From the Executive Director:
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Please get the word out about
AWAB’s 2007
Carolinas
Conference: Acceptable to God. The
conference will take place at
Myers
Park
Baptist
Church,
Charlotte, NC,
on Friday and Saturday, October 5 and
6. The organizers of this conference
say, “The 2007 Carolinas Conference:
Acceptable to God” will be a wonderful
opportunity to gather with other persons
of faith to:
·
Hear stories of Christians
striving to reconcile faith with sexual
orientation
·
Examine Scripture and
Baptist theology
·
Explore congregational
struggles and responses to persons who
are gay and lesbian
·
Build community and connection among
Carolina AWAB and non-AWAB congregations
Acceptable to God will include
small and large group conversation,
panel discussion, video, worship,
personal reflection, congregational
action planning, and other shared
resources.”
For a complete agenda and registration
form, go to
www.wabaptists.com.
Please complete the registration form
and return it to
Myers
Park
Baptist
Church.
Questions? Contact Event Organizer Fran
Cook at
704.301.3022,
fcook10@carolina.rr.com.
We hope to see you there.
Lovingly,
Ken Pennings
608-255-2155
ken@wabaptists.org
Iowa Court Ruling
An
Iowa
court has ruled that it is
unconstitutional to deny six same-sex couples
the right to marry. This
decision brings to life the promise of equality in
Iowa’s
constitution for same-sex couples and their families. All people
deserve to be treated fairly by their government and the
decision makes that principle clear.
Lambda Legal
filed the marriage lawsuit in December 2005.
This decision comes after a hearing in May where both sides made
arguments before the court. Lambda Legal is preparing the next
step as the case moves forward — ultimately the Iowa Supreme
Court will have the final word.
Earlier this year, the House passed the Local Law
Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007,
which is now before the Senate. This bill is not
directed at preventing free speech, and in fact
carries with it a provision protecting free speech.
This legislation amends existing hate crimes law by
providing new authority for federal officials to
investigate and prosecute cases in which the
violence occurs because of the victim's real or
perceived sexual orientation, gender or disability.
Urge your Representative and Senators to end
discrimination at the workplace and support the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). The
support of this legislation has been strong from the
faith communities. Please consider signing the
petition, Clergy Against Hate and forwarding it to
friends. Also, strongly urge your Senator to support
S. 1105.
October is National LGBT
Month: Read a Story a Day Online
October is
GLBT History Month, and Equality Forum has announced 31
icons to be featured throughout the month. The 31 icons,
selected by leaders of national and international GLBT
organizations, achieved success within their respective
fields of endeavor, were national heroes or advanced GLBT
civil rights. Log on to AWAB’s website,
www.wabaptists.org,
every day in October to link to these amazing stories.
GLBT
History Month 2007 Icons:
October
1: Leonard Bernstein, Composer
October 2:
Annie Leibovitz, Photographer
October 3:
Angela Davis, Civil Rights Activist
October 4:
Alexander the Great, Military Commander
October
5: Billie Jean King, Athlete
October 6:
Pedro Almodovar, Writer/Director
October 7:
Bessie Smith, Singer
October 8:
Klaus Wowereit, Politician
October 9:
Susan Sontag, Author/Commentator
October
10: Gore Vidal, Author
October 11:
Lily Tomlin, Actor
October 12:
Peter Gomes, Theologian
October 13:
Mary Edwards Walker, Surgeon
October 14:
Frederick II, Monarch
October 15:
Virginia Uribe, Educator
October 16:
Frank Kameny, Gay Pioneer
October 17:
Nancy Mahon, Philanthropy Advocate
October 18:
David Hockney, Painter
October 19:
Audre Lorde, Author
October 20:
Cary
Grant, Actor
October 21:
Renee Richards, Transgender Pioneer
October 22:
Sherry Harris, Politician
October 23:
John Maynard Keynes, Economist
October 24:
Gertrude Stein, Author
October 25:
Zhou Dan, Chinese Gay Pioneer
October 26:
Carolyn Bertozzi, Scientist
October 27:
Cole Porter, Songwriter
October 28:
John McNeill, Theologian
October 29:
Florence Nightingale, Health Care Advocate
October 30:
Billy Sipple, Hero
October 31: Leonardo da Vinci, Artist/Inventor/Scientist
September 15 in
Chicago
Saturday, September
15th from 9:00AM
to 1:00PM,
Rev. Steven F. Kindle will present a seminar
titled Beyond the Bible and Homosexuality: An
Affirmation of Gay Christians at the Center
on Halsted’s Hoover-Leppen Theater. Following
Rev. Kindle from 2:00PM to 4:00PM,
Dr. Melissa McBain will present her new play,
Altar Call as a staged reading.
Beyond the Bible and Homosexuality: An
Affirmation of Gay Christians will examine
passages of the Bible that are frequently used
to condemn lesbians, gays, bisexuals and
transgender persons and offer a case that
scripture enhances the position of LGBT people
in the sight of God. Rev. Kindle makes a case
that, "It is not enough to say that God loves
homosexuals. What is demanded from scripture is
to say that God's love of homosexuals is
affirming, nurturing, and that God's heart
breaks when God's LGBT children are the victims
of evil perpetrated in the name of God." Rev.
Kindle is the Executive Director of Clergy
United, Inc. and holds Master’s Degrees in both
Systematic Theology and Divinity. He was
ordained in 1967 and has standing in the
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the
United Church of Christ. Altar Call
depicts a Baptist minister’s daughter trapped
between the demands of her fundamentalist
father, the needs of her gay son and the
crushing demands of her unfaithful husband.
Altar Call is a volatile mix of
sexuality and religion that erupts with laughter
and explosive anger. When a gay musician joins
her father’s staff, Maggie Stone and her teenage
son are forced to choose between love and
obedience, between community and integrity, and
between Biblical imprisonment or spiritual
freedom. Dr. McBain is the Director of Clinical
Experiences at
Augustana College
where she administers the student teaching
program and produces the Quad City Playwrights
Festival for young writers. Other recent works
include Yard Sale, a solo show that premiered to
rave reviews at the Living Here Festival of new
plays at New Ground Theatre in
Davenport, IA.
She is also a professional actor, theater
scholar, member of the
Moline area PFLAG and is
proud of both her sons – straight and gay. The
Center on Halsted’s Hoover-Leppen Theater is
located at 3656 N.
Halsted St., Chicago,
IL, and is three
blocks from the CTA’s Red Line station at
Addison Street (two
blocks East to Halsted then one block North).
Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door
and include the seminar, all seminar materials,
the play, refreshments and complimentary lunch
from 1:00PM to 1:45PM.
There will be no charge to only attend the Altar
Call performance at
2:00PM. Advanced payment can be made
with credit card by logging on to www.paypal.com
and identifying payment and information for each
individual attending to LEFIllinois@hotmail.com
or send a check to LEF, 3712 N. Broadway, Box
136, Chicago, IL 60613 with attendee
information. For more information, contact
David Valkema at LEFIllinois@hotmail.com or
312-497-1110. Liberty Education Forum is a
national organization that educates people about
the importance of achieving freedom and fairness
for gay and lesbian Americans. LEF is a
non-partisan foundation that conducts
educational programs, grassroots training, and
research on gay and lesbian issues. LEF has a
national full time office in
Washington DC
and chapters throughout the
United States.
www.libertyeducationforum.org.
Book Review: A Time to Embrace
by William Stacy Johnson
William Stacy Johnson's A Time to
Embrace: Same-Gender Relationships in
Religion, Law and Politics offers a
comprehensive overview of the seven major
religious responses to same-gender
relationships (from outright prohibition to
institutional blessing), including a helpful
biblical and theological analysis of each of
these positions. While much of this will be
familiar to many LGBT people, Johnson's
organization of these positions (including
charts!) makes this a "one-stop" resource
for the full range of Christian arguments
regarding sexuality. It's also an important
reminder about the differences among the
kind of arguments made by various
denominations and schools of thought. For
those resources alone, this book is well
worth the price. But Johnson also includes a
compelling argument for why embracing
same-gender unions and full marriage
equality is essential for a well-functioning
and thriving democracy, from both a legal
and political perspective. Here again
Johnson outlines and organizes the various
types of committed unions and arrangements
that same-gender couples might choose to
participate in and what's at stake for civil
society in each of these in terms of both
liberty and equality. Johnson is well
equipped to take on this daunting task as he
is Arthur M. Adams Associate Professor of
Systematic Theology at Princeton Theological
Seminary, an ordained Presbyterian minister,
and an attorney-at-law.
The theme for National Coming Out Day 2007 will be
Talk About It, continuing the slogan and
branding that the national program has been building
since 2005. National Coming Out Day is a time to
celebrate openness and honesty—whether you came out
20 minutes ago or 20 years ago, this is a time for
all Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Straight
supportive people to Talk About It with
friends, family and coworkers.
Coming Out Day Kits include:
-
Resource Guides
to Coming Out
-
Straight Guides
to GLBT Americans
-
Transgender
Coming Out Guides
-
Poster, Balloons
and HRC (Human
Resource
Center) Stickers
-
And everything
else you’ll need to celebrate living openly!
You can order your kits by going to the HRC website,
www.hrc.org
Pastor
Position
New Hope
Fellowship Church
(NHFC) in Dallas,
Texas, heartily invites applicants for
the position of Pastor. We are an open and inclusive, small,
non-denominational, evangelical church located in the heart of
the Oak Lawn and Uptown communities. New
Hope is a diverse community that connects people to Jesus Christ
through expository Bible teaching, personal study, heartfelt
worship, earnest prayer, honest relationships, and care for
those in need. We are a congregation consisting primarily of
homosexual men and women who long to spread the gospel to all
who seek Him in the Dallas
area. We seek a pastor committed to preaching and teaching,
skilled in counseling, passionate for outreach, and eager to
seek God's vision with us.
We hope the character of NHFC, as exhibited at
http://www.nhfcdallas.org/, conveys
a community of sincere believers actively seeking the heart of
God that matches your ministerial calling. Our passion lies in
building up the diverse and integrated Body of Christ.
Interested parties may contact us at
pastorsearch@nhfcdallas.org
Associational
is a periodic e-newsletter of the Association of Welcoming & Affirming
Baptists, a network of 66 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.
|
