Friday, December 28, 2012

Rudy Schleussner--Sharing God's Acceptance


TLC/PoG Story Project

We are collecting stories of how members of the TLC/PoG community have recognized what God is doing to meet the deep needs of the world and discovered and assumed their unique roles in partnership with God.

Personal experience of God’s unconditional love and acceptance has inspired Rudy Schleusner’s commitment and courage to offer that same grace to others.

Rudy took to heart the message, learned early in Sunday School, that “Jesus loves me, this I know” and felt a close personal connection to God in childhood and adolescence.  He enjoyed singing to God as he walked through the rural fields or sat on an isolated beach.  The first time he performed a solo, he chose to sing “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” an expression of what he deeply felt about his relationship with God.  Tall and skinny in adolescence and into music instead of sports, like most other kids, Rudy felt somewhat outside of the “mainstream” but he found consistent comfort in a deep sense of being accepted by God.


Rudy and his family had firsthand experience of churches where acceptance of people as they are is not the norm.  As a result, Rudy is committed to creating oases of acceptance where all people can experience the grace and love of God. 


Rudy and Judy’s son, Joel, is gay.  He left home as a teenager preparing to come out because he did not want his family to suffer the community rejection that he expected would arise as a consequence of others discovering this aspect of his identity.  His parents accepted Joel as he is and he returned home where the family became involved in sharing their experience with others.  Some folks were supportive.  Others rejected them for their position.  Some even made anonymous, abusive phone calls to their home condemning them in the name of God.  Through this Rudy remained consistently convinced of God’s loving acceptance and committed to share that acceptance.


When Rudy and Judy moved to Lynnwood from Wisconsin, they brought this passion with them.  They were instrumental in helping to form the Harmony Life Group which extends loving Christian welcome and support to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons and their families and friends.  Many such persons have only negative perceptions of churches that have excluded them, mocked them and condemned them to eternal punishment.  This certainly does not help them believe in God’s love for them!  Rudy, Judy and others who are a part of Harmony are acting as a manifestation of God’s love and acceptance, providing a welcoming entry point to the TLC/PoG community. 


In a widely inclusive community, there are people who share differing perspectives on this issue.  One interesting tension that Rudy experiences in this work is the challenge of maintaining his commitment to accepting others as they are, even when their position might exclude him or those for whom he is concerned.


Harmony has successfully embodied God’s love to those who have felt excluded.  Parents whose gay child was rejected by their own church found a listening ear in the Harmony group.  A woman cut off from family relationships found a supportive and caring community.  Several people looking to see if any church might be a spiritual home for them have connected to the website.  Others have shared with Harmony members that simply being able to share about the existence of this group at TLC/PoG, with co-workers or friends has opened them to the possibility of considering a church connection again.


Harmony group are helping us manifest God’s dream for a world where all know themselves loved and accepted by God.
Rudy and others in the Harmony Group are helping us manifest God's dream for a world where all people know themselves as loved and accepted by God.
Harmony group are helping us manifest God’s dream for a world where all know themselves loved and accepted by God. Harmony group are helping us manifest God’s dream for a world where all know themselves loved and accepted by God.

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