Dear Rainbow Circle friends,
It’s hard to believe that summer is already coming to a close. Students across the country—from kindergarten through college, graduate school, and seminary—are returning to classrooms. Churches are gearing up for a new program year. And AWAB is no different.
With this coming weekend, I begin my fall travel itinerary, which will take me from South Carolina to visits in Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Kansas, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Washington, Washington, D.C., Canada, Colorado, and New York—all before Thanksgiving!
While I’m excited about each of these visits, I’m especially looking forward to the Annual AWAB Lecture, hosted this year by United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities on September 18. You can learn more about the lecture here.
Over these next several months, my travels will take me to churches, regional gatherings, seminaries, and even into the homes of several AWAB friends and supporters. I’m grateful for every opportunity to strengthen relationships, make new connections, listen, learn, and share the story of AWAB’s growing ministry.
And growing we are.
We have just welcomed new congregations into the AWAB family, and already another group of church applications is in hand for our Board of Directors to review at its September meeting. Our educational partnerships are increasing. New opportunities for ministry and collaboration continue to emerge. And with this growth comes the need to strengthen our capacity to support it. Soon, you’ll see a new Program Coordinator position posted as we seek to bolster our staff. Our Board is also discerning AWAB’s next steps so that we can continue to plan and strategize thoughtfully for the growth ahead.
There is much to celebrate.
At the same time, I am keenly aware that this growth is happening during a season when many of our LGBTQ+ siblings and their families are navigating increased anxiety, stress, and fear. Far-right ideologies and rhetoric continue to permeate our society, too often targeting LGBTQ+ people and especially our transgender and nonbinary siblings. The need for communities that boldly proclaim welcome, affirmation, dignity, and belonging has not diminished. If anything, that need is becoming more urgent.
And that’s where you come in.
As members of AWAB’s Rainbow Circle, I want to ask you to continue bearing witness within your own circles of influence to just how necessary and meaningful welcoming and affirming communities are. Check in on the LGBTQ+ people, families, and allies you know. Encourage someone who may need to be reminded that they are not alone. Speak up when another voice is needed. Share AWAB’s work and resources with someone who may not yet know about us.
And, if I may be so bold, I have one more invitation: if you have the capacity, would you consider increasing your monthly Rainbow Circle gift? Even a modest increase, multiplied across this community, can make a meaningful difference. AWAB needs to grow because the need for our ministry is growing—and with organizational growth comes the very practical need to sustain the people, programs, relationships, and resources that make our collective work possible.
Most of all, thank you.
Through your calls, notes, emails, text messages, social media posts, financial support, and simple words of encouragement, I am reminded again and again that AWAB does not do this work alone.
We do it together.
As this new season begins, I am grateful to know that wherever these fall travels take me—and wherever your own lives and ministries take you—we remain connected in this shared work of building a Baptist witness in which every person can know that they are loved, welcomed, and affirmed for being fully who and how they are.
There is much ahead. There is much work to do. And there is also much reason for hope.
Thank you for being part of it.
With gratitude,
~Brian