All people are children of God, which includes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, a group of diverse religious leaders said last night in a unified voice.
They came together for a Service of Affirmation of the Human Dignity of LGBT People in Eisenhower Chapel. Local Jewish and Christian organizations sponsored the service to reaffirm a place for LGBT people in those faiths.
An arch of candles, each a different color of the rainbow, twinkled behind the panel and contrasted sharply with the cold, gray sky outside Eisenhower Chapel.
Greg Harbaugh, Lutheran Campus Ministry pastor, related a story about a depressed woman who sought his guidance. In the course of the counseling, the woman came out to him as a lesbian.
"And I was in new territory," Harbaugh said.
He contemplated this woman, he said, and soon realized she, like other gays and lesbians he knew, was a faithful person through whom God has done good work.
"Is there room for people who are gay and lesbian? I think there is," he said. "God is calling the church to open the closet doors, to unbind you and set you free."
Harbaugh discussed a reading from the Bible in which Paul wrote negatively about people who engaged in homosexual intercourse.
"Paul didn't have an understanding of sexual orientation as we do today," Harbaugh said. "Paul's words simply don't ring literally true to me."
Father Joseph Hlubik, Penn State Catholic Community campus minister, said although some Bible passages speak negatively of homosexuality, there are positive images as well.
He discussed a Bible story in which two men share a deep and intimate love.
"This is a story of a covenant, lifelong love between Jonathan and David," Hlubik said. "This is the same David the Jews and Christians view as the greatest king of Israel."
Hlubik encouraged people in the audience to focus on a larger view of faith, not just on intricacies of biblical passages, which can sometimes be taken out of context or used as weapons to condemn people.
"The fundamental command is to love," he said. "Whether we are straight or gay, we all need friendship, we all need love, and we all need intimacy in our relationships."
Hlubik said there has been some progress in embracing LGBT people in Roman Catholicism.
There have also been strides in Judaism, said Elana Rivel, program director of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. She said in the three branches of Judaism, two have made progress to be more inclusive of LGBT people.
"The third one is not quite there yet," she said.
However, she said in the majority of the Jewish faith there is starting to be a change, and she is optimistic about the future.
There is even progress toward inclusion in the language of the Bible, said the Reverend Timmy Shanahan, a chaplain with the Episcopal Campus Ministry.
Shanahan said she got tears in her eyes 10 years ago when she first read a translation of the Book of Genesis that said God created humankind, both male and female, in his image.
This differs from another translation that says God created man in his image.
"God created humankind in his image — not mankind, but humankind, male and female," Shanahan reiterated.
"We are each made in God's image. To me, this is the basis of theology."
The Reverend Carl Synan, campus pastor with the United Campus Ministry, also related his belief that people are all created by God. "No matter what others may say," he said, "what God has created, may no one call profane."
While the majority of the speakers read religious passages, Oscar Fernández (graduate-comparative literature) offered up an a cappella song of praise.
A small, intimate group of about 20 people, many whom were middle-age adults, attended the service, which is an annual event.
Tim Kroh (junior-religious studies) attended the service and felt it was a positive step for Penn State in becoming more accepting of diversity. "I think it's important to acknowledge that LGBT people are children of God and deserve an equal place in religion and faith," he said.
