When I came out as a gay man in 1991, the Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBT Interests was a lifeline for me. I attended the first BMC men’s retreat in Ohio in September that same year. That weekend offered fellowship and friendship that were essential in my journey of growth and acceptance to love myself. It was a turning point that facilitated the reshaping of my faith and expanded my understanding of God as Divine Spirit of unconditional love.

Rooted in peace-and-justice teachings of the Church of the Brethren, it was BMC people and events that pointed me to liberation theology and affirming relationships beyond the faith foundation of my youth.

Through the 1990s, I attended BMC gatherings and retreats, including conventions, Connecting Family Weekends, regional retreats, Dancing at the Table events and other church-related programs. My understanding of the Divine and scripture expanded from an outsider of the church to one where my authentic self was welcomed and affirmed.

During these years, BMC nurtured my gifts. I served on the BMC board, coordinated BMC conventions and worked on committees that led me to reclaim my call to ministry. I met spiritual mentors that nurtured a former calling to attend Bethany Theological Seminary. These voices helped me redefine my understanding of God, find my voice and stand in my truth as a beloved child of God.

Seminary was a chapter in my life that I thought was closed. Through the prayerful support of the BMC people, I completed my master of divinity degree. I walked through the ordination process without assuming where the journey would lead.

After I graduated in 2001, numerous pastors and peers were part of the journey to my ordination in 2002. It was with my work in the development office at Chicago Theological Seminary that 24 years of ordained ministry began.

For 20 years, I have ministered as a chaplain in senior living communities. I’ve been blessed to listen to seniors who gleam wisdom. I am inspired to hear the wisdom of sages beyond the limits of religious institutions.

Through the affirmation of the United Church of Christ, I now serve as hospice chaplain. In sacred spaces at the end of life, I engage a precious holiness, where labels and prejudices fall away.

Sitting with individuals and families at the end of life, I am blessed with the wideness of God’s mercy and grace. I offer my spirit, my voice, my hands and my heart in grace-filled spaces, where God’s people wait and wonder without the boundaries of religious labels.

As a chaplain, the walls and limits of the church disappear. The organizational structure of denominations appears to diminish, and the people of God are still in need of spiritual care.

As the future unfolds, LGBTQ+ people of faith will need safe spaces to hear of God’s abundant love and amazing grace. As judgmental voices repeat false and hurtful words, it is BMC’s holy work to create safe, sacred spaces for affirmation of God’s queer children.

The love of God and the radical work on the margins must continue to push boundaries and build inclusive communities. This ministry of affirmation and inclusion is the foundation and future of God’s expansive realm.

Matthew J. Smucker and his husband, David, have lived in Chicago for 25 years. He is an active member at Epiphany United Church of Christ and employed at Suncrest Hospice as a chaplain.