St. Mary Roman Catholic Church in Kingman recently wrote about the Synod on the Family in their Oct. 18 bulletin. 

The synod considered issues such as same-sex unions, stressing that God is for all kinds of people and to be open-minded.

"The synod on the family discussed issues such as sex and contraception, the union of gays and the children raised by same-sex unions including aspects of marriage and re-marriage," the Rev. Victor Yakubu, the church's parochial administrator, said in the bulletin. "Over 191 Church leaders from around the globe participated in the synod including selected lay married men and women chosen by Pope Francis. With the conclusion of the synod, the Church released its position concerning these issues. ... The Synod on the Family that ended in 2015 is one among many that the Church will convene in the future to resolve many issues. If God is for all people and for all kinds of people, should we open or close the doors on some people? Keep praying!"

Challenges have arisen in all of Church history, but the bulletin stated that God has always remained solution-focused and that it should be left up to God to make decisions of wrong and right.

A summary of the early Jerusalem Synod is found in Acts 15, verses 28-29.

“'It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities, namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage,'" Yakubu quoted the Scripture. "'If you keep free of these, you will be doing what is right.' This may sound to us today as very shallow; but at that time, it was a relief to those who were waiting for answers. The openness of the Council Fathers allowed gentiles to flood the Church and be members and allowed them to embrace a new life in Christ Jesus."