, ordination, and marriage for God’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender children.

Stewardship

Reconciling Ministries Network is committed to the stewardship of its organizational resources—people, time, talent, and treasures—that God provides for transformation of our church and world.

Organizational Authenticity

Reconciling Ministries Network is committed to operating in a way that mirrors the change we hope to create in the world. Toward that end, we commit to honesty, integrity, excellence, equality, justice, dignity, civility, diversity, inclusion, and creativity. This includes continuous soul-searching in all organizational practices and the provision of ongoing development for all staff and board members to enhance skills and develop growth.

Commitment to Intersectional Justice

Reconciling Ministries Network frames its work from the optic of justice, inclusion, and liberation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer persons. To sharpen that optic, RMN applies an intersectional lens to focus on points of convergence between LGBTQ oppression other forms of oppression including racism, sexism, patriarchy, classism, and gender inequality. Furthermore, for the purposes of organizational staffing, board membership, and the training, equipping, and support of new leadership, RMN will continue to uphold persons of color, young adults, and trans persons.