A large church in Denver, Colorado has announced it is to go "LGBT inclusive", stating that it is acting in "imitation of the wild, inclusive love of God that we see in Scripture".
In a video message, members of the elder team of Denver Community Church say they have spent much of the last two years giving time to "listening and learning, to prayer and reflection, and discussion and discernment, how we, as a faith community, will move forward with, and for, the LGBT community".
They said the last two years had been a journey for all of them.
"Each of us entered this conversation with divergent thoughts, experiences, opinions and insights, remembering all the while that this is not about an issue, this is about mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters and God's love for all people.
"This demands compassion and empathy and a willingness to listen, not only to one another, but to what the Spirit is saying to us, individually and as an elder team. In our journey and conversation we studied Scripture, prayed together, challenged one another, heard from various viewpoints and invited our brothers and sisters in the LGBT community to share their stories with us."
After months of consideration, as a team they were still not in agreement. However, they decided to "transcend" their differences and pray to experience "unity over uniformity".
This led them to decide for "full inclusion towards our LGBT brothers and sisters".
The elders say: "We believe this is in keeping with the direction of our faith community, a place where everyone can belong, can contribute and be open to the transformative work that God wants to do in each of us."
The church's lead pastor is Michael Hidalgo, who describes evangelicals as his "tribe of origin" and is the author of books such as Unlost: Being Found by the One We Are Looking For and Changing Faith: Questions, Doubts and Choices About the Unchanging God.
