Message from the Directors

October 2008

Anxiously Engaged

By Ty Mansfield

In a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord said that His covenant disciples "should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness" (D&C 58:27). Concerning the issue of homosexuality, and given the changes in our culture and political environment, there is no more important time for those who bear the name of Jesus Christ to be "anxiously engaged" in doing those things that will bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of our Father's children.

As the popular saying goes, no man is an island; all of our actions and inactions affect not only ourselves but the lives of everyone around us. While we may like to think that our lives are our own, and that our lives don't—or shouldn't—affect others, nothing could be further from the truth. Everything we do affects those around us, for good or for ill. Since God is in the business of people—of engendering life and light and intelligence in His children—those who are serious about becoming His spiritual sons and daughters know that there is no other work they could do that is as important as adopting His eternal profession. Extending kindness and compassion, living and witnessing eternal principles, succoring the weak, lifting up the hands which hang down, and strengthening the feeble knees—this is the call of those who truly desire to be like Jesus.

Our hope at North Star is to play some small role in furthering our Father's work—in building community and supporting discipleship among men and women in the Latter-day Saint community who are affected in some way by the issue of homosexuality. Our hope is to empower men and women, friends and family, to create the resources, support structures, and spiritual convictions that will sustain them as they continue to commit their hearts and lives to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In behalf of the Executive Committee of North Star, and as we begin our second year of formal organization, I'd like to share a few things to re-emphasize who we are and how we, as a community, view our mission. The following are some common questions people have as they learn about North Star and have a desire to get more involved.

What is North Star?

North Star is a place of community for Latter-day Saints dealing with issues surrounding homosexual attraction who desire to live in harmony with the teachings of Jesus Christ and the doctrines and values of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The purpose of North Star is to be a spiritually uplifting resource for individuals and families dealing with this complex issue. It is also to empower individuals to help educate themselves and their family, friends, and Church leaders as they strive to become integrated more fully and lovingly into the Church community. The resources provided here are intended to be spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, and socially supportive.

We live in a world where the stories of those striving to live gospel standards become lost in the turbulent sea of sexual politics—scientific, social, and religious—and where secular perception is that if you experience homosexual attraction, the only way to live true to who you are is to pursue a gay or lesbian relationship. We at North Star believe in and affirm positive and balanced alternatives to dominant and extreme perceptions. We exist to support and promote the choice to live in harmony with the doctrines and teachings of the Church concerning the eternal nature of sexual expression, marriage, and family.

NOTE: North Star is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. North Star is not owned by or affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and site content should not be interpreted as official statements of Church doctrine, belief, or practice. While North Star wholly supports the doctrines and values of the Church of Jesus Christ, all views expressed or errors made are the sole responsibility of site contributors.

What is North Star's position on change or reorientation?

In our Values Statement, we state: "Recognizing the uniqueness of individual circumstance, North Star takes no official position on the origin or mutability of homosexual feelings and attractions but supports all temporal efforts consistent with the gospel that help individuals live in harmony with their covenants and attain greater peace, fulfillment, and sense of individual worth, while affirming that the most essential and eternal changes come through the power of the Savior and adherence to the teachings of His prophets."

We acknowledge that some may seek therapy and other temporal assistance in dealing with homosexual feelings and are aware that many find various approaches helpful. To those who wish to do so, we support them. Others have found such approaches unnecessary or ineffective for themselves. We support these individuals as well. North Star is agnostic on the question of changing sexual orientation. Instead, we emphasize building community among those who desire to live within the framework of the doctrines of the Church or who might be in the process of joining or returning to the Church. North Star aims to nurture change in or maintenance of our spiritual orientation, affirming and embracing our eternal identity as literal children of our Heavenly Father. We believe individuals striving for such are entirely worthy of full participation and fellowship in the Church and share just as equally in the blessings of this fellowship as any other faithful member does. We believe this is true whether or not individuals choose to make efforts to diminish or eliminate homosexual feelings, and whether or not those efforts succeed.

What is North Star's position on the Church's political involvement with same-sex marriage, particularly with California's proposition 8?

Those in the North Star community sustain the First Presidency and members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators. In an effort to maintain the focus of our stated mission, North Star itself does not engage in political activism, though we encourage all within the community to exercise their sustaining vote in ways they feel are within their abilities and appropriate to their individual circumstances and consciences. See our FAQ for a more in-depth response to the question of political involvement.

How Can I get involved?

North Star is an all-volunteer organization. It was founded not simply with the intent merely to perpetuate itself but to foster a spiritually supportive community that empowers individuals to create and share their own resources to help educate themselves and their family, friends, and Church leaders. We desire to harness the energy and missions men and women feel to bless others and to provide a forum that will help them to extend those blessings to one another within both the North Star community and the larger Latter-day Saint community.

For example, as women in the North Star Spouses Online Discussion Group discussed the dearth of helpful resources for female spouses, they decided to create their own. After some discussion, they decided to proactively take care of their own needs and to open the door for other spouses not involved with North Star to attend as well. They volunteered to share their own experiences as presenters and participants and invited professionals who have spent much of their careers assisting individuals and couples with similar stories. The fruit of those efforts began in June 2008 with the first annual Women of Worth (WoW) retreat. (Read their report.)

There are many ways to get involved with North Star. Those who are only looking for support can join any one of several online discussion groups. Those who would like to help further the mission and reach of North Star can join the North Star Steering Committee online discussion forum. Also, each month we feature an article or book that has helped someone in the community, as well as the Community Voices feature through which individuals share their personal experiences, beliefs, and testimony. In addition, we always need help with administrative support—fundraising, web site design and development, technology specialists (web, video, audio, etc), creative teams (youth, men, women, friends and family, etc.), language translators, public relations, etc.—to help us to extend our reach.

If you would like to be involved in any way, please contact us, and we'd be happy to put you to work.

My deepest conviction is that in Jesus lives, that His gospel is the "power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" (Romans 1:16), and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the vehicle within and through which the essential truths and ordinances of the gospel are administered. Within that framework, I also feel convicted by the Lord's call to be "anxiously engaged in a good cause, and [to] do many things of [my] own free will, and [to] bring to pass much righteousness" (D&C 58:27).

My desire is to join hands with each of you who feels the same, so that we might carve out a more open and compassionate place in the Church of Jesus Christ for individuals and families affected by same-gender attraction who desire to live their lives within the framework of gospel teachings—as well as to better reach out and minister to those who do not, to let them know that they, also, are loved by God, that there is a place at the table set for them, and that they only need to accept the invitation to humbly come unto Him, commit their hearts to the light of His Way, pull up a chair, and feast.