the above is a link to a gay welcoming Church.
I post it neither as an endorsement nor the opposite.
I think somewhere in the Gospels it talks about it's not good to judge a person before you hear what he has to say.
the preacher was saying something about wanting the people in the congregation to hear something from God that morning.
something I heard that I'd never thought of before was that apparently in UCC churches, probably other liturgical churches such as Catholic or Episcopal, the book they read the gospel out of is left open after the reading.
he talks about this at about 33:45
he says that the symbolizes that God is still speaking to his people. an interesting thought, I thought.