Mustard Seed Faith
As an old English proverb has it, “From little acorns, mighty oaks grow.” But even better, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you will move mountains.” – Jesus!
I am in awe of all that God has accomplished with the acorns and mustard seeds of faith that launched Room for All. What began in grief has become a vital community dedicated to the transformation of the RCA; namely, that there might be room for all LGBT Christians in the life and ministry of our church!
At the end of last year, I wrote to you celebrating the incredible experience we had in Grand Rapids at our first national conference, “Making Room for All.” It exceeded all our expectations! If you were there, you know. If you weren’t, you should read some of the reflections written about it on our website (https://www.roomforall.com/national-conference/). I ended last year’s appeal with the hope that Room for All might be ready for its next big step: to hire our first staff person. I asked for your prayers and your gifts that this might happen, and we received many expressions of encouragement and gifts of financial support. We believed God, and we believed you, and we moved forward. Counseled by our mentors, we were convinced in our hearts that if our movement is to grow and our mission accomplished, we needed to take this next step.
Unless you are brand new to the Room for All communications lists, you know the story of our seeking and of our finding. Marilyn Paarlberg left her job to become the first Room for All National Coordinator, and we are thrilled. In the few short weeks that she has been on the job, she has already made an extraordinary difference in our ministry. She has enabled Room for All to respond immediately to the spate of suicides by LGBT youth, she has spearheaded communications with our RCA colleges and seminaries around issues of bullying and of community safety. She has begun making presentations to regional synods, classes, and churches. She is hard at work coordinating our plans for two training events this spring, one in the Holland/Grand Rapids area and one in the Albany/Schenectady area. She is launching our first quarterly newsletter! I can’t begin to tell you (maybe I don’t need to) the difference it makes having someone devote full time to choreographing all that we can accomplish together.
God has blessed the work of Room for All over these past five years in unimaginable ways; and now God has blessed us with Marilyn. It remains for us to trust God for the funding needed to build on this momentum. As before, I am asking for your help. We need your support and, where possible, we need the support of your church. We now have six congregations that are sending financial support, some in the form of full or partial mission shares. This is a list we want to grow; it will reflect the growth of the movement within the RCA. With each new church added to the list, others will be encouraged to take that step as well. Please, explore with your church its readiness to give support to Room for All; and make a personal gift yourself. Your gift of $1000, $250, $50, or any amount will help make more room in the RCA for all God’s children.
You may make your tax deductible gift through the donation button on our website, roomforall.com, or by sending your check to:
Room for All
26 Railroad Avenue, #341
Babylon, NY 11702
Remember: “A mustard seed of faith will move mountains!”
Rob Williams
Room for All Treasurer