What It Means To Stand Out

lumo project: Scripture for the Visual Age

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"Everywhere I go, I stand out as a Deaf person, as I usually have interpreters. Representation matters; it gives a new perspective of what could be beyond what most people normally see. After all, God calls ALL people." -- Rev. Lori Fuller

Join us as we move toward Creating Beloved Community: Healing Together, with Jesus as our primary model, and gather online with Rev. Lori Fuller and ASL interpreter David Evans.

Lori Fuller is a graduate of Luther Seminary and was ordained on February 27, 2022. Born Deaf, Lori grew up without access to or understanding of the Love of God. Thanks to a multi-denominational church in Wisconsin, she fell in love with God and felt the calling to bring God's Love to others in the Deaf Community. Lori is the founding pastor of Palms Deaf Church (PDC) in Palm Coast, Florida. PDC works to change the statistics of where 95-98% of Deaf people are unchurched, and there are almost one million Deaf people in Florida. Palms Deaf Church helps meet this need by offering a hybrid ministry.

We believe this transition from Being Church and Courageous Leadership to Creating Beloved Community: Healing Together is in attunement with our call as Christians from:

Scripture and our expanding understanding and expression of love for ALL of our neighbors
MLK's Letter from Birmingham Jail and Vision of the Beloved Community
What Is the Beloved Community and Why Is It Important?
The Idea of the Beloved Community: The creative friendship of Martin Luther King Jr. and Thich Nhat Hanh
ELCA Teaching, and especially our "connection to all of life"
ELCA Living Our Baptismal Covenant
ELCA Truth and Healing Movement (as facilitated by Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations)
ELCA Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations
Dr. Shawn Ginwright's The Four Pivots: Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves
And so many other diverse voices and sacred ways we engage with each other and with the world.

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To answer some commonly asked questions about these regular gatherings:

"Why are you still meeting?" "Don't become too familiar with loneliness. Community is a risk, but liberation depends on the collective. Who can you trust to hold you?" -- Cole Arthur Riley, author of Black Liturgies

"How can I prepare?" Beloved Community members pay attention and listen actively. We invite you to bring a spirit of curiosity and openness to these gatherings and to all aspects of your life. What are you noticing? Where is Spirit moving? How are you being invited to participate in the work God is already doing, especially outside the walls of the building where the church often gathers?

"What if I'm not a group person?" Beloved Community members take calculated risks. We invite you to take a small step outside your comfort zone and allow yourself to be seen and witnessed. We can almost guarantee that you will be pleasantly surprised by the loving, caring, and nurturing nature of community in this time together.