UNITED IN CHRIST

A Christian Vision of Diversity and Inclusion

Fr. Luke A. Veronis

“There is no longer Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28) The Apostle Paul offers this radical and transformative statement about diversity and unity in his powerful letter to the Galatians.

In these few words, St. Paul obliterates the human divisions and hierarchies of his time—ethnic, social, and gender-based—and lays out the Christian vision of radical unity. In Jesus Christ, all are one. This is not an erasure of our differences, but the sanctification of our diversity in the harmony of divine love.

In today’s world, the language of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” have become politicized. But we must not let political confusion rob us of a deep Christian truth - that every human being made in the image and likeness of God is worthy of love, dignity, and full participation in the life of Christ and His Church.

The Church is not a museum of the perfect or a club for an elite minority. It is, as the Fathers have taught us, a spiritual hospital for the broken. And who among us is not broken in some way? Whether our wounds are visible or hidden, physical or emotional, neurological or spiritual - we all carry wounds. And it is precisely in our weaknesses, as St. Paul says, that the power of Christ is made perfect.

The Church proclaims a vision of inclusion that is not sentimental. It is incarnational. Christ did not avoid the outcast, the diseased, the marginalized, or those who are different from ourselves. He embraced the leper, dined with tax collectors, touched the blind, reached out to those outside of Israel, and listened to the cries of people ignored by society. He became one with them. Then He commanded His followers, and now us, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

Harriet Fradellos, a dear parishioner of our Church and a mother of a child with special needs, has courageously faced overwhelming challenges, and allowed her challenges to lead to transformation. In our July issue of “The Light,” she writes of how autism, though terrifying at first, became a kind of spiritual exercise - one that brought her to her knees and closer to God. Her words echo the deep truth that many of us experience: that our greatest hardships can also become the very places where God meets us.

Harriet reflected on her recent experience at Holy Cross’ Huffington Ecumenical Institute’s special conference  “On Behalf of All” where she attended a 3-day groundbreaking “Disabilities, Accessibility, & Inclusion Workshop”  in the Orthodox Church. There, she witnessed our Greek Orthodox hierarchs, clergy and lay leaders listening deeply to families like hers - families who often feel unseen or misunderstood, who have learned to navigate stares and silence with grace and resilience. They discussed simple but meaningful changes churches need to make to help all people feel welcomed and comfortable. We need to cultivate a culture of belonging.

Her words reminded me that true inclusion is not just about ramps and handicapped restrooms. It is more about relationships. It is about love. It is about seeing Christ in each person. It is about welcoming people where they are at. Harriet wrote, “When we can’t change who we are or how we show up in the world, and others don’t want to be confronted with such differences, the impulse is to look away. But we all need each other. All of us make up the body of Christ.”

This is what Christian inclusion looks like. It looks like Jesus opening His arms to the thief on the cross. It looks like the early Church welcoming slaves, Gentiles, and women as full members of the Body of Christ. It looks like saints such as St. Moses the Ethiopian, St. Mary of Egypt, and St. Maria of Paris — each different in background and brokenness yet made whole in God.

It also looks like us—our parishes—learning to become more like Christ. Learning to see not with the eyes of fear, discomfort, or judgment, but with the eyes of love.

Can we become a Church where no one is “othered,” where everyone knows they belong, where even weakness is honored because it makes space for God’s grace?

In the end, diversity is not a political slogan. It is a Eucharistic reality. The Church is the one place on earth where people from all walks of life kneel side by side, receive the same holy Body and Blood of our Lord in the Eucharist, and are united into the one Body of Christ.

And so I ask, “What will our parishes look like if we take this calling seriously? Will we be a place of hospitality and welcome or a place of judgement and exclusion? Will we listen to the marginalized among us, or remain comfortably blind?”

As Harriet beautifully put it: “Autism exercised my spiritual being and created an unshakeable Foundation... "My strength is made perfect in weakness.’” Let that be the heartbeat of our community.

Let us open our hearts, open our churches, open our fellowship to everyone. In doing so, we don’t dilute the Gospel. We fulfill it.

Remember, “There is no longer Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for we are one in Jesus Christ!”