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From the Executive Director
Dear Sisters
and Brothers in Christ,
This Lenten season, I’m reflecting on the ONE mystery of the life, death,
burial and resurrection of Jesus, and how this ONE mystery informs and
inspires our welcoming and affirming movement.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender / Allied people have experienced the
freedom of embracing themselves as the people God created them to be, the
freedom to be their true selves in the context of Faith Community and
Society, the freedom Jesus himself experienced.
LGBT-Allied people also know--all too well--marginalization, victimization,
crucifixion, as Jesus knew. But gratefully, the ONE mystery, which we
Christians experience as a fountain welling up into everlasting life,
doesn’t end in crucifixion. But rather, resurrection.
We LGBT-Allied people live into resurrection by investing all we are and all
we have into creating the kind of society where there are NO MORE VICTIMS,
a society in which no one else, ever again, is nailed to a cross to die: a
society without nails.
We are NO LONGER VICTIMS! We are the free and happy queer people, creating a
free and happy society.
May we journey together this Lenten season with this vision and this hope!
For a free and happy society,
Rev. Ken
Pennings
Executive Director, The Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists
ken@wabaptists.org,
(608)
255-2155
Bay Area Gathering, March 18-22
“Turning
Brokeback Mountain into an Open Range”
·
March 18,
10 am-1 pm: Community-Building Event:
Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church, 3534 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland, CA 94610,
(510) 893-2484.
All welcoming & affirming Baptists of all denominations and affiliations
invited!
·
March
19, 10 am: Worship:
First Baptist Church, 2345 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704 (510)
848-5838,
fbcberk@aol.com. Preacher: AWAB Director Ken Pennings.
·
March 22,
12 noon–2pm: BLT (Baptists Lunching Together):
Ken Pennings will be the presenter. At Grand Lake Gardens (ABC Retirement
Facility), 401 Santa Clara Ave., Oakland, CA, 94610 (1/2 mi. from Lakeshore
Avenue Baptist Church). Cost $8. Call Joan Thatcher (510.843.4656) for
reservations by Monday, March 20th. Capacity: 50 people.
AWAB Churches Seeking Pastors
Granville, OH:
First Baptist Church, Granville, Ohio, a small, active Welcoming &
Affirming congregation, seeks a full-time pastor steeped in social justice.
We welcome applicants from any denomination who value substance over style
and questions over answers. For more nformation, see our Website:
www.firstbaptistgranville.org. Contact: Reverend Alan
Newton, Executive Minister, American Baptist Churches of the
Rochester-Genesee Region, 1100 S. Goodman St., Rochester, NY 14620. Phone:
(585)340-9520. Email:
anewton@crcds.edu
Memphis,
TN:
Prescott Memorial Baptist Church, Memphis, TN (ABC/Alliance of Baptists/BPFNA),
is beginning its search for a senior pastor. Rev. Martha Brahm will be
leaving in mid-January. Tom Walsh is a member of the search committee, and
will be receiving resumes and profiles at
pastorsearch@prescottchurch.org
. Write to Prescott Memorial Baptist Church, 961 Getwell Rd.,
Memphis, TN 38111, 901-327-8479.
Ithaca,
NY:
First Baptist Church, Ithaca, NY, is seeking an interim pastor, and
eventually a full-time senior pastor. Contact (607)
273-5800.
Or write FBC, Dewitt Park Mall, Ithaca, NY 14950.
Madison,
WI:
first Baptist Church, Madison, WI, is seeking a Minister of Discipleship.
Contact (608) 233-1880.
Or write FBC, 518 N. Franklin Ave., Madison, WI 53705.
Palmer, AK:
Church of the Covenant is looking for a staff person. “We’re looking for a
seminary graduate, who is committed to social ministries. While Church of
the Covenant cannot afford a full-time pastor, our related ministries
certainly can. A gay person, male or female, would be welcomed. A partnered
person would be welcome. The idea is to find someone who ultimately would
replace me. After all, I am 78. Palmer is a great place for someone who
wants a little adventure and who loves a variety of people.” – Rev. Howard
Bess, pastor of Church of the Covenant.
H. Darrell Lance Retires as Editor of
The InSpiriter
"This June, Dr. H. Darrell Lance will be retiring from many years of
outstanding service to AWAB as Editor of
The InSpiriter. AWAB will
present Darrell with love gifts at the Southern Welcoming & Affirming
Baptists Luncheon at Southside Church, Birmingham, AL, Sunday, April 23,
12:30 pm. Please submit written tributes and financial gifts on Darrell's
behalf by April 19th, 2006, to AWAB, P.O. Box 259257, Madison, WI 53725.
Written tributes may also be emailed to ken@wabaptists.org."
From Rev. Howard Bess,
Pastor of Church of the Covenant, Palmer, AK, to Dr. H. Darrell Lance,
Editor of AWAB’s newsletter, The InSpiriter:
Dear
Darrell,
I
received the bulk package of The InSpiriter in yesterday's mail. Great
edition. I have already read every word. Darrell, your editorial was a
gem. Truly homophobia is imponderable. The roots are complex and deep.
Thank you for your attempt to unravel those roots.
I was
truly impressed and moved by Melissa McBain's piece about her play, “Altar
Call.” I am going to get a copy. I really believe it can be produced here
in Palmer. My latest project is the PALMER ARTS COUNCIL. Six weeks from
now we are opening with a production of the Broadway hit "Proof." I would
love to do "Altar Call."
Ken's
leadership is exciting.
Shalom,
Howard Bess
Calendar of Events
AWAB’s Big Event for 2006
June
26-29, 2006 -
Tapestry:
Live, Laugh, Love & Lead -
Joint National GLBT-Allies Gathering, sponsored by AWAB, UCC Coalition, and
GLAD (Disciples of Christ), at the University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis,
IN. There will be time for discussion and worship led by each of the
convening groups. Brian Dixon and Kevin Rose are AWAB's representatives on
the planning committee. Visit
www.tapestry2006.org for information.
Ken Pennings’
Speaking Engagements:
March 12, 2006, 10:30 am…Ken will preach
at First Baptist Church, 518 N. Franklin Ave., Madison, WI, 53705. Call
(608) 233-1880.
March 19, 2006. Ken will preach at First Baptist Church, 2345
Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704 (510) 848-5838, fbcberk@aol.com.
March 22, 2006, 12 noon – 2pm. Ken will be the presenter at BLT
(Baptists Lunching Together) - a dialogue group of ABC folks. To be held at
Grand Lake Gardens (ABC Retirement Facility), 401 Santa Clara Ave., Oakland,
CA, 94610 (1/2 mi. from Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church). Cost $8. Call Joan
Thatcher (510.843.4656) for reservations by Monday, March 20th. Capacity: 50
people.
April 23, 2006, 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm. Ken will speak at the “Let’s Get
Acquainted” Welcoming & Affirming Baptists Luncheon, at Southside Baptist
Church, 1016 19th St. South, Birmingham, AL. Call (608) 255-2155.
April 26, 2006, 7 pm. Ken will speak at Oakhurst Baptist Church, 222
E. Lake Dr., Decatur, GA, 30030. Call (404) 378 3677.
May 21, 2006, 8:30 am & 10:30 am. Ken will preach at Unity Church of
Madison, WI, 601 Tompkins Ave., Madison, WI 53716. Call (608) 221-1376.
June 4, 2006, Ken will preach at The South Church, 501 S. Emerson,
Mt. Prospect, IL 60056, in the morning (847) 253-0501, and at Grace Baptist
Church, 5253 N Kenmore Ave, Chicago, IL, 60640, in the evening (773)
334-9003.
October 1, 2006, (tentative) Ken will preach at First Baptist Church,
416 Niagra Street, Eau Claire, WI, 54703. Call (715) 832-0642.
October 15, 2006, Ken will teach and preach at University Baptist
Church, 4554 Twelfth Ave. NE, Seattle, WA, 98105. Call (206) 632-5188.
November 5, 2006, Ken will teach and preach at Drexel Hill Baptist
Church, 4400 State Rd., Drexel Hill, PA, 19026. Call (610) 259-2356
Regional AWAB Gatherings:
2006 Expanding the Welcoming Church Movement
12-Stop Tour:
February 17-19,
2006…Michigan Area AWAB Gathering,
Woodside Church,
Flint, Michigan. This 1st
stop of the tour was a huge success and delight to all who attended!
February 23-26,
2006…Northeast AWAB
Gathering,
at Madison
Avenue Baptist Church, NY, NY. This 2nd stop of the tour was
Christian fellowship and celebration at its best!!! Check out the great pix
at http://www.othersheepexecsite.com/AWAB_NortheastGathering2006.html.
March 18-22,
2006…San
Francisco Bay Area AWAB Gathering,
in Oakland and Berkeley, CA.
Contact Event
Coordinator Jesus Portillo (510-326-8097,
jportillo@att.net).
“Turning
Brokeback Mountain into an Open Range”
-
Saturday, March 18:
Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church, 3534 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland, CA
94610, (510)
893-2484.
10:00 am Welcome,
Prayer, Music
10:20 am Reports
from each welcoming congregation
10:50 am Break
11:00 am "Expanding
the Welcoming Church Mov't" - Ken Pennings
12:00 pm Lunch
(Potluck)
1:00
pm Conclude
-
Sunday, March 19:
AWAB Director Ken Pennings
will preach at First Baptist Church, 2345 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA
94704
(510)
848-5838,
office@fbc-berkeley.org
-
Wednesday,
March 22, 12
noon –
2pm. Ken
Pennings will be the presenter at
BLT
(Baptists Lunching Together) - a dialogue group of ABC folks. To be held
at Grand Lake Gardens (ABC Retirement Facility), 401 Santa Clara Ave.,
Oakland, CA, 94610 (1/2 mi. from Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church). Cost
$8. Call Joan Thatcher (510.843.4656) for reservations by Monday, March
20th. Capacity: 50 people.
April
21-23, 2006…Southern AWAB Gathering – Let’s Get Acquainted! (In
conjunction with The Alliance of Baptists Convocation), Birmingham, AL.
AWAB’s council will attend the Alliance of Baptists Convocation, April
21-23, and then will host the Southern AWAB Gathering on April 23rd,
at Southside Baptist Church,
1016 19th
St. South,
Birmingham, AL, 12:30 – 3:30 pm. To register for the Convocation, visit
www.allianceofbaptists.org.
For more information about the Southern AWAB Gathering, contact Ken Pennings
(608-255-2155,
ken@wabaptists.org).
June 2-4,
2006…Chicagoland AWAB Gathering.
Contact Ann-Louise Haak (alhaak@lakestreet.org) for more information.
-
Sunday AM - Ken Pennings speaking at The South Church, Mt. Prospect, IL;
-
Sunday PM – Ken Pennings speaking at Grace Baptist Church, Chicago, IL.
July 21-22,
2006…New England AWAB Gathering.
Hosted by First Churches, 129 Main St,
Northampton, MA, 01060,
(413)
584-9392.
Contact Bruce Baker at
bpenke@aol.com,
(617)
669-2974
September 29-October
1, 2006…Upper Midwest AWAB Gathering
(MN / WI). Contact Rev. Dr. JoAnne Juett (pastor of First Baptist Church
[ABC], Eau Claire, WI), if you would like to help in the planning of a
Wisconsin/Minnesota AWAB Regional Gathering to be held in Eau Claire, WI (JoAnne
Juett,
715-832-0642,
jcjuett@sbcglobal.net).
October
13-15, 2006…Northwest AWAB Gathering.
Hosted by Seattle First Baptist Church and University Baptist Church,
Seattle, Washington. Contact Rev. Craig Darling (craigdarling@companis.org)
or Rev. Tim Phillips (tim@ubcseattle.org) for more information.
October
20-22, 2006…Texas
AWAB Gathering. Hosted by University Baptist Church, 2130 Guadalupe St.,
Austin, TX 78705. Contact Bill Cox, (512) 619-4909, bcoxal@yahoo.com.
Note: 2006 AWAB Regional
Events are being planned for Washington D.C.; Lake Erie Region; and North
Carolina. Stay tuned for more information!
Events Sponsored by AWAB’s Partners:
See
www.welcomingresources.org
(calendar)
July 10-15, 2006 BPFNA Summer Conference: Becoming the Beloved Community,
Atlanta, GA. Keynoter: C. T. Vivian. Contact (704) 521-6051,
bpfna@bpfna.org.
July 14-15, 2006,
Whosoever Ministries, Inc. will host a conference at Virginia
Highland Church in Atlanta, Georgia. The "Reaping the Spiritual
Harvest" conference will feature many inspiring workshops and
keynote speeches from Harry Knox, director of the Human Rights Campaign's
faith and religion program and Candace Chellew-Hodge, the founder of
Whosoever Ministries, Inc. Renowned lesbian Christian singer Marsha Stevens
will give a special concert. Visit
http://www.whosoever.org/conference/
July 27-30, 2006
Together in
Toronto: Claiming an Open
Spirit.
Joint gathering of Affirm United, the Brethren Mennonite Council for Lesbian
Gay Bisexual Transgender Interests (BMC), and Lutherans Concerned / North
America (LC/NA). Contact Ralph Carl Wushke
(416)
532-8591,
rwushke@interlog.com.
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and Institute for Welcoming
Resources (IWR) to Join Forces
Unprecedented Merger of Secular and Faith-Based Organizing efforts
Audio Press Conference
Monday March 13 —1PM EST,
Noon CDT,
10AM
PST
Call-in number: 800.289.0544; prompt code: 5439802
Audio Press
Conference. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to announce that the
Institute for Welcoming Resources, an umbrella organization for leading
Protestant lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Welcoming Church
Programs, will merge with and become a program of the Task Force. Matt
Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; Rev.
Rebecca Voelkel, Institute for Welcoming Resources program director
Institute of Welcoming Resources members will participate in the audio press
conference.
Why is a
religious LGBT rights organization merging with a secular LGBT rights
organization? Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people have faced
unprecedented attacks from right-wing religious forces who falsely frame
their anti-LGBT political agenda as the 'religious perspective.' This
merger, an unprecedented joining of LGBT secular and faith-based organizing,
is designed to provide new resources, training and strategies that will
increase the number of people of faith supporting equality for LGBT people.
The IWR represents 1,500 welcoming congregations with an estimated 1 million
members, a vast network of people of faith dedicated to LGBT equality.
The National
Gay and Lesbian Task Force, founded in 1973, is the oldest national
organization working for the rights of LGBT people; the IWR has constituent
groups that have been working for change in their denominations since 1974.
The Task Force and the IWR will bring these parallel streams of activism
together to exponentially increase the profile, resources and size of the
pro-LGBT faith movement.
Institute for Welcoming Resources:
The Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists — American Baptist
Churches USA & Alliance of Baptists
Gay And Lesbian Acceptance (GALA) — Community of Christ
More Light Presbyterians — Presbyterian Church USA
Open & Affirming Ministry, The Christian Church — Disciples of Christ
Open and Affirming (ONA) Program — The United Church of Christ
Reconciling in Christ Program — The Lutheran Church
Reconciling Ministries Network — United Methodist Church
Shower of Stoles Project Gifted to the Institute for Welcoming
Resources
Dear Welcoming Church Movement Colleagues,
It is with great joy and deep gratitude that the Institute
for Welcoming Resources has accepted the gift of the Shower of Stoles
Project. After ten years of tireless work, Martha Juillerat, National Field
Organizer for the Shower of Stoles Project, has discerned that it is time to
move on in her ministry. As she was making this decision, she met with
members of the Institute for Welcoming Resources (IWR). It became clear that
IWR, whose mission is to resource, equip and collaborate with the welcoming
church movement, is a natural partner for the Shower of Stoles Project.
And so, IWR has accepted the gift of the Shower of Stoles
Project. The crucial work of sharing the stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender lives and our calls to leadership in our churches will
continue, only under the name of the Institute for Welcoming Resources.If
you would like more information about the Shower of Stoles Project or to
order a display of stoles, please contact us:StolesProject@welcomingresources.org
Or
www.welcomingresources.org
612.821.4397 (IFWR)
As with any new thing, we need very much God's presence and
guidance as well as the prayers and support of our communities. And so we
would ask that you hold us in your hearts and lift us up in your meditation
and prayer. God has called all of us to the gospel task of witnessing to
God's Extravagant, Abundant, Ridiculously-Joyous Welcome. The Institute for
Welcoming Resources and the Shower of Stoles Project is but one
manifestation of this call. May our work and yours be blessed.
Gratefully,
Rebecca Voelkel,
Executive Officer
Institute for Welcoming Resources
Sermon by Dr. Mary Ann Tolbert
Dr.
Mary A. Tolbert delivered an address called, “Keeping the Faith, Preaching
the Good News” at the recent "Breathing Life" event sponsored by the open
and affirming organizations of Disciples and United Church of Christ.
http://www.wabaptists.org/associational/KeepFaith.pdf.
Nadean
Bishop (the retired pastor of University Baptist Church of Minneapolis) is
known to many in AWAB as a vital and key voice and supporter. We grieve
with Nadean and her partner Cheryl Palmer, the death of Nadean’s 44-year-old
daughter.
Nadean Bishop & Cheryl Palmer, 10130 Manning Ave North, Stillwater, MN 55082
651-430-009,
bisho007@maroon.tc.umn.edu
A Friend’s Request
Who
out there is both openly gay and in some capacity related (no doubt,
formerly-related) to the GARBC (General Association of Regular Baptist
Churches) either as a (former) pastor, missionary or in some form of
ministry or lay person and/or a graduate from one of the fellowshipping
colleges and/or seminaries? If any such person would be interested in
contacting me in order to further consider some means of on-going connection
as a gay/GARBC group, I would be interested in hearing from that individual.
Email: stephen_parelli@othersheep.org.
Rev. Steve Parelli, MDiv
Executive Director, Other Sheep
2962 Decatur Ave., 5D,
Bronx NY 10458
(office/home) 718-360-0884; (cell) 646-322-7731
http://www.othersheepexecsite.com
(Executive Director's Web Site: Personal)
http://www.othersheep.org
(Organization's Web Site: Academic)
Associational
is a periodic e-newsletter of the Association of Welcoming & Affirming
Baptists, a network of 59 churches and hundreds of individuals who have
joined together to advocate for the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender persons within Baptist communities of faith. Please forward
this e-newsletter to interested friends. Copy relevant information into
your organization’s bulletin and newsletter. To subscribe, send an e-mail to
subscribe@wabaptists.org
with
SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. To be removed from this list, send an e-mail
to
unsubscribe@wabaptists.org
with
REMOVE in the subject line. To read back issues of Associational, go to:
www.wabaptists.org/associational.htm.
To
learn more about the Association, go to:
www.wabaptists.org. |
