INSIDE
- From the Interim Director
- News: Anti-Gay Marriage Legislation Attempt Fails
- Association Launches Online Discussion
- Calendar
Dear Brothers and Sisters, you Baptists who find grace in association:
The Peace of Christ be with you. I greet you on behalf of the council of
the Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists. In my first few months
as interim director, I have been blessed simply by learning more about this
movement -- its people, its ministries, its passion for the deepness and
wideness of God's love. I have heard much good news. One of the purposes
of this e-newsletter is to share some of that good news, to collect us and
connect us around those signs of the Spirit's work.
It's been a summer of rest, recreation and discovery for many of you ...
Seven welcoming and affirming churches in the South/Southeast, four of whom
are Association members, took their youth to the Blue Ridge Mountains of
North Carolina for Baptist Youth Camp, now in its 13th year. The camp is
one of the most powerful signs of life among progressive Baptists in the
U.S. Leaders are having to grapple with the challenge of growing interest
that exceeds the capacity of the camp. My daughter Austin graciously OK'd
my being a chaperone with our youth group from Pullen Memorial Baptist
Church in Raleigh, NC. What a blessing it was to be part of this
experience. The youth-led, emergent quality of worship that is both ancient
and contemporary is just one of Baptist Youth Camp's many gifts for this
movement.
(Look for a reflection on Baptist Youth Camp in the next edition of
The
InSpiriter, coming soon. To learn more about the camp, contact the Rev.
Brian Dixon, camp director and pastor of Dolores Street Baptist Church in
San Francisco, at
revbriandixon@hotmail.com.)
Elsewhere in the Association, First Baptist Church Berkeley, CA will hold
its first Vacation Bible School in a long time in August. First Baptist
Church of Ithaca, NY is partnering with Episcopalian, Presbyterian and
Unitarian churches in July to host the Spirit of Peace Camp for children and
youth.
And next week many Association friends will enjoy a camp-like experience at
Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America's Summer Conference, July 19-24,
at Towson University in Towson, MD. I hope to meet some of you there.
One truth that we experience in these summer gatherings is how good it is to
be in each other's company. Warmed by such fellowship, it's not hard to see
what has historically drawn Baptist churches to connect. We find ourselves
enlarged and encouraged in such association.
Blessings on your summer,
Daniel Pryfogle
Interim Director
Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists
daniel@wabaptists.org
http://www.wabaptists.org
919-460-7069
P.S. For those of you who won't get to camp this summer yet still want a
taste of it, I recommend the movie ... "Camp." A fun musical about a
performing arts camp for teens, it's a great film for older youth to
entertain questions about sexuality, identity, and community.
News
* Politics of Division Fails in Senate
(from a press release of the Human Rights Campaign)
By a stunning bipartisan vote of 48 to 50, the Senate today rejected the
Federal Marriage Amendment. This was a crucial victory sending a strong
message in Washington and throughout America that politics of distraction
will fail. The 48 senators who backed this divisive amendment couldnąt even
muster a simple majority.
łThis was an attempt to divide Americans that backfired and divided
Republicans,˛ said Cheryl Jacques, president of the Human Rights Campaign.
Read more at:
http://www.hrc.org/Template.cfm?Section=Press_Room&CONTENTID=21202&TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm
* Gay-Marriage Opponents Pledge to Continue Fight -- So Do Supporters
(from the Associated Baptist Press)
Despite a first-round defeat for the Federal Marriage Amendment July 14,
proponents vowed to continue fighting and say they expect to win. ...
But supporters of gay marriage likewise promised to continue the fight.
"[Our effort] springs from a deep commitment to a biblical understanding of
justice, a commitment to fairness," said Daniel Pryfogle, interim director
of the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, which supports gay
and lesbian rights. "We want everyone, regardless of their sexual
orientation, to enjoy the same rights in this country," Pryfogle told ABP.
Read more at:
http://www.abpnews.com/news/news_detail.cfm?NEWS_ID=125
* Association Launches Online Discussion
A new online discussion launched by the Association of Welcoming & Affirming
Baptists is engaging conversation partners from California to New Brunswick.
Sign up at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Welcoming_and_Affirming_Baptists
Calendar
* Interim Director Daniel Pryfogle preaching at Central Baptist Church,
Wayne, PA, July 25, 2004
* A Gathering of Ministers Serving Youth and Children, Sept. 23-25, 2004, at
Camp Thunderbird, outside Charlotte, NC. Sponsored by The Alliance of
Baptists, this gathering will be an exploration of faith formation with
youth and children. To learn more, go to:
http://www.allianceofbaptists.org/calendar.htm
* AWAB Open Circle LGBT Gathering - October 22-23, 2004, at University
Baptist Church in Austin, Texas. The regional gathering of folks from W&A
churches and beyond is a wonderful opportunity for LGBT Baptists, family and
friends to join together for workshops, fellowship and worship. For more
information, check out the Open Circle web site at:
http://www.ubcaustin.org/opencircle/index.html
Associational is a periodic e-newsletter of the Association of Welcoming &
Affirming Baptists, a network of 50 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 the e-newsletter to interested friends. To subscribe, send
an e-mail to
daniel@wabaptists.org with
SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. To be removed from this list, send an e-mail
to daniel@wabaptists.org with REMOVE in
the subject line.
To learn more about the Association, go to:
http://www.wabaptists.org.
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