Open Hands Vol 14 No 3 - Why Be Specific in Our Welcome?

Open Hands Vol 14 No 3 - Why Be Specific in Our Welcome?

14

3

1999

Winter

Why
Be Specific
in Our
Welcome?
When Tolerance is Not Enough
Coming Out Christian
Invisibly Gay
True Family Values
Vol. 14 No. 3
Winter 1999
2 Open Hands
Vol. 14 No. 3 Winter 1999
Resources for Ministries Affirming
the Diversity of Human Sexuality
Open Hands is a resource for congregations
and individuals seeking to be in
ministry with lesbian, gay, and bisexual
persons. Each issue focuses on a specific
area of concern within the church.
Open Hands is published quarterly by
the Reconciling Congregation Program,
Inc. (United Methodist) in cooperation
with the Affirming Congregation Programme
(United Church of Canada),
the Association of Welcoming & Affirming
Baptists (American), the More Light
Presbyterians, the Open & Affirming
Ministries (Disciples of Christ), the Open
and Affirming Program (United Church
of Christ), and the Reconciling in Christ
Program (Lutheran). Each of these programs
is a national network of local
churches that publicly affirm their ministry
with the whole family of God and
welcome lesbian and gay persons and
their families into their community of
faith. These seven programs—along with
Supportive Congregations (Brethren/
Mennonite), and Welcoming Congregations
(Unitarian Universalist)—offer hope
that the church can be a reconciled
community.
Open Hands is published quarterly.
Subscription is $20 for four issues ($25
outside the U.S.). Single copies and back
issues are $6. Quantities of 10 or more,
$4 each.
Subscriptions, requests for advertising
rates, and other business correspondence
should be sent to:
Open Hands
3801 N. Keeler Avenue
Chicago, IL 60641
Phone: 773 / 736-5526
Fax: 773 / 736-5475
Member, The Associated Church Press
© 1998
Reconciling Congregation Program, Inc.
Open Hands is a registered trademark.
ISSN 0888-8833
Printed on recycled paper.
Publisher
Mark Bowman
Interim Editor
Chris Glaser
Designer
In Print—Jan Graves Why Be Specific
in Our Welcome?
Tolerance is Not Enough 5
Inclusion and the Problem of “Elmwood”
CRAIG WASHINGTON
Denouncing homophobia and supporting PWAs is not enough.
Fear of Church Association with Homosexuality 7
in John Wesley’s Era
ALICE G. KNOTTS
Wesley’s own reconciling program with a gay man in prison.
Something There Is... 10
After Robert Frost’s “The Mending Wall”
MAREN C. TIRABASSI
A poem questioning the rigidity of churches.
Why Be Specific In Our Welcome? 11
The President’s Church Affirms Unity With Gays and Lesbians
RALPH WILLIAMS
“God loves you and we love you, we affirm you,
and accept you, we treasure you. We welcome you.”
–Foundry United Methodist Church, Washington, D.C.
“Lord, I want to be in that number, 13
When the saints go marching in...”
BETH BENTLEY
Saints in a gay pride march.
Reconciling 15
LES NORMAN
A poem celebrating the welcome decision of a congregation.
Coming Out Christian
The Campus Minister’s View JAN GRIESINGER 16
A Student’s View HEATHER MOYER 17
Coming out of the “other” closet.
Throughout this issue, biblical images suggested by our theme are represented visually
in a traditional style and verbally by selected words of scripture: the parable of
the lost sheep (cover, and page 4), the woman at the well (page 8), the younger
brother’s return (page 14), and the parable of the lost coin (page 20).
Winter 1999 3
Program Coordinators
Mark Bowman
Reconciling Congregation
Program, Inc. (UMC)
3801 N. Keeler Avenue
Chicago, IL 60641
773/736-5526
www.rcp.org
Ron Coughlin
Affirming Congregation
Programme
(United Church of Canada)
P.O. Box 333, Station Q
Toronto, Ontario
CANADA M4T 2M5
416/466-1489
acpucc@aol.com
Ann B. Day
Open and Affirming
Program (UCC)
P.O. Box 403
Holden, MA 01520
508/856-9316
www.coalition.simplenet.com
Bob Gibeling
Reconciling in Christ
Program (Lutheran)
2466 Sharondale Drive
Atlanta, GA 30305
404/266-9615
www.lcna.org
Dick Lundy
More Light Presbyterians
(PCUSA)
5525 Timber Lane
Excelsior, MN 55331
612/470-0093
http://www.mlcn.org
Brenda J. Moulton
Welcoming & Affirming
Baptists (ABC/USA)
P.O. Box 2596
Attleboro Falls, MA 02763
508/226-1945
http://users.aol.com/
wabaptists
Open & Affirming Ministries
(Disciples of Christ)
P.O. Box 44400
Indianapolis, IN 46244
http://pilot.msu.edu/user/
laceyj/
Editorial Advisory Committee
Vaughn Beckman, O&A
Howard Bess, W&A
Ann Marie Coleman, ONA
Bobbi Hargleroad, MLCN
Tom Harshman, O&A
Dick Hasbany, MLCN
Alyson Huntly, ACP
Bonnie Kelly, ACP
Susan Laurie, RCP
Samuel E. Loliger, ONA
Tim Phillips, W&A
Lisa Ann Pierce, SCN
Caroline Presnell, RCP
Paul Santillán, RCP
Kelly Sprinkle, W&A
Margarita Suaréz, ONA
Judith Hoch Wray, O&A
Stuart Wright, RIC
Love in the Open 19
Strengthening Families By Our Welcome
SARA MOORES CAMPBELL
Commemorating a life and a love.
The Body of Christ Stretches to be Inclusive 21
CRAIG A. BUXTON
“Love each other deeply, because love covers over many sins.”
–Paul
MINISTRIES
Outreach
Specific in Rejection—Why Not in Welcome? 4
APRIL HERRON-SWEET
Youth
On Harassment and Invisibility: One Student’s Story 9
ANONYMOUS
Campus
Mysterious Ways 18
ISAIAH JONES
SUSTAINING THE SPIRIT
A Gift for the Altar 22
A new hymn welcoming lesbian and gay gifts by
Amanda Udis Kessler.
Next Issue:
Listening to Voices Around the World
Movement News & Gatherings ..................... 24
Profiles of Welcoming Congregations ......... 25
Welcoming Resources .................................... 26
Annual Welcoming List .................................. 27
Call for articles for Open Hands Fall 1999
HOLY/WHOLLY
Theme section: The church became holier as it became more whole, evangelistically
opening its doors wider and wider throughout its history to include the unjudaized
Gentiles of Acts, the “ordinary” people of the Reformation, the multicultural spectrum
of the worldwide church today, and the increasing diversity of the church
tomorrow. A rash of “isms” interfere with the integrity of the Body of Christ: racism,
classism, sexism, heterosexism, genderism, ageism, ableism, tribalism, and nationalism.
Across the chasms of isms, how might the church cultivate an integrity
that allows us to suffer and rejoice and worship together?
Ministries section: We seek columns describing practical experience and suggestions
in the following areas: Welcoming Process, Connections (with other justice issues),
Worship, Outreach, Leadership, Health, Youth, Campus, Children. These brief articles
may or may not have to do with the theme.
Contact with idea by July 15, 1999 Manuscript deadline: September 15, 1999
Chris Glaser, Phone/Fax 404/622-4222 or e-mail at ChrsGlaser@aol.com
991 Berne St. SE, Atlanta, GA 30316-1859
4 Open Hands
The Good Shepherd
And the Pharisees and the scribes
were grumbling and saying, “This
fellow welcomes sinners and eats
with them.” Jesus replied, “Take
care that you do not despise one
of these little ones; for I tell you,
in heaven their angels continually
see the face of God in heaven.
What do you think? If a shepherd
has a hundred sheep, and one of
them has gone astray, does the
shepherd not leave the ninetynine
in the wilderness and go after
the one that is missing until
found? When found, the shepherd
lays it on his shoulders and
rejoices over it more than over
the ninety-nine that never left.
And coming home the shepherd
calls together friends and neighbors,
saying to them, ‘Rejoice with
me, for I have found my sheep
that was missing.’ Just so, I tell
you, there will be more joy in
heaven over one who returns
than over ninety-nine persons
who remained. It is not the will of
God in heaven that one of these
little ones should be excluded.”
Adapted, blending
Matthew 18:10-14 and Luke 15:2-7
This summer, a group of organizations including the
“Christian Family Network” and the “Christian
Coalition” ran a series of paid advertisements in major
newspapers across the country. The advertisements described how gay men and
lesbians could “leave behind” homosexuality and be “healed” if only they would
turn to God for help. Homosexuality was described as a sinful condition which leads
to “deception and emotional instability.” The suggested solution was to ask God for
a “change of heart” which would lead in turn to happiness and fulfillment.
The text of one of these ads was sent to me via e-mail by one of my church
members, a gay man. It provided me with a clear and obvious answer as to why
churches need to be specific in our welcome. We need to be specific in our welcome
of gay men and lesbians because the voice of the church has been, and continues to
be, specific in its rejection.
And lest we think, “but that’s some other church, not my church, which has been
unwelcoming” we have only to look as far as recent church pronouncements against
the marriage and ministry of gay and lesbian members. Such negative church decisions
have been widely publicized by the national news media, and the message is
loud and clear to all: “We are not ready or willing to welcome gays and lesbians
here.”
Our local conference of United Methodist Churches has entered into an extended
discussion about whether and how to take a welcoming stance toward gay, lesbian,
bisexual, and transgendered persons. As the discussion goes on, one perspective
often voiced is that we can “welcome all people” without being specific. The fears
seem to be that we will offend some of our membership or constituency, that we will
be “labeling” ourselves or others, or that in naming one specific welcome we might
exclude others who are not mentioned.
Our own congregation has learned that being specific in our welcome has helped
people in search of an inclusive church to find us. People have been referred to us by
our national welcoming program and web site, by the local denominational office,
by other pastors, and by people who do not attend the church but know of our
welcoming ministry. Our specific welcome has allowed gay and lesbian members to
trust us enough to tell their stories, be themselves, and be open about their relationships.
Our efforts to implement and incarnate our welcoming statement has given
us, on many occasions, the opportunity to share our thoughts, fears, and hopes with
one another. We are a stronger church for having decided to make inclusiveness a
focal point of our ministry by adding to our Mission Statement: “We welcome all
people into our congregation, regardless of age, race, gender, marital status, physical
condition, sexual orientation, ethnic background,
or economic situation.”
April Herron-Sweet, pictured with her family, is copastor
of Pacific Beach United Methodist Church,
which, she writes, is “known for its warmth and friendliness,
ministry to hungry and homeless people, inspiring
music and fabulous sanctuary decorations.” She
shares the parsonage with the other pastor and their
two children.
Specific in Rejection –
Why Not in Welcome?
April Herron-Sweet
Outreach
Winter 1999 5
Church Not Part of My
Family “Culture”
When I look back over my childhood
I can attest that religion
was not an integral part of my family
“culture.” It really was not “our way of
doing things.” In fact, I never attended
a regular service until I was 17 years old.
I remember neighbors would playfully
tease us on those rare occasions when
we headed for hallowed ground. “Must
be a wedding or a funeral!” “Lord, the
Washingtons are going to church. I
know it’s gonna rain!” My parents often
joked right along with them. They
freely admitted the absence of that tradition
in our home. I think they were
somewhat proud of their non-conformist
stance. My brother and I were forewarned
about religious folk. My parents
portrayed them as sometimes arrogant
or spiteful but almost always hypocritical.
My parents were quick to upbraid
the saved ex-smoker who warned about
the perilous nicotine “spirit.” For them,
hypocrisy was the universal chink in the
armor of those hapless saints.
I soon understood that my identity
as a same-gender-loving being had
placed me as an outsider at the gates of
any black church in America. My adult
awareness of that identity and the re-
Tolerance Is Not Enough
Inclusion and The Problem of “Elmwood”
Craig Washington
“It is the wretched choice of the oppressed either to deny your
essence in order to be accepted for what you are not, which is to
die; or to accept the godforsaken lot they have offered your kind,
which is to live a non-life; or to redefine yourself demanding
recognition from those who have not a name for what you call
yourself, which is to live fully in the face of fear and ignorance.”
sulting social “location” necessitated
that I take some stance either in opposition
or deference to the cultural status
quo. It is the wretched choice of the
oppressed either to deny your essence
in order to be accepted for what you
are not, which is to die; or to accept the
godforsaken lot they have offered your
kind, which is to live a non-life; or to
redefine yourself demanding recognition
from those who have not a name
for what you call yourself, which is to
live fully in the face of fear and ignorance.
Perhaps my parent’s non-compliance
afforded me a critical eye, the
wherewithal to interrogate the unquestioned
arbiter of black propriety and,
more to the point, normalcy. I often
wonder if they had any inkling that they
were raising not only a black homosexual
(of this I’m sure there was ample
evidence) but a homosexual activist,
that is, one who asks “who are you to
ask who am I?”
I didn’t know much about Atlanta
when I moved here in 1992, but I certainly
did know something about the
South. Black folk here went to church
and expected that you did too even if
you were from up North. By this time
I’d fashioned a clear image of the
church and what it represented. I saw
“The Black Church” as a monolithic
anachronism, once the vanguard of the
most fabled progressive movement in
American history, now a self-serving
sanctuary of pompous zealots. While on
temp assignments, I politely refused
invitations from friendly co-workers to
attend service or a choir concert. I was
safe— for a short time anyway.
Then Came “Elmwood,”
a Tolerant Church
I began meeting other gay men and
lesbians from various artist and activist
circles. Many of them did not attend
any organized religious services.
Most of those who did mentioned a particular
church (I will use the pseudonym
“Elmwood”) located in a historically
black neighborhood. “Elmwood” was
acclaimed for its progressive philosophy
and application of scripture—the
pastor’s directives were affirming and
not guilt-based, and notably, there was
no gay-bashing in the sermons. I was
curious and reasonably assured by my
new friends, so I attended a service. I
loved it. A legion of warm-smilin’ goodsmellin’
nice-lookin’ members filled a
huge church-in-the-round. Several
“Toleration is not the opposite of intoleration, but is the
counterfeit of it. Both are despotisms. The one assumes
to itself the right of withholding liberty of conscience,
and the other of granting it.”
Thomas Paine
6 Open Hands
people greeted me with a disarming sincerity,
including some handsome men
(whom I did not assume were same-sexattracted)
who hugged me with full
body hugs. I was unprepared but fully
delighted! The pastor, an imperial
woman, preached as if she were talking
to a peer offering encouragement not
judgment. She was very animated but
unlike many preachers, her ardor highlighted
her words without overshadowing
her message.
During subsequent visits, I noticed
that my initial enthusiasm began to
wane. At first I didn’t understand why,
as there were no covert homophobic
subtexts in the sermon, and the members
were as affectionate as ever. After
my third or fourth visit, I still declined
to join and was attending less frequently.
Perhaps, I thought, my original
perceptions of the institutional
church were too dominant for me to
fully accept any church as my own. In
many ways Elmwood was everything I
thought “the Church” should be. However,
I could not deny that my admiration
for Elmwood had always been detached
and academic. There was no
personal connection for me, and once
I recognized the nature of my relationship
with Elmwood, it abruptly became
clear why.
In all the morning hours I spent at
Elmwood there was never any reference
to my full identity as a self-identified
same-gender-loving man. Oh, there
were several cautions about the evils of
homophobia and AIDS discrimination.
And that was exceptionally admirable
at a time when many black churches
were framing AIDS as evidence of God’s
disdain for homosexuality. Admirable,
but not enough. In order to feel at
home, to feel truly embraced beyond
the greeting hug, I needed more. Recalling
sermons past I realized that none of
the messages addressed the lives of gays
and lesbians directly. While there were
plenty of specific examples of the challenges
and triumphs of heterosexual
unions, as well as singles’ ministries and
workshops, there was no such intimate
guidance for same-gender-loving folk.
Given the numbers of gays and lesbians
lining the pews and coffers at
Elmwood, this was no mere oversight.
I am inclined to believe that this pastor
felt that she was doing the best she
could for her gay members by denouncing
the oppression they faced from the
outside world. To go any further— that
is, to provide a focused level of ministry
to gay folk— would be, for any number
of reasons, extremely risky. Perhaps
the pastor herself was not comfortable
or knowledgeable enough about the
lives and culture of gays and lesbians
despite our common black identity. She
may also have feared offending many
of those warm-smilin’ members whose
love and tolerance had distinct limits.
It is highly uncommon for any large
black church to affirm gay and lesbian
identity and experience to the extent
that this pastor had done. I pondered
whether to ask any more of Elmwood
would be asking too much.
What More Could I
Expect?
Iasked several gay-identified Elmwood
members what they got from
this church. Some of the common responses
were: “I feel at ease here because
I know I won’t be called an abomination.”
“I don’t need Pastor to focus on
my gayness, there’s more to me than
that.” “Everybody there is friendly. The
straight people there are very progressive.”
There is some problematic
July 29 - August 1, 1999
University of North Texas
Denton, Texas
Come to the sixth national convocation of the
Reconciling Congregation Program
Renew
Release
Reconcile
Rejoice
For convocation registration information, contact:
Reconciling Congregation Program • 3801 N. Keeler Avenue • Chicago, IL 60641
Voice: 773/736-5526 • Fax: 773/736-5475 • Website: www.rcp.org
Worship preachers:
Renae Extrum-Fernandez
Sid Hall
Melanie Morrison
Cecil Williams
Bible Study Leader:
Ted Jennings
Music Leader:
Jorge Lockward
Worshops
Covenant Groups
Area Strategy Sessions
Celebrations
Winter 1999 7
subtext underlying each of those three
responses.
(a) Elmwood appeals to many gays and
lesbians because of the lack of traditional
homophobic vitriol— in fact
homophobia is often denounced
there. Generally, black gay folk expect
a good trouncing from most
black churches. It is difficult for
many to demand more from a
church that refutes this approach. If
I am used to being thirsty every Sunday,
I might not criticize the only
pastor who offers me tap water even
though she’s pouring Evian for my
neighbor.
(b) There are those who claim that their
sexual orientation is not an integral
aspect of their identity. I believe that
such claims are grounded in some
form of denial and false conformity
(“I’m not that gay— I’m not that different”)
in order to defend against
social approbation. These folks may
not want to be addressed in terms
of their gayness and may prefer indirect,
generic acknowledgment.
(c) Many of us are so happy to meet
straight people who are not castigating
us that we don’t critically assess
the power dynamic at play in our
connections with them (“You are so
good for just accepting me. Who am
I to question our relationship?”).
In my six years here in Atlanta, I have
found that many black gays and lesbians
accept social rejection from black
institutions without challenging their
communities. Many such folks continue
to attend and pay tithes to
churches whose pastors condemn them
from the pulpit. Unfortunately, then,
these churches have no apparent inducement
to stop stoning members
who remain as loyal as abused children.
Those who do confront homophobia or
refuse to support oppressive organizations
often make an exception with the
church.
Elmwood is experienced by many as
a haven of tolerance which I believe is
misinterpreted as affirmation. Thus
Elmwood has little incentive to work
harder toward being inviting toward
and inclusive of gay worshipers. Ironically,
the only black church in Atlanta
(Unity Fellowship) headed by an openly
gay pastor has a relatively small congregation.
Due to Unity’s “profile”
many black gays know of this space, and
yet very few have ever visited.
I believe that churches such as
Elmwood face an ethical challenge. Its
leadership has already publicly displayed
a level of understanding and
compassion for its gay members. Yet for
whatever reason(s), it will not fully extend
its resources to launch a “culturally
competent” spiritual intervention
targeting this population.
The Broader Question(s)
of Authentic Diversity
This dilemma in many ways parallels
the contemporary topic of diversity
along lines of race, class, gender
and other forms of identity. Inclusiveness
has become one of the most
influential standards (and red herrings)
of hiring practices, advocacy, grass roots
organizing, and boardroom ethics in
America. Such efforts usually seek to
redress white patriarchal thought and
Fear of Church Association with Homosexuality
in John Wesley’s Era
Alice G. Knotts
When John Wesley was an Oxford fellow
and active leader in the Holy Club,
whose members daily visited prisons after
having prayer and Holy Communion,
the Methodists showed an unconventional
and unpopular sympathy for a homosexual.
Wesley took up the cause of
Mr. Blair, a young gay man who had been
imprisoned for sodomy.1 Nowhere in his
journal did Wesley write judgmentally of
Blair’s behavior. Instead, 14 journal entries
about Blair describe how Wesley
devoted much time during the autumn and winter of 1732 to visiting Blair
and reading to him, contacting his attorney, Mr. Austin, and writing out his
case.2 Wesley met with the vice chancellor of Oxford University to discuss
his proteges, including Blair. On November 14, 1732, a number of interested
Methodists met at a local inn to discuss Blair’s case. Townspeople
heaped criticism on Wesley and the Methodists for their actions. Some
thought that it would have been better for Blair to suffer the dreadful
hardships of prison life than for the name of Methodists to be associated
with homosexuality. But in spite of setbacks and hostile criticism, Wesley
and the Holy Club maintained their ministry with Blair. The Blair situation
provided “the occasion for terrible reflections,” leading Methodist historian
V. H. H. Green to wonder whether some Methodists, in considering homosexuality,
were led to re-examine their own sexual feelings and behaviors.
From Experiencing God’s Love, A Methodist Federation for Social Action Presentation
to the United Methodist Committee to Study Homosexuality,
December 1, 1989, by Alice G. Knotts.
1 Vivian H.H. Green, John Wesley (Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 1964, 1987), 32.
2 Vivian H. H. Green, The Young Mr. Wesley (London, 1961), 167, 178-9.
8 Open Hands
application or derivatives thereof. It has
touched every realm of cultural discourse.
It has been the source of great
struggle and debate and with good
reason. For many of us the act of “including”
those whom we perceive as
different from us may pose a threat to
our traditions and beliefs.
Does everyone need to be more inclusive?
When is inclusion appropriate?
When is it not? These questions must
be addressed in specific contexts. There
is certainly a need for group bonding
and organizing along lines of common
identity. There are certain levels of affirmation
and healing that can happen
only in these groupings. I don’t think
inclusion efforts should be applied to
universally heterogenize these spaces. I
believe such standards are applicable to
public institutions and services and
even some private clubs and services
where it is deemed appropriate and/or
just (by the group itself or by the law).
If however a group/institution identifies
the need and/or imperative (ethical
or otherwise) to include people who
are somehow different from the majority
of its members, then such a group
must honestly assess its consciousness
and the desires of those whom it seeks
to include.
It must be said that white patriarchy
isn’t the only form of dominion and
exclusion to be addressed. Unfortunately,
oppression doesn’t morally
inform all oppressed people to act
better. It is often quite the opposite—
and certainly, many black organizations,
as an example, exclude gayidentified
and other “different kinds”
of black people from many goods and
services, including affirmation of
God’s love. Many of these institutions
act as if inclusion is a charge for white
men only; that by dint of their blackness
they are “down by law” and are
exempt from this work. They are already
oppressed and are in no position
to oppress anyone else. Such fallacious
justification hinders not only
moral development; it blocks the social
progress of black folks and people
everywhere.
The Woman at the Well
The Samaritan woman said to Jesus, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of
Samaria?”…[Afterward Jesus said to his disciples:] “I tell you, look around you, and see how the
fields are ripe for harvesting.”
John 4:9, 35
Winter 1999 9
What Next for “Tolerant”
Churches?
What is the recommendation(s)
then for black churches like
Elmwood, that have demonstrated an
appreciation of the struggles of its own
same-gender-loving kin? There is rigorous
work to be done along several
fronts. The gay and lesbian members
and/or visitors who desire ministry that
is more reflective of their experience
must voice their concerns to the leadership.
The process of inclusion is not
the sole responsibility of the “including”
party. The leadership, of course,
should evaluate its own desire and commitment
to such efforts before taking
any action. Too many groups seek to
diversify for too many wrong reasons
(i.e., “it would make people feel better,”
“it’s just something we should do”). An
action plan including goals and objectives
should be developed and implemented
with the participation of gays
and lesbians from the onset. (This
would also be true in terms of bisexual
or transgendered outreach.) The leadership
body would need to open its
ranks to include gay-identified persons
so that again the change is not merely
cosmetic. The pastor should also speak
to this activity within the context of
sermons, announcements, and bulletins
to send a message that the process is
conscious and deliberate.
If Elmwood were serious about
reaching out to its gay sisters and
brothers, the commitment would
manifest beyond the level of good
intentions. Indeed, it may not be appropriate
for Elmwood to take on a
more inclusive approach. Then I
would assume that gays and lesbians
who are not satisfied with Elmwood
would identify a space that more fully
addresses their needs. It is my hope
that black churches and their leaders
begin to talk to, not at, their gay and
lesbian members so that a greater understanding
can be reached. In many
instances such revolutionary discourse
will be spearheaded by the
body of the broader Church. Indeed
the issue of the treatment of gays in
the church may very well offer the
pivotal focus whereby demagogues
will be dislodged and the body will
authorize responsible leadership. Even
the most influential black megachurches
which are grounded in oppressive
traditions cannot suppress
the growth of progressive thought
throughout black communities across
the nation. Thus the concept of inclusion
will soon be redefined as no
longer the proverbial indictment of
white male corporate America. Black
churches have never been exempt
from this responsibility. It is a charge
mandated by a very high covenant
they can no longer ignore.
Craig Washington is the Program Coordinator
for The Deeper Love Project, an
HIV Prevention program of AID Atlanta
specifically reaching gay African American
males. He also serves as Co-Chair of the
Metro Atlanta HIV Health Services Planning
Council and Vice-
Chair of 2nd Sunday,
a support organization
for same-gender-loving
black men. Born and
raised in New York, he
loves to write and listen
to Aretha Franklin.
On Harassment and Invisibility:
One Student’s Story
Nobody tells Latino kids in the high school that nobody
cares if they’re Hispanic so long as they keep it to
themselves. Jewish kids aren’t told that they’re sinners,
and they could change into Christians if they wanted
to. People don’t tell black kids they should put up with
racism because they’ve come so far from when they were slaves. They
don’t have to defend why there is a black history month, or why people
want black studies included in the curriculum. People don’t say, “That’s
so Korean!” when they mean something is stupid or weird. People don’t
tell disabled kids that the community isn’t ready to defend their equal
rights and inclusion yet. You never hear anyone argue that breast cancer
is God’s way of killing off women,
or that it’s a good thing. If a teacher
hears anyone use a slang insult for a
Chinese kid, they jump on it. When foreign
exchange students ask teachers
about dating in the school, they aren’t
sent to see a guidance counselor.
But every day in the high school, I
hear it’s okay if I’m gay so long as I
stay in the closet, and that I’m an
abomination against God, that I can
change if I want to, and that people
like me shouldn’t be taught about in
school. I’m told that I should be satisfied
because our school is far better
than it used to be, and that I shouldn’t push for my equal rights and
inclusion because the community isn’t ready yet. I hear, “That’s so gay!”
all the time, and I hear that “AIDS is my punishment” for being who I am,
and I hear the word “faggot” all the time. It’s hard not to walk around
angry all the time.
—Anonymous Massachusetts High School Student
Youth
10 Open Hands
Something there is that doesn’t love a church—
that sends the ground swell and the subway roar
to crack the plaster in the highest place
and shatter stained glass on the street below.
The work of burglars is another thing.
What they must hope to find in this poor place
I hardly know, perhaps a place to sleep.
One hastened off—we set alarms again
and mend the window’s wooden frame.
I smile—we would keep this one out
and long to welcome others in.
We meet as congregation once a year
to rehearse the business and tell the tale
of seasons past. Well, what report of sacred time?
But, nonetheless, we prop the structure up again,
line out concerns, note trends, mourn friends
whose passing make the pews more bare.
And one says, “Good churches…
good churches make good neighbors.”
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
if I could put a notion in all their heads,
“Why do they make good neighbors? Isn’t it
the very moral of the Samaritan story
where priest and scribe walk by,
that churches are more walls than doors?
Before I’d build a church I’d like to know
what I was churching in or churching out
and to whom I might be neighboring.
Something there is that doesn’t love a church,
that wants it open. I could say, “angels.”
But it’s not angels exactly, and I’d rather
we said it for ourselves. I look around
and see us bringing stones to build the church,
not loaves or flowers, but some
age-old strong things, hard things.
We move in sadness then it seems to me,
not of world only, and the shades of death,
but of not-trusting in the chance of life.
We like our ancestors’ certitude
and hope to paraphrase some god we met once,
any one will do. We say again,
“Good churches make good neighbors.”
Something
There Is…
after
Robert Frost’s
The Mending Wall
Maren C. Tirabassi
Maren C. Tirabassi is a poet, writer
of liturgy, and “bi-vocational” pastor
of Northwood Congregational
Church, UCC, in Northwood, New
Hampshire. She has coauthored a
number of books, including Touch
Holiness and An Improbable Gift
of Blessing. She is adding her poetry
to a forthcoming book from United
Church Press entitled Seeing Is Believing:
Faith, Art and Social Justice.
A Harvard Divinity School graduate,
she lives with her husband and children
in Portsmouth.
Call For Prayers From Youth
Rev. Tirabassi is seeking prayers 75-150 words in length
on a single concern written by writers between the ages
of 12 and 21 for an anthology of prayers and worship
resources for youth. Send submissions to her at 271
Lafayette Rd., Portsmouth, NH 03801-5433; questions,
phone 603/436-9352.
Winter 1999 11
Ten years ago on “Laity Sunday,” I was asked to give the sermon at my church,
Foundry United Methodist, probably because I had asked our Council of Ministries
the previous year to begin a dialogue about becoming a Reconciling
Congregation. I had extreme anxiety over addressing the congregation that Sunday.
While no one assigned me a topic, it was clear what I had to talk about: the need for
our church to unambiguously embrace and welcome its gay and lesbian members.
Seven years later, on October 3, 1995, Foundry UMC voted to become a Reconciling
Congregation, and its administrative board adopted the following statement:
We, the friends and members of Foundry United Methodist Church, hold deeply
our commitment to help bring about a peaceful, loving, just and accepting
world. We are proud of our active, diverse congregation and have seen how
each person has graced our community with her/his talents. We believe that
the Holy Spirit dwells within all.
We acknowledge our oneness with all of God’s creation and invite gay and
lesbian persons to share our faith, our community life, and our ministries. We
also affirm the same for all persons without regard to race, color, national
origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, age, economic status, or physical
or mental condition. We seek to be an inclusive congregation and we proclaim
our commitment to seek the reconciliation of all persons to God and
each other through Jesus Christ.
As we journey toward reconciliation with all, we proclaim this statement of
welcome to all, including our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters: God loves
you and we love you, we affirm you, and accept you, we treasure you. We
welcome you.
At the same time, we recognize that there remain differences of opinion among
us on issues relating to sexuality. We do not seek to erase our differences, but to
journey together in faith toward greater understanding and mutual respect.
In becoming a Reconciling Congregation we believe that we are being reconciled
to God and to one another.
“All this is from God, who reconciled us…through Christ, and has given us the
ministry of reconciliation.” (II Corinthians 5:18)
I sometimes ask myself, how did a nice Pentecostal boy like me get to a place
where I no longer feel estranged from God because I am gay and find my mind and
heart transformed to tell a new story of God’s grace? I have come a long way from
seeing this as my deepest shame to proclaiming it as a blessing of God.
As I reflect on my life and spiritual journey and try to find the words to express
where I am today, three themes of my journey come to mind:
1. Moving from serving a God of fear to serving a God of love;
2. Coming to understand that scripture does not condemn me for being a gay man;
3. Becoming aware that human love, including sexual love, is a good gift of God.
Why Be Specific In Our Welcome?
The President’s Church Affirms Unity with Gays and Lesbians
Ralph Williams
The God of Fear vs.
the God of Love
Central to my spiritual journey has
been moving from serving a God
of Fear to understanding the God of
Love as revealed in Jesus the Christ. I
don’t know if you knew the God of Fear.
For me this god is best represented in
the Old Testament by Baal, the pagan
god, who required the community to
sacrifice their firstborn to appease him.
I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian
home. My parents and all the members
of my family are devout Pentecostals.
My father and brother are
Pentecostal ministers, as well as one
brother-in-law. When I joined Foundry
some 20 years ago, the minister from
my home church would not transfer my
church membership to a United Methodist
Church. Instead, he wrote the
church to explain what we believe as
Pentecostal Christians and why Methodists
were not true members of the
Church of Jesus Christ!
Within that tradition, accepting
Christ in my late teens was—at least
partially— an attempt to have God
change my same-gender love orientation.
As I began to understand this orientation,
I also understood that it was
not accepted by my church. My church
promised that if I accepted Christ, my
same-gender love orientation would go
away. It did not! For several years I
struggled with that reality.
During a period of despair God allowed
me to meet a gay man who was
also struggling with his sexual orientation
and his faith. It was through that
encounter that I was led to Foundry
United Methodist Church. It was within
Adapted from an October 17, 1998 presentation before 300 people of the Baltimore-Washington
Conference of the United Methodist Church held at Towson UMC. The gathering included a spectrum
of presenters and was sponsored by the conference task force on homosexuality.
12 Open Hands
this new church that I came to a fresh
understanding of God’s grace and love.
At Foundry I came in contact with Affirmation,
United Methodists for Gay,
Lesbian and Bisexual Concerns. Affirmation
formed a Bible Study Group
which met at my home for over ten
years. We studied the scriptures, shared
our lives, and came to know with a certainty
God’s love.
When I stood to speak on that Laity
Sunday morning ten years ago, I was
undergirded by the love and support of
the Bible Study group and our growing
knowledge of God’s love and presence
which emboldened us to take on this
task. We had no idea where the journey
would lead. Over the seven years
of study and dialogue in the congregation
we had many difficult times.
Despite the difficult times, I came to
know that it is different when you know
the God of Love. With the God of Love
you don’t have to win the battle, just
engage as God gives you grace. With
the God of Love you only need strength
and grace for the day. With the God of
Love you don’t even have to get it right
all of the time. With the God of Love
you can trust. I am glad I have come to
know the God of Love and am grateful
for a congregation where I could discover
this God.
Scripture and the
Hot Comb
People sometimes ask how I can ignore
the “clear” scriptural condemnation
of homosexuality. That reminds
me of an incident in my family which
gave me great insight on
how scripture is used
and misused in the
Christian community.
My early childhood was
spent in Jamaica where
the black Christian
women did not cut their
hair or use hot combs to
straighten their hair.
Straightening one’s hair
was considered to be
worldly and not in line
with God’s requirements
for Christian living.
My mother did not use a hot comb
in her hair.
After my family immigrated to the
U.S., my mother and the rest of us had
to come face to face with the fact that
all the black Christian women in our
Pentecostal Christian Church used hot
combs to straighten their hair. It took
my mother years to adjust to this
change. About the time she started using
the hot comb to straighten her hair
the Black Pride movement began to take
hold in the U.S. Out went hot combs as
crinkly Afros became a sign of black
pride. In my conservative Pentecostal
church this demonstration of black
pride was not warmly received, and the
black crinkly hair was seen as being
“worldly.” My mother made the transition
to the hot comb just in time because
she certainly didn’t want to be
perceived as a member of a worldly
movement!
When I first heard that homosexuals
(not to mention biblical scholars)
were pointing out that the story of
Sodom and Gomorrah was not about
homosexuality but about inhospitality,
I wondered how they could possibly
have perverted scripture in that manner.
But when I read the story now, I
wonder how it could have been perverted
to have been cited as a story
about condemnation of homosexuality.
The story has nothing to say about a
loving, caring relationship between two
persons of the same
gender. It would have
been easier to conclude
that the story
was about sex between
angels and human
beings than
about having sex between
persons of the
same gender, but the
story was not about
that either. It was
about physical, sexual
abuse of the stranger.
It was about grossly
inhospitable behavior,
not about same-gender love.
What I see in both these examples is
our tendency to bring our cultural views
and interpretations to scripture. Homosexuality
is not a major theme of the
scriptures, it is not a minor theme of
the scriptures— it did not make Moses’
top 10. A tendency to single out this
one issue as the defining aspect of our
faith is a matter of culture and tradition,
not Gospel. The first commandment
is to love God, the second is to
love our neighbor.
The love of God has transformed my
understanding of scripture. I now ask,
how can scripture be perverted and used
as a means of alienating gay and lesbian
people from God? I now find it
curious that gay and lesbian people are
the only group knocking on the church
doors asking to be let in and to whom
the doors are closed. This, I am convinced,
is not the Gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Sexual Love—
A Foretaste of God’s Love
Much of the discussion of homosexuality
seems to miss the fact
that we are talking about an expression
As we journey toward reconciliation with all, we proclaim this
statement of welcome to all, including our gay and lesbian brothers
and sisters: God loves you and we love you, we affirm you,
and accept you, we treasure you. We welcome you.
—Foundry United Methodist Church, Washington, D.C.
“I am glad I have come to know the God of Love and am
grateful for a congregation where I could discover this God.”
Winter 1999 13
of human love. God is love! And, as the
church affirms, human sexual love is a
good gift of God. It is a part of what
makes us fully human. It provides healing
and comfort and relationship. Believing
that human sexual love is just
for procreation is missing the broader
purpose of human sexuality. Loving
someone of the same gender is the same
love with the same power to comfort
and heal and provide temporary respite
from loneliness, estrangement and despair
as any other love. It is a foretaste
of the love of God.
Therapist and theologian John J.
McNeill, the former Jesuit priest, notes
that good psychology is good theology
and good theology is good psychology.
What gives deep meaning and healing
of the human soul and helps us to love
and relate to the deepest parts of ourselves
and others is a gift of God. On
the other hand, what leads to the kind
of hatred that causes the violence we
saw in Wyoming last fall is not of God.
Much of what constitutes the current
position and practice of the church
leads to the kind of self hatred and hatred
of others that gives license to those
who think they are doing God’s work
by marginalizing and even killing gay
and lesbian people. Instead of disassociating
itself from gays and lesbians, the
church should be disassociating itself
from the Topeka, Kansas minister Fred
Phelps and others who would condone
the murder of Matthew Shepard and
picket his funeral because he is gay. The
church should disassociate itself from
those who would deny our inheritance
as sons and daughters of God.
The church wants us to live lives
worthy of the Christ who died for us
and so do we. Our message to the
church is that we can only live such lives
when we claim the authentic persons
God created us to be. We do not want
to live lives in closets of fear but to bring
down the walls of fear which block us
all.
From Church Family
to Family
In the midst of the Reconciling Congregation
discussion at Foundry
Church, I decided to come out to members
of my family. Yes, some already
“Lord, I want to be in that number, when the
saints go marching in…”
Beth Bentley
Marching in New York City’s Gay Pride Parade several years ago, a
group from my church carried a banner with the message: PARK SLOPE UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH: GAY AND STRAIGHT RECONCILED BY FAITH IN A LOVING GOD. In contrast,
the presumably religious counter-demonstrators whom we passed
carried signs which said things like, GOD SENT JESUS TO PUNISH SINNERS. While
marching, we met a man who told us that he was an ordained United
Methodist minister who had been forced to leave the ministry when he
revealed his homosexuality. When he discovered that most people in our
contingent were not gay, he said, “I can’t believe you walked all this way
when you didn’t have to!”
But we did have to march. We had to march to demonstrate our faith in
a loving God and because the homophobia which pervades our society
also pervades our church, resulting in our church depriving itself of this
person’s gifts as well as the gifts of too many others.
Testimony to the United Methodist Committee to Study Homosexuality’s Listening Post
April 28, 1990.
knew. But we were playing one of those
family games where those who knew
didn’t want others to know. I decided
to end this family game, end the secrets.
I wrote a letter and mailed it to all members
of my immediate family.
The first person to respond was my
dad, a Pentecostal minister. He called
and, in a brief conversation, said,
“Ralph, I read your letter and noted its
content. I would like to take you up on
your offer to come visit you and your
friend.” I didn’t know what kind of visit
to expect. After discussing with my
friend the possibility of my dad visiting,
I called my father back to let him
know that I had received a very negative
letter from my mother and that if
14 Open Hands
his visit was intended to interfere with
our relationship, it would be better if
he didn’t come. It would not be pleasant.
He said he and my mother did not
see eye to eye on this matter and he
wanted to come visit.
During my father’s one-week visit,
he and I had some of the most meaningful
and honest discussions of my life.
He wanted to know if I loved God and
accepted the Lord Jesus Christ. I said I
did. He said, after a series of discussions
on various issues, that we were not that
far apart. Before he left, he asked if we
could pray together. He held hands with
me and my friend and prayed God’s
blessing on our home. This demonstrated
to me how with God’s help we
can be transformed— gaining understanding
and offering acceptance
through love.
I have come to view the ministry of
welcoming congregations as a ministry
to the whole church. The message is that
God’s love and grace truly are amazing.
It includes gays and lesbians, bisexuals,
and transgendered persons— and it
reached me. I know that to be the good
news of the gospel and it is that good
news that our ministry proclaims.
Ralph Williams is a member of Foundry
United Methodist Church in Washington
D.C. He was a member of its Reconciling
Congregation Task Force and is the founder
of Foundry’s Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual
Group.
The Younger
Brother’s Return
“Then the father said to the elder
brother, ‘Son, you are always
with me, and all that is
mine is yours. But we had to
celebrate and rejoice, because
this brother of yours was dead
and has come to life; he was lost
and has been found.’”
—Jesus, Luke 14:31-32
WJK Ad
Winter 1999 15
Reconciling
Les Norman I can’t remember now the facts
of how I came to get the word, or when it was,
though I recall a night of snow and hard to travel
out to that church gath’ring in the farther suburbs.
It was a smallish group of twelve or so
just starting on their journey into parts unknown.
How could they know? Or I? But start they did,
and I the one who helped them on their way.
I told my story, fresh and vivid then
to me, and startling new to them,
of our young son, and how his news,
his sense of who he is, had rocked our world.
And how we’d come to terms with it, and then,
with insight’s flash, had turned the world around,
and seen, with clarity, where God’s truth lies,
and where the falsehood and denial.
Les Norman is pastor
and teacher of the Sanbornton
Congregational
Church, United Church of
Christ, in Sanbornton,
New Hampshire, one of
six Open and Affirming
congregations in that
state. Les is the father of
three sons, the youngest
of whom is gay. He is also
active in PFLAG, and is
the current president of
the New Hampshire State
Council.
That meeting was a first; I had no standard of
comparison, no feel of how this journey might proceed.
They seemed to have been moved, this little group,
and their young pastor thanked me as I left the door.
And then the other day we met, in some chance way.
She sought me out and said that now her church
had come to the resolve to reconcile, to be
both open and affirming of each child of God.
I shared with all her joy, and memories of
that time when we had started on the road;
and offered up a silent prayer of thanks for
grace that gives us strength to persevere.
We wanted to put our longstanding
affirmation for
gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
transgendered people into practice
through ritual and worship. We
wanted to be unambiguous that this
event was open and welcoming of g/l/
b/t and heterosexual people on campus
and in the community. Being in a
rural area with the closest welcoming
congregation 75 miles away, both community
residents as well as students
were enthusiastic.
Our title for our annual worship
services during Coming Out Week,
“Coming Out Christian,” was borrowed
from the Rev. Steve Hammond
of the First Baptist Church at Oberlin
College, part of a similar week on their
own campus. The event is listed on the
Coming Out Week calendar and publicized
through fliers and advertising.
A variety of leaders served as musicians,
readers, ushers, etc., thus providing
outreach to their friends as well.
The most powerful elements of the
services have been:
• a rainbow and other symbols
around the chapel;
• calls to worship, hymns, litanies
naming the names and experiences
of g/l/b/t people, which was very
empowering; (For example, Rev.
Rick Yramategui’s hymn “Hear
Our Voices” includes these words:
“Joined together on this day;
straight and lesbian and gay.”)
• using the poem “What if God Were
a Big, Black Lesbian?” by Michael
Edward Mitchell;
• brief sermons on themes such as
“Love Casting Out Fear”;
• sharing time when coming out
stories were told and current events
celebrated or lamented;
• a time of prayer when all the pieces
were gathered together and lifted up
to the God of the Open Door who
brings light into the fearsome closet;
• our closing hymn and benediction
in a circle with hands joined.
Our best attended and most joyful
event was entitled “Human Rights Celebration:
A Worship Service of Thanksgiving
to Honor Adoption of the Sexual
Orientation Amendment.” While students
were away on winter break, the
Athens City Council had added “sexual
orientation” to the city human rights
ordinance. Students and community
members welcomed a chance to celebrate
this big step forward in a public
way. City Council members were invited
and asked to give brief testimony
on their experience of publicly supporting
this ordinance. They were overwhelmed
with the gratitude and applause
they received. Most said it was
the only thanks they ever received for
serving in public office.
As we say in the welcoming congregations
movement, you have to be bold
with the g/l/b/t words in publicizing
your welcome, otherwise we will assume
that “open” does not really mean
us. By creating worship opportunities
on campus to put the “Christian” and
“g/l/b/t” parts together, we open a clear
channel for the love of God. To the
Christians who would scorn us, we say:
we are here, we are queer, we are
pilgrims of the faith, and we are not hiding
any more. A few negative letters and
phone calls have come in, but they can’t
compare with the smiles of joy and
shouts of amen from those who are finding
a beloved community.
When I was wrestling
with my sexual identity,
the biggest issue was
how my Christian faith fit into
it all. I was raised a United Methodist,
and my family is very
conservative in their political
and religious views. All I
could do for a while was
blame God for making me
gay, which I had learned
was a horrible thing that would send
me to hell. I didn’t understand what I
had done to deserve it, and I was so
angry.
Yet when I was going through the
hardest times of my journey to
acceptance, God got me through it all.
I remember praying to God so many
times when I thought the only thing
left for me to do was to kill myself, and
at the last second I’d get this overwhelming
feeling of comfort and relaxation.
I knew God was telling me everything
was okay, and that killing
myself would never be the right way
out. And I am okay. In fact, I’m fabulous.
My faith fits into my life, and actually,
it’s the foundation of my life. I can’t
imagine living without it. I really think
I’d be lost.Yet now that I’ve come to
accept it myself, I often get challenged.
“Homosexual Christian”: it sounds
quite the oxymoron by society’s standards
today. But many of us live with
that title for our entire lives, facing
alienation from both the Christian community
and the queer community.
Many Christians say “your lifestyle
is a sin, and you are not welcome in
our community.” Or they make us feel
uncomfortable in other ways, like tossing
around the phrase “love the sinner,
hate the sin,” therefore not accepting
us as whole persons. And then the queer
community, many of whom are turned
off to religion in general because of the
hypocrisy they see in the church, wonder
how other queers can still be part
of a religion that does not welcome us.
It’s surprising how many “closeted”
Christians there are in the queer community.
Most of us are looking for a way
to be involved with other open-minded
Christians (which may also seem like
an oxymoron), straight and gay.
The Campus Minister’s View
Jan Griesinger
So when I was a freshman in college
and was dealing with coming out to
friends and family, I was really trying
to find some way to feel okay with being
a Christian too. That’s when I saw a
sign advertising a “Coming Out Christian”
worship service put on by United
Campus Ministry during Ohio University’s
Coming Out Week. I was
happy to see that a religious organization
saw the need to address this issue.
The service uses its motto well:
“Proudly Embracing Straight & Gay.”
For once everyone was welcome, especially
the queer community! The service
encouraged us to see our sexuality
as what it is: a gift from God that should
be celebrated and embraced. All the inclusive
words, songs, and prayers in the
service also served to move our faith
into more open and progressive mindsets.
I met so many other queer Christians
and it was nice not to feel as alienated
from either community.
We decided to keep the service going
throughout the years (I’m a junior
now ). Many good feelings and happenings
have come out of the service, like
making lasting friendships, growing in
our faiths, and realizing that no one can
draw that line between God and us. Our
Christian service even inspired some of
my queer Jewish friends to have their
first ever “Coming Out Jewish” event!
Our welcome has to be specific—
we have to state exactly what the service
is about and who it is for. Everyone
needs to help stop this division
between the queer community and
the church, or the wedge that has already
been partially driven between
us will just separate us forever. God
loves us and makes us who we are, and
no one can say there is no room for
us in God’s kingdom.
Coming Out Christian
A Student’s View
Heather Moyer
Heather Moyer (left) is a
broadcast journalism major at
Ohio University and a member
of a United Methodist
Church in the Dayton, Ohio
area.
Jan Griesinger (right) is director
of the United Campus
Ministry of Ohio University and
national coordinator of CLOUT
(Christian Lesbians OUT
Together).
16 Open Hands Winter 1999 17
18 Open Hands
As a young African American male
growing up in the community, I
often heard the phrase “God
works in mysterious ways.” This proclamation
was heard not only in worship
settings but on the lips of people in the
community on various occasions. There
was a strength within this expression
that made me know this was an important
awareness to have.
As my understanding of spiritual
matters developed I eventually realized
that this adage “God works in mysterious
ways” meant that God’s truth, purposes
and love often happened in unusual
ways and through unexpected
experiences. The power of this truth hit
me and our students with the force of a
mighty wind one Wednesday evening.
Each Wednesday evening at United
Campus Ministry at Oregon State University
we have a student gathering. This
time consists of a meal, music and a
Bible study or some subject related to
faith. We were just beginning our time
of study for the evening when a young
student walked in. As was our practice,
we welcomed her into our midst. Lynn
informed us that she had never seen our
building before. Seeing lights on and
the door open she decided to enter. After
introductions from everyone we invited
her to be a part of the study. She
agreed.
Our focus was on God’s love being
available to everyone. John 3:16-17
made it clear that Jesus’ coming was a
demonstration of the universality of
God’s love. We also looked at the
Galatians 3:28 passage—“There is neither
Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male
nor female, for you are all one in Christ
Jesus.” The interaction was very stimulating
as students applied these truths
to their particular life experiences.
At one point in the discussion a student
raised the concern that the Chris-
Mysterious Ways
Isaiah Jones
tian community seemed so hostile to
homosexual persons. He said if it was
in fact true that God’s love was available
to everyone and that there were
no distinctions between ethnic groups,
social status and genders, then it was in
fact hypocritical not to accept homosexuals
into the Christian community.
To restrict them in their service to the
church was placing them in a secondhand
experience with the God who
loved all with equality.
Of course I was encouraged to hear
young people interpret biblical truth as
I had seen it done and had done myself
growing up in the African American
community. A loving acceptance and a
sense of equality and oneness was very
powerful in my community, when it
was so blatantly denied us by the dominant
culture. Lynn, our guest student,
realized in our settings that she was fully
accepted and included as one of us, even
though she had just come that evening.
As we were preparing to end the
evening with our closing prayer, Lynn
asked if she could say something. Yes,
everyone chimed. She told us she had
rejected Christianity because she had
never been treated as she was that
evening. Her impression of Christianity
was that it was not a loving, accepting
and equality-oriented religion. She
thanked us for permitting her to share
with us. Lynn said, “I’m lesbian and the
church never demonstrated that God
loves me or that I was equal with other
Christians.” We closed with fervent
prayer.
“God works in mysterious ways.”
This experience cemented my understanding
that God’s truth, love and purposes
go beyond our limited understanding.
How great is God’s love for
one individual to lead her to our study
that particular evening. Is there any
doubt that God’s ways are not our ways?
Is there any doubt that God cares about
us as individuals? Is there any doubt
that God will go to whatever length it
takes to help us experience divine love?
What a great God is our God! Truly God
works in mysterious ways.
Isaiah Jones is a campus minister/director
of United Campus Ministry at Oregon
State University and teaches in the music
department as well. Many of his hymns
and songs are in various denominational
hymnbooks. He has
ser ved as worship
leader at the Presbyterian
General Assembly,
Youth Triennium, and
the Montreat Conference
Center.
Campus
Winter 1999 19
Boxes were still stacked in the living
room of the parsonage when
I heard about Jane.1 “She has
brain cancer,” I was told. By the time I
started unpacking the kitchen, I knew
that Jane was very ill and not likely to
live more than a few months. She and
Beth, members of this church which
had just called me fresh out of divinity
school, were a couple— a lesbian couple.
Their two story Victorian home commanded
a corner on a quiet Long Island
village street lined with maple
trees. Beth greeted me warmly. Smiling
from large brown eyes full of pain, she
invited me in. Before I met Jane, Beth
wanted me to see their home. “Come
upstairs,” she said. “I want to show you
something.” She led me into Jane’s
study, where the walls announced Jane’s
accomplishments as a playwright and
novelist. “Before you see her as she is
now,” she said, gesturing toward a closeup
of Jane, “I want you to see what she
was.” My eyes surveyed the proud gallery
of awards and triumphs before focusing
on a photograph of Jane and
Beth arm in arm on the beach, pausing
to let the camera in on their mutual
enjoyment of a summer day.
“How long have you been together?”
I asked.
Her voice cracked and tears rimmed
her eyes. “Fourteen years.”
I visited with Beth and Jane almost
every week for five months before Jane
died.
Since Jane was a significant playwright,
her obituary was written up in
The New York Times. It included a long
list of literary honors and awards. Then
at the end it said, “She leaves her
mother, Clarice, of Florida and two
brothers, Henry and Ben.” Period. It
mentioned earlier that she had shared
a house with her long-time companion
and manager, Beth.
Love in the Open
Strengthening Families by Our Welcome
Sara Moores Campbell
From the Introduction to Last Summer at Bluefish Cove, in which the
character Lil faces a terminal illness with the help of her family of lesbian
friends, a situation playwright Jane Chambers faced herself five years after
writing the play:
Perhaps the most interesting thing in this strange situation where life
seems to be imitating art is that I discovered Lil’s responses were not
fiction...that without the support of…my gay family—the real women of
Bluefish Cove—I could not have dealt with this or borne it. It is being
surrounded by the recognition of who you are, what you’ve done and the
absolute acceptance of the goodness of those things that feed one’s
own strength to fight for one’s life, and that reassures one that life, whatever
its length, has meaning and effect. Life is not a crap shoot; it is what
we who love each other do together, and that is, in itself, sufficient meaning.
—Jane Chambers, December 1981
1 Jane Chambers, best known for the play, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove.
20 Open Hands
How long? Fourteen years. And if
Jane had not died at the age of 45, it
would have been many more. Longtime
companions. House-mates. Survived
by her mother, with whom she
was only reconciled toward the end, and
by her brothers, who did not show up
for her last year of living or honor her
with attendance at her funeral.
A journalist interviewed Beth after
Jane’s death. Beth mentioned that she
had received support from two women
ministers in their small town; she was
speaking of me and a Methodist minister
who was Jane’s therapist. “Both of
them went to the funeral home with
me,” said Beth. “The director, who knew
we were lovers, had to ask a series of
questions, including ‘Was she ever married?’
I said no, and both ministers, together,
insisted, ‘Oh yes, she was.’”
The journalist who interviewed Beth
quoted her: “At Jane’s funeral there were
an awful lot of straight people. There
were the people who owned the hardware
store and the Laundromat, all the
small town folks whom Jane and I had
educated. We both believed in gently
being ourselves and thereby teaching
people.”
I was one of their students. In my
five months of weekly visits in their
home, I witnessed Beth’s incredible devotion
to Jane, whose tumor progressively
ravaged her brilliant mind and
broke her dynamic spirit. I met their
extended family of gay and lesbian
friends who visited or relieved Beth
when she needed some time away. I met
Jane’s mother, who reconciled with Jane
after years of alienation.
After I conducted Jane’s memorial
service the mail started coming in. I
have never received so many letters of
gratitude from strangers. Letters came
from members of the gay and lesbian
community who said that they had
never before experienced in a church the
sense of dignity that they felt at that
service. Most of them enclosed generous
contributions to the church—because
they wanted to say thank you for
the open recognition of love and commitment
between two women.
One of Jane’s friends, Jere, joined the
church immediately, and became active.
She was an actor, and she enjoyed
The Lost Coin
“What woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not
light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When
she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying,
‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’”
—Jesus, Luke 15:8-9
working with the children on special
projects. She remarked on one occasion
that it was nice to be in a church where
parents didn’t snatch their children
away when she walked into a room.
Quite the contrary, Jere was and is one
of the most loved and respected leaders
in that congregation. So when she
and Anne came to me and said they
would like to plan a union ceremony
in the church, I rejoiced with them and
we started planning. Our denomination
had passed a resolution in support of
ministers who performed union ceremonies
for gay couples.
After my move to a congregation in
Santa Barbara, I was reminded of Beth
and Jane— and of so many other gay or
Winter 1999 21
lesbian couples I have known in congregations
I’ve served—as I read the slogan
for the conservative group promoting
the passage of a bill to outlaw gay
marriages in the state: “What strengthens
families strengthens California.”
I could not agree more.
What strengthens families? Love, for
one thing. And acceptance. I have seen
many families weakened by rejection
of gay sons or lesbian daughters. I have
seen families strengthened by acceptance
of them.
What strengthens families? Openness,
honesty. But how many gay and
lesbian couples do you know who can
bring their beloved life companions
home for Thanksgiving dinner?
What strengthens families? Devotion
to children. In the congregation I
serve, there are at least four families of
children with same-gender parents.
Their children are loved and nurtured
by parents who have given themselves
to one another and to their children
with every bit as much commitment as
any heterosexual couple.
More families have been destroyed
by rejection of gay members than by
exposure to gay love. More families
have been rendered dysfunctional by
secrecy than by openness. More children
have been taught to hate by the
example of rejection than by the example
of acceptance. There is a cultural
conspiracy against the truth and it corrupts
families. “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”
Live a lie, they are advised. And all of
this is true of congregational families
as well as biological families.
I would not ask everyone to be comfortable
with same-sex marriages and
families. In fact, I would encourage
some open conversation about the discomfort
which everyone has at some
level.
But I would ask this: How would you
feel if you had to pretend you were
single when you weren’t? How would
you feel if, after fourteen years of marriage
and a year of caring for a dying
spouse, you were left out of the obituary?
How does someone else’s vow to
love another in sickness or in health
hurt you or anyone else? In a world
where children are neglected and
abused, why would you want to deprive
The Body of Christ Stretches to be Inclusive
Craig A. Buxton
What does it mean to be part of a [church]
community? What does that kind of fellowship
look like? Peter says, “Above everything else,
love each other deeply, because love covers
over many sins.” How do we love each other—
deeply, earnestly? The Greek word translated
deeply means “to stretch out, to extend.” It was
used to describe a horse made to go at full gallop.
Think of an athlete straining to meet the goal. Christian love is something
we have to work at— it’s not a matter of emotional feeling but of
dedicated will. To love deeply suggests intensity, exerting one’s powers
to their full extent. Practicing that kind of love for one another matters
more than anything else among Christians. Remember the words of our
Lord Jesus? “As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this
everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Evangelism committees and council on ministries committees can try to
come up with all kinds of strategies and programs; but the most effective
ones will be those that empower us to begin to practice loving each
other— deeply, earnestly.
From a sermon entitled Church Alive: Belonging, Caring, Serving
reflecting on 1 Peter 4:8-11.
a child of parents who will offer love
and nurture?
Since that day in February of 1983
when I buried Jane, I have been invited
into the lives of gay couples facing the
horror of AIDS, and gay and lesbian
couples going through the trauma of
separation after years of committed relationships.
Their experience is no different
from that of anyone else who
suffers the pain of grief or loss, except
for one thing: they are deprived of the
larger community’s acknowledgment
and support. Likewise, I have performed
union ceremonies for same-sex couples,
always aware that these rites, while receiving
the sanction of the Unitarian
Universalist tradition, are not acknowledged
by the state.
In our congregations we are in a position
to be part of the educating process.
First, by recognizing our prejudices,
our discomforts, our fears. And
then by asking ourselves: Is this a place
where we recognize that at least some
of our members are gay? Is this a place
where visiting lesbians and gay men feel
welcome? Do we assume that a couples
group will be all heterosexual couples,
or a singles group all heterosexual
singles? Would two men or two women
feel comfortable dancing together at a
congregational dance, or holding one
another’s hands during a prayer in worship?
May our welcoming voices be
heard—in our state capitals, in Washington,
D.C., in our own communities,
and in our congregational life—in support
of family values: family values not
just for men and women who choose
to love each other, but for women who
love women, and for men who love
men.
Sara Moores Campbell is senior minister
of The Unitarian
Society of Santa
Barbara, California.
22 Open Hands
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words and music by Amanda Udis-Kessler
Copyright ©1999 by Amanda Udis-Kessler.
Permission granted for nonprofit use in worship.
For other permission contact Amanda Udis-Kessler
P.O. Box 1814, Cambridge MA 02238
Winter 1999 23
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24 Open Hands
Movement
News
95 Methodist Clergy Bless Same-Sex Union
Ninety-five clergy from the California-Nevada Conference
of the United Methodist Church co-officiated in the blessing
of the relationship of two female conference leaders on January
16, challenging the denominational policy banning samesex
unions. More than 1,200 persons gathered at the Sacramento
Convention Center to celebrate the committed
relationship of Jeanne Barnett and Ellie Charlton.
The mood was exuberant. A choir of over 100 voices sang
before the service. Jim and Jean Strathdee led the gathering in
singing, and Bethany UMC member Randy Miller preached a
brief, stirring sermon about these “radical” grandmothers from
Sacramento. The backdrop featured the logo of the Reconciling
Congregations Program and banners representing the Reconciling
Congregations in the conference.
With the co-officiating clergy and lay representatives from
each Reconciling Congregation gathered behind the couple,
presiding pastor Don Fado remarked that, if charges were to
be filed against these clergy, it would be for these words of
blessing: “O God, our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, we
bow before you to ask your blessing upon Ellie and Jeanne,
whom we now bless in your name. Their commitment to one
another grows out of their commitment to you, whose love is
revealed through Jesus Christ. We pray for you to guide and
strengthen them, that they remain open to your spirit and continue
to grow in love. We thank you for Jeanne and Ellie’s love
and faith which they so readily share with us. We recognize in
this service the place of family, friends, church, and the entire
human family; we are able to love because you first loved us.
O God, our maker, we gladly proclaim to the world that Jeanne
and Ellie are loving partners together for life. Amen.”
Charges are pending against some of the clergy who participated.
In a related development in the Northern Illinois
conference, a March church trial is anticipated for Broadway
UMC pastor Greg Dell for conducting a service of blessing for
two men last September. –Mark Bowman
Welcoming Movement Spreads to the UK
The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) of the
United Kingdom has sought to develop a Welcoming Congregations
Project. A congregational resource packet was prepared,
drawing heavily on RCP, ONA, and “Claiming the
Promise” material, as well as a World Council of Churches
resource. Four introductory meetings were held in London
in 1998, with a total attendance of 80 people and the purchase
of 32 packets. In August a small group met to consider
nomenclature, criteria, and future plans. Decisions on
criteria for becoming welcoming were quite tricky because
LGCM is working ecumenically and needs to provide and
allow for many differing authority structures, etc. It was
agreed to use the title INCLUSIVE Congregations with a rainbow
logo. It was felt that INCLUSIVE represents a theological
understanding of the nature of God, as compared with
the words Welcoming or Affirming which tend to suggest
human activity.
Five regional half-day conferences are booked for 1999 in
Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Cambridge,
a wide English coverage, and information on INCLUSIVE Congregations
and the offer of a speaker has been circulated nationwide
to County Ecumenical Officers. The first congregation
(Anglican) has just applied for listing as INCLUSIVE! – Janet
Webber, INCLUSIVE Congregations Project voluntary worker
UCC’s Sherry Challenges the WCC
On December 14, despite an impassioned plea from United
Church of Christ USA President Paul Sherry that met with sustained
applause, the World Council of Churches meeting in
Harare, Zimbabwe, approved a Human Rights document which
fails to specify l/g/b people as in need of protection. Sherry,
who in November wrote a pastoral letter to all UCC churches
urging them to welcome g/l/b people, said in part, “A year ago,
Amnesty International documented scores of instances in countries
all over the globe in which individuals are being targeted
for imprisonment, torture and murder simply on the grounds
of their sexual orientation. In my own country, but a few weeks
ago, a young college student was brutally beaten and hung on
a fence to die, simply because he was gay.
“The silence, in the midst of this ugliness, is deafening. I
urge us all to break the silence.…I urge us all to speak and act
on behalf of God’s children in pain so that justice may be
pursued, wholeness restored, and the integrity of the Gospel
preserved.”
The WCC did pass a proposed program for the next seven
years which includes a study on human sexuality, declaring,
“...the issue of human sexuality has emerged as an important
issue which faces the churches. It is clear that issues surrounding
the understanding of human sexuality have divided and
continue to divide some churches. An ecumenical approach
to issues of human sexuality would need…to explore the issues
while creating and deepening mutual trust.” L/G/B people
were well represented at WCC’s Padare, or marketplace of ideas,
by representatives of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan
Community Churches and many denominational groups from
around the world. – Robert C. Lodwick
Ecumenical Conference Staff Position
Applications are now being accepted for a Conference Coordinator
for the ecumenical gathering of Welcoming Churches which will
be August 3-6, 2000, at the University of Northern Illinois outside
Chicago. This full-time, temporary position will begin in late
summer 1999 and continue through the conference. The staff
person will work directly with the conference coordinating
committee and will support volunteer task groups in carrying out
fund raising, promotion, program planning and other tasks for
this event. The staff person is expected to provide own office space.
If interested, send resume and letter to Mark Bowman at RCP,
3801 N. Keeler Avenue, Chicago, IL 60641; fax: 773/736-5475.
Equal Opportunity Employer.
Winter 1999 25
Welcoming
Communities
UPCOMING GATHERINGS
March 19-21
Eighth Annual National Conference for Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Seminarians and
Their Allies: “Common Pain, Common Hope” at Chicago
Theological Seminary and Meadville-Lombard
Theological School in Chicago. Contact Michael Cooper
(m-cooper@mindspring.com), Tanya Denley (TDenley
@juno.com), Marilyn Nash (mnash100@aol.com), or Ken
Stone (kstone@chgosem.edu).
April 15-18
Affirm United Annual Conference and AGM. An exciting
conference of worship, inspiration, organising and
strategizing in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Theme speakers will
include Darryl MacDonald, the Presbyterian minister from
Montreal who has been barred from ordination and
Alyson Huntley, the author of Daring to be United. For
information contact Ken Delisle at 204-772-4322; or
acpucc@aol.com
May 21-23
More Light Presbyterians Annual Conference: “Before
Us an Open Door” (interpreting Revelation 3:8) at
Oklahoma City University in Oklahoma City. Keynoters
are Scott Anderson and Tony de la Rosa. Workshops ranging
from spirituality to organizing. Contact John McNeese:
405/848-2819 or john33@ix.netcom.com
June 25-27
Supportive Congregations Network (Brethren-Mennonite):
“Leading the Dance: Living the Church Re-
Imagined” at Plymouth UCC in Milwaukee. Contact Ralph
McFadden at 303/936-7734; Hikermac@aol.com
June 28-July 1
UCC Coalition for LGBT Concerns National Gathering:
“A Love Worth Risking For/The Challenge and Opportunity
of Our Time” (based on the biblical narrative
of Esther) at Brown University, Providence, RI. 4 p.m.,
June 28-Noon, July 1. Worship, movement, conversation,
music, fun! (Pre-Gathering events: People of Color
Institute and White People Working Against Racism, June
28, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.) For more information/registration
contact: John Lardin 734/753-4808 or email:
JWLARDIN@aol.com
RECONCILING IN CHRIST
Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer
Minneapolis, Minnesota
In the Twin Cities there is an active support group
of Lutheran parents and friends of gay and lesbian people. One
of the leaders of this group presented the idea of becoming a
Reconciling in Christ congregation to her church council meeting
in October 1997. Over the next several months, Pastor
Donald Luther held a series of five Bible studies for the Church
Council. There were four educational forums open to the entire
congregation as well. A group of five people were appointed
by the church council to draft an affirmation to be presented
at a congregational meeting. After eight months of discussion
and information, the congregation voted on a statement of
welcome. It passed by a margin of 63 to 3. Christ the Redeemer
is the tenth Lutheran congregation in the Minneapolis/St. Paul
metro area to become Reconciling in Christ.
OPEN & AFFIRMING MINISTRIES
First Christian Church
Boulder, Colorado
Established in 1878, First Christian Church (Disciples
of Christ) has always valued independent thinking and
encouraged its members to participate in those activities that
bring justice to the larger community. Once its present building
was erected, one of the first ministries undertaken was the
creation of a low income senior adult facility near the church.
On November 8, 1998 the congregation continued that tradition
and voted to identify itself as an Open & Affirming congregation.
Pastor Terry Zimmerman affirms, “Our decision to
become ‘officially’ O&A brings new opportunities and challenges
to our members, but if our future is anything like our
past, we have many wonderful, creative, fulfilling and purposeful
days ahead of us!” As leaders of the Open & Affirming
Task Force, the Rev. Glenn Johnson, a retired pastor, and his
wife, Louise, were a strong impetus behind this achievement.
First Christian Church
San Mateo, California
First Christian Church voted to become Open &Affirming in
January of 1991, during the pastorate of Rev. Herb Leslie. Organized
in June of 1957, the congregation was deeply committed
to building bridges of understanding and acceptance between
people who represented a wide variety of beliefs and positions
on controversial social issues during the 1960s and 1970s. Today
the congregation is involved in a ministry in San Mateo
County which provides food for persons with AIDS. The present
pastor is Rev. Ron Frazier.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW!
WELCOME 2000
Mass Ecumenical Gathering of Welcoming Congregations
Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois
August 3-6, 2000
DON’T MISS THIS HISTORIC EVENT!
Sponsored by:
• Affirming Congregations (United Church of Canada)
• Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists
• More Light Presbyterians
• Open & Affirming Ministries (Disciples of Christ)
• Open and Affirming Program (UCC)
• Reconciling Congregations (United Methodist)
• Reconciling in Christ Churches (Lutheran)
• Supportive Congregations (Brethren/Mennonite)
26 Open Hands
Welcoming
Resources
ECUMENICAL
Claiming the Promise: An Ecumenical Welcoming Bible Study
Resource on Homosexuality. Mary Jo Osterman. Chicago: Reconciling
Congregations Program, 1997. Study book ($5.95)
and Leader’s Guide ($9.95) plus 15% shipping. Available from
RCP, 3801 N. Keeler Ave., Chicago, IL 60641. 773/726-5526.
With Love, monthly newsletter of an ecumenical ministry
assisting individuals and congregations create welcoming
communities, edited by Alice G. Knotts. No subscription fee,
donations gratefully accepted. Send name, address, phone,
and e-mail to With Love, 710 N. Mountain Avenue, Ashland,
OR 97520. 541/488-2770.
TV spots for outreach to the g/l community now available: Two
30-second commercials for use by Christian congregations
and groups with a specific outreach to the g/l community,
prepared by Word of Life Ministries of New Orleans. Former
Second Stone editor Jim Bailey is administrator. For information
packet, e-mail Word of Life at tv4gayxian@aol.com
MORE LIGHT PRESBYTERIANS
Order from: Dick Lundy, 5525 Timber Lane, Excelsior MN 55331;
612/470-0093; e-mail: dick_lundy.parti@ecunet.org Checks payable
to MLP. Price includes postage.
More Light Resource Packet. Includes More Light brochure (with
history, list of welcoming churches, and how to become More
Light), Mission Statement, Annual Report, “How to” ideas for
developing More Light ministry in the congregation, sample
More Light statements, where to find excellent video and print
materials, and much more. $18.00. Brochure available separately
for free.
Keeping the Flame Alive, 20 suggestions for your welcoming congregation.
Free; copy or internet.
OPEN AND AFFIRMING
Order from: ONA Resources, P.O. Box 403, Holden, MA 01520-
0403. Checks payable to “The Coalition.” Price includes postage.
And So We Speak. ONA’s newest resource is a collection of 30
openly gay, lesbian, and bisexual UCC clergy and four seminarians
describing experiences and offering reflections about
being closeted and “out” in ministry, seeking a pastoral call,
spirituality, and much more. Lay persons offer perspectives
on having openly gay or lesbian pastors serving their congregations.
$16.
OK! We’re ONA. Now What? An ONA Idea Book. Ideas from
congregations across the country about living out an ONA
commitment. $8.00
Blessing Ceremonies: Resources for Same-Gender Services of Commitment.
Materials include theological background, sample
services, liturgical resources, and personal accounts of those
who have been part of such services. $12.50
RECONCILING CONGREGATION PROGRAM
Order from: RCP, 3801 N. Keeler Avenue, Chicago, IL 60641;
773/726-5526. Add 15% postage.
Enfold: A Reconciling Congregation Explores What it Means to
Welcome all People. Forty members of Bethany United Methodist
Church in San Francisco explain why it’s important to
be part of a Reconciling Congregation. $10.
Still on the Journey: A Handbook for Reconciling Congregations in
Ministry with Lesbians, Bisexuals, and Gay Men. Practical ideas
and plans for ministries with lesbian, gay and bisexual persons
and for witnessing about the welcoming church movement.
54pp. $15.
RECONCILING IN CHRIST PROGRAM
Prices include shipping.
Reconciling in Christ Information Packet. Background information
and advice, brochures for RIC Program, Lutherans Concerned,
and Open Hands; relevant material and resource list.
Free. Order from: Bob Gibeling, 2466 Sharondale Dr., Atlanta,
GA 30305; 404/266-9615. Multiple brochures only @ 10¢ from
Lutherans Concerned InfoX, address below.
This Is My Story. Video produced by Lutherans Concerned featuring
personal stories of gay and lesbian Christians and their
journeys of reconciliation. Two versions, one for an individual
who needs to hear hopeful words and the other for a congregation
which needs more understanding. 22 minutes. $15.
Specify which version and order from: Lutherans Concerned InfoX,
409 Roland Hills Dr. Mogadore, OH 44260; or by e-mail:
InfoX@lcna.org
Inclusive Faith. Video for congregations considering the Reconciling
in Christ program. Features former ELCA Presiding
Bishop Herbert Chilstrom and Rev. Mel White, former ghostwriter
for conservative Christian leaders. $15. Order from: (see
directly above).
WELCOME & AFFIRMING BAPTISTS
Order from Brenda J. Moulton, P.O. Box 2596, Attleboro Falls,
MA 02763; 508/226-1945.
Does It Matter? A Study Discussion Guide on Homosexuality
and Faith for American Baptists, by Rev. Timothy Phillips.
$10.
Pastor, I Am Gay by Howard Bess. The story of an American
Baptist pastor who grapples with homosexuality after a church
member tells him he’s gay. $15.
SUPPORTIVE CONGREGATIONS NETWORK
Body of Dissent: Lesbian and Gay Mennonites and Brethren Continue
the Journey. Video stories of l/g/b Mennonites and Brethren.
Provides a basis for dialogue on how the church weaves
its Anabaptist history of nonconformity and its call to justice
with the divisiveness surrounding homosexuality. 39 minutes.
$30, includes study guide and shipping. Order from:
Brethren/Mennonite Council for Lesbian and Gay Concerns, Box
6300, Minneapolis, MN 55406-0300; 612/722-6906; e-mail:
BMCouncil@aol.com
Winter 1999 27
OUR WELCOMING MOVEMENT GROWS
Since 1978, 867 local churches, 45 campus
ministries, 31 judicatories, and four national ministries
have publicly declared themselves welcoming
of all people, including lesbian women
and gay men. These 943* welcoming communities
are found in ten denominations in 46 states
and the District of Columbia of the United States
and in five provinces of Canada. The complete
list (as of January 15, 1999) follows. The affiliation
of each is designated by the following codes:
CONGREGATIONS
UNITED STATES
ALABAMA
Huntsville
UU Church (WEL)
ALASKA
Anchorage
Immanuel Presbyterian (ML)
UU Fellowship (WEL)
Palmer
Church of the Covenant (W&A)
Sitka
UMC of Sitka (RC)
ARIZONA
Mesa
Celebration of Life Presbyterian (ML)
Phoenix
Asbury UMC (RC)
Augustana Lutheran (RIC)
Faith Lutheran (RIC)
Tucson
Church of the Painted Hills (ONA)
First Christian (O&A)
Rincon Congregational UCC (ONA)
St. Francis in the Foothills UMC (RC)
ARKANSAS
Little Rock
Pulaski Heights Christian (O&A)
CALIFORNIA
Alameda
First Christian (O&A)
First Congregational (ONA)
Albany
Albany UMC (RC)
Altadena
Altadena Congregational (ONA)
Christ the Shepherd Lutheran (RIC)
Baldwin Park
First Presbyterian (ML)
Belmont
Congregational Church UCC (ONA)
Benicia
Community Congregational (ONA)
Berkeley
Berkeley/Richmond Intercity Min. (O&A)
Epworth UMC (RC)
First Baptist (W&A)
First Congregational (ONA)
St. John’s Presbyterian (ML)
Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran (RIC)
Trinity UMC (RC)
University Lutheran Chapel (RIC)
University Church (O&A)
Campbell
First UMC (RC)
Carlsbad
Pilgrim Congregational UCC (ONA)
Carmel
UU of Monterey Peninsula (WEL)
Chatsworth
West Valley UMC (RC)
Chico
Congregational Church (ONA)
Claremont
Claremont UMC (RC)
Claremont UCC, Congregational (ONA)
Concord
First Christian (O&A)
Danville
Peace Lutheran (RIC)
Davis
Davis UMC (RC)
El Cerrito
Christ Lutheran (RIC)
El Cerrito UMC (RC)
Mira Vista UCC (ONA)
Northminster Presbyterian (ML)
Eureka
First Congregational (ONA)
Fair Oaks
Fair Oaks UMC (RC)
Fairfax
Fairfax Community (ONA)
Fremont
Fremont Congregational (ONA)
Niles Congregational UCC (ONA)
Fresno
First Congregational (ONA)
Wesley UMC (RC)
Fullerton
Fullerton Congregational (ONA)
Gardena
First UMC (RC)
Guerneville
Community Church, UCC (ONA)
Hayward
Eden UCC (ONA)
New Fellowship UCC (ONA)
United Church (ONA)
Westminster Hills Presbyterian (ML)
Hollywood
Hollywood UMC (RC)
Irvine
Irvine UCC (ONA)
Kensington
Arlington Community UCC (ONA)
Lafayette
Lafayette Christian (O&A)
Larkspur
Redwoods Presbyterian (ML)
La Verne
Church of the Brethren (SCN)
Long Beach
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
First UMC (RC)
Trinity Lutheran (RIC)
Los Alamitos
Community Congregational UCC (ONA)
Los Angeles
Bethel Lutheran (RIC)
Mt. Hollywood Congregational UCC (ONA)
United University (ML, RC)
Westwood Hills Congregational (ONA)
Wilshire UMC (RC)
Los Gatos
First UMC (RC)
Malibu
Malibu UMC (RC)
Marin City
St. Andrews Presbyterian (ML)
Milpitas
Sunnyhills UMC (RC)
Modesto
College Avenue Congregational (ONA)
Napa
Emmanuel Lutheran (RIC)
Newark
Holy Redeemer Lutheran (RIC)
North Hollywood
St. Matthew’s Lutheran (RIC)
Toluca Lake UMC (RC)
Oakland
Beacon Presbyterian Fellowship (ML)
Faith American Lutheran (RIC)
First Congregational (ONA)
First Lutheran (RIC)
Lake Merritt UMC (RC)
Lakeshore Avenue Baptist (W&A)
Lutheran Peace Fellowship (RIC)
Montclair Presbyterian (ML)
Plymouth UCC (ONA)
St. Paul Lutheran (RIC)
Palo Alto
Covenant Presbyterian (ML)
First Evangelical Lutheran (RIC)
First Presbyterian (ML)
St. Andrew’s UMC (RC)
University Lutheran (RIC)
Pasadena
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
Portola Valley
Ladera Community Church (ONA)
Richmond
Grace Lutheran (RIC)
Riverside
First Congregational (ONA)
Sacramento
Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer (RIC)
Unitarian Universalist Society (WEL)
San Bernardino
First Congregational Church, UCC (ONA)
San Bruno
Peace Lutheran (RIC)
San Diego
First Lutheran (RIC)
First Unitarian (WEL)
Pacific Beach UMC (RC)
San Francisco
Bethany UMC (RC)
Calvary UMC (RC)
Christ Church Lutheran (RIC)
Church of the Advent (OAS)
Church of St. John the Evangelist (OAS)
City of Refuge (ONA)
Dolores Street Baptist (W&A)
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
First Mennonite Church (SCN)
First St. John’s UMC (RC)
First Unitarian Society (WEL)
First United Lutheran (RIC)
Glide Memorial UMC (RC)
Hamilton UMC (RC)
Noe Valley Ministry (ML)
Pine UMC (RC)
Seventh Avenue Presbyterian (ML)
St. Aidan’s Church (OAS)
St. Francis Lutheran (RIC)
St. John the Evangelist Episcopal (OAS)
St. John’s UCC (ONA)
St. Mark’s Lutheran (RIC)
St. Paulus Lutheran (RIC)
Temple UMC (RC)
Trinity Church (OAS)
San Jose
Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran (RIC)
First Christian Church (O&A)
New Community of Faith (ONA, W&A)
St. Paul’s UMC (RC)
TOTAL
AC Affirming Congregation Programme (United Church of Canada) .... 11
ML More Light Presbyterians ................................................................... 93
OAS Oasis (Episcopal) ................................................................................ 52
ONA Open and Affirming (United Church of Christ) ............................. 260
O&A Open & Affirming (Disciples) ............................................................ 37
RIC Reconciling in Christ (Lutheran) ..................................................... 164
RC Reconciling Congregation Program (United Methodist) ................. 178
SCN Supportive (Brethren/Mennonite) ..................................................... 21
W&A Welcoming & Affirming (American Baptist) ..................................... 33
WEL Welcoming (Unitarian Universalist) ................................................ 107
*This total is lower than the sum of the numbers listed on the right because some welcoming communities are multiply designated and affiliated with more than one denomination.
28 Open Hands
San Leandro
San Leandro Community (W&A)
San Mateo
Chalice Christian Church (O&A)
College Heights UCC (ONA)
San Rafael
Christ in Terra Linda Presb. (ML)
Faith Lutheran (RIC)
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
First UMC (RC)
Santa Barbara
La Mesa Community (ONA)
Santa Cruz
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
First UMC (RC)
Grace UMC (RC)
Santa Monica
The Church in Ocean Park (RC)
Santa Rosa
Christ UMC (RC)
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
UU Fellowship of Sonoma Co. (WEL)
Saratoga
Grace UMC (RC)
Sausalito
First Presbyterian (ML)
Sebastopol
Community Church (ONA)
Simi Valley
United Church of Christ (ONA)
Stockton
First Christian (O&A)
St. Mark’s UMC (RC)
Sunnyvale
Congregational Community (ONA)
Raynor Park Christian (O&A)
St. John’s Lutheran (RIC)
Sunol
Little Brown Church (ONA)
Tiburon
Community Congregational (ONA)
Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran (RIC)
Westminster Presbyterian (ML)
Vacaville
St. Paul’s UMC (RC)
Vallejo
Fellowship UMC (RC)
First Christian (O&A)
Walnut Creek
Mt. Diablo UU (WEL)
Walnut Creek UMC (RC)
West Covina
Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran (RIC)
West Hollywood
Crescent Heights UMC (RC)
West Hollywood Presbyterian (ML)
Yucaipa
Faith Lutheran (RIC)
COLORADO
Arvada
Arvada Mennonite (SCN)
Aurora
Parkview Congregational UCC (ONA)
Boulder
Boulder Mennonite (SCN)
Community UCC (ONA)
First Congregational (ONA)
First UMC (RC)
Mount Calvary Lutheran (RIC)
Colorado Springs
All Souls Unitarian (WEL)
Denver
Capitol Heights Presbyterian (ML)
Fireside Christian (O&A)
First Universalist (WEL)
Our Savior’s Lutheran (RIC)
Park Hill Congregational UCC (ONA)
Sixth Avenue United (ONA)
Spirit of Joy Fellowship (SCN)
St. Paul’s UMC (RC)
Washington Park UCC (ONA)
Evergreen
Wild Rose UCC (ONA)
Fort Collins
St. Thomas Lutheran Chapel (RIC)
Greeley
Family of Christ Presbyterian (ML)
Pueblo
Christ Congregational, UCC (ONA)
Telluride
Christ Presbyterian (ML)
CONNECTICUT
Coventry
Second Congregational (ONA)
Ellington
First Lutheran (RIC)
Fairfield
First Church Cong. (ONA)
Glastonbury
First Church of Christ Cong. (ONA)
Guilford
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
Hamden
Spring Glen Church, UCC (ONA)
U Society of New Haven (WEL)
Hartford
Central Baptist (W&A)
First Church of Christ, UCC (ONA)
Madison
Shoreline UU Society (WEL)
Mansfield Center
First Church of Christ Cong. (ONA)
Middletown
First Church of Christ Cong. (ONA)
New Haven
Church of Christ in Yale Univ. (ONA)
First & Summerfield UMC (RC)
United Church on the Green (ONA)
Noank
Noank Baptist (W&A)
South Glastonbury
Congregational Church (ONA)
Stamford
St. John Lutheran (RIC)
Storrs
Storrs Congregational (ONA)
Uncasville
Uncasville UMC (RC)
Waterbury
South Congregational (ONA)
Westport
Unitarian Church (WEL)
Windsor
First Church UCC (ONA)
DELAWARE
Newark
New Ark UCC (ONA)
Wilmington
West Presbyterian (ML)
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Washington, D.C.
All Souls Unitarian (WEL)
Augustana Lutheran (RIC)
Christ Lutheran (RIC)
Christ UMC (RC)
Community of Christ Lutheran (RIC)
Dumbarton UMC (RC)
First Congregational (ONA)
First Trinity Lutheran (RIC)
Foundry UMC (RC)
Georgetown Lutheran (RIC)
Grace Lutheran (RIC)
Lutheran Church of the Reformation (RIC)
Riverside Baptist (W&A)
Sojourner Truth Cong. UU (WEL)
St. Paul’s Lutheran (RIC)
Westminster Presbyterian (ML)
FLORIDA
Clearwater
UU Church of Clearwater (WEL)
Gainesville
United Church (ONA)
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (WEL)
Key West
Holy Trinity Lutheran (RIC)
Lake Mary
Grace UMC (RC)
Miami Beach
Miami Beach Community (ONA)
Riviera Presbyterian (ML)
St. John’s UMC (RC)
North Palm Beach
First Unitarian (WEL)
Orlando
First Unitarian (WEL)
Pinellas Park
Good Samaritan Presbyterian (ML, ONA)
St. Petersburg
Lakewood UCC (ONA)
Tallahassee
United Church (ONA)
Tampa
First United Church (ONA)
John Calvin Presbyterian (ML)
Unitarian Universalist (WEL)
GEORGIA
Athens
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (WEL)
Atlanta
Clifton Presbyterian (ML)
Grant Park-Aldersgate UMC (RC)
Ormewood Park Presbyterian (ML)
Trinity UMC (RC)
Marietta
Pilgrimage UCC (ONA)
HAWAI‘I
Honolulu
Calvary By the Sea Lutheran (RIC)
Church of the Crossroads (ONA)
Honolulu Lutheran (RIC)
Kalaupapa
Kanaana Hou-Siloama, UCC (ONA)
ILLINOIS
Carbondale
Church of the Good Shepherd (ONA)
Champaign
Community UCC (ONA)
McKinley Memorial Presbyterian (ML)
St. Andrew’s Lutheran (RIC)
Chicago
Albany Park UMC (RC)
Augustana Lutheran (RIC)
Berry Memorial UMC (RC)
Broadway UMC (RC)
Christ the King Lutheran (RIC)
Christ the Mediator Lutheran (RIC)
Ebenezer Lutheran (RIC)
Epworth UMC (RC)
First UMC (RC)
Gladstone Park Lutheran (RIC)
Grace Baptist (W&A)
Grace UMC (RC)
Holy Covenant UMC (RC)
Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran (RIC)
Immanuel Lutheran (RIC)
Irving Park Christian (O&A)
Irving Park UMC (RC)
Lake View Lutheran (RIC)
Lincoln Park Presbyterian (ML)
Mayfair UMC (RC)
Nazareth UCC (ONA)
Norwood Park UMC (RC)
Park View Lutheran (RIC)
Peoples Church (ONA)
Resurrection Lutheran (RIC)
St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran (RIC)
St. Mark Lutheran (RIC)
St. Paul’s UCC (ONA)
Trinity Lutheran (RIC)
United Church of Rogers Park (RC)
University Church (ONA, O&A)
Wellington Avenue UCC (ONA)
Elmhurst
Maywood House Church (RIC)
Evanston
Lake Street Church of Evanston (W&A)
Hemenway UMC (RC)
Wheadon UMC (RC)
Hazel Crest
Hazel Crest Community UMC (RC)
Jacksonville
Congregational Church, UCC (ONA)
Naperville
First Congregational Church (ONA)
Normal
New Covenant Community (ML, ONA,
O&A)
Oak Park
Euclid Avenue UMC (RC)
First United Church (ML, ONA)
Good Shepherd Lutheran (RIC)
Oak Park Mennonite (SCN)
Pilgrim Church (ONA)
Park Forest
UU Community (WEL)
Rockford
Unitarian Universalist (WEL)
Streamwood
Immanuel UCC (ONA)
Waukegan
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
Wheaton
St. Paul Lutheran (RIC)
Wilmette
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
Winfield
Winfield Community UMC (RC)
Winter 1999 29
INDIANA
Bloomington
St. Thomas Lutheran (RIC)
Unitarian Universalist (WEL)
Goshen
Circle of Hope Mennonite Fellowship (SCN)
Indianapolis
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
Northeast UCC (ONA)
North Manchester
Manchester Church of the Brethren (SCN)
South Bend
Central UMC (RC)
First Unitarian (WEL)
Southside Christian (O&A)
West Lafayette
Shalom UCC (ONA)
IOWA
Ames
Ames Mennonite (SCN)
Lord of Life Lutheran (RIC)
University Lutheran (RIC)
Cedar Rapids
Faith UMC (RC)
Peoples Church UU (WEL)
Clinton
Clinton-Camanche, Iowa MFSA (RC)
Davenport
Davenport Unitarian (WEL)
Des Moines
Cottage Grove Avenue Presbyterian (ML)
First Unitarian (WEL)
Plymouth Congregational UCC (ONA)
Trinity UMC (RC)
Urbandale UCC (ONA)
Iowa City
Faith UCC (ONA)
KANSAS
Kansas City
Rainbow Mennonite (SCN)
Olathe
St. Andrews Christian (O&A)
Topeka
Central Congregational UCC (ONA)
KENTUCKY
Henderson
Zion UCC (ONA)
Louisville
Central Presbyterian (ML)
First Unitarian (WEL)
Third Lutheran (RIC)
Mount Prospect
Grace and Glory Lutheran (RIC)
LOUISIANA
New Orleans
St. Mark’s UMC (RC)
MAINE
Bath
UCC, Congregational (ONA)
Camden
John Street UMC (RC)
Ellsworth
Unitarian Universalist (WEL)
Mt. Desert
Somesville Union Meeting House (ONA)
Rockland
The First Universalist (WEL)
Waterville
Universalist Unitarian (WEL)
MARYLAND
Adelphi
Paint Branch UU (WEL)
Baltimore
Brown Memorial Park Ave. Pres. (ML)
Dundalk Church of the Brethren (SCN)
First & Franklin Presbyterian (ML)
Govans Presbyterian (ML)
St. John’s UMC (RC)
St. Mark’s Lutheran (RIC)
Bethesda
Cedar Lane Unitarian (WEL)
River Road Unitarian (WEL)
Columbia
Christ UMC (RC)
Columbia United Christian (O&A)
St. John UM-Presbyterian (ML, RC)
UU Congregation (WEL)
Gaithersburg
Christ the Servant Lutheran (RIC)
Lanham
Good Samaritan Lutheran (RIC)
Rockville
Rockville Presbyterian (ML)
Silver Spring
Christ Congregational UCC (ONA)
Silver Spring Presbyterian (ML)
Takoma Park
Takoma Park Presbyterian (ML)
MASSACHUSETTS
Acton
St. Matthew’s UMC (RC)
Amherst
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
South Congregational (ONA)
Andover
Ballardvale United (ONA, RC)
Unitarian Universalist (WEL)
Auburn
Pakachoag (ONA)
Boston
Arlington Street (WEL)
Church of the Covenant (ML, ONA)
Mennonite Congregation (SCN)
Old South Church (ONA)
Braintree
All Souls Church (WEL)
Brewster
First Parish (WEL)
Cambridge
First Church, Congregational (ONA)
Old Cambridge Baptist (W&A)
University Lutheran (RIC)
Danvers
Holy Trinity UMC (RC)
Framingham
Grace UCC (ONA)
Park Street Baptist (W&A)
Greenfield
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
Hingham
First Parish Old Ship (WEL)
Hingham Congregational (ONA)
Holliston
First Congregational (ONA)
Jamaica Plain
Central Congregational (ONA)
Lincoln
The First Parish in Lincoln (ONA)
Marblehead
St. Stephen’s UMC (RC)
Middleboro
First Unitarian Society (WEL)
Needham
First Parish UU (WEL)
Newburyport
Belleville Congregational UCC (ONA)
First Parish Society (WEL)
People’s UMC (RC)
Newton Highlands
Congregational (ONA)
Northampton
First Church of Christ (ONA)
Unitarian Society (WEL)
Osterville
United Methodist (RC)
Penbroke
First Church in Penbroke (ONA)
Provincetown
Universalist Meeting House (WEL)
Reading
Unitarian Universalist (WEL)
Roxbury
United Community Church (O&A, ONA)
Salem
Crombie Street UCC (ONA)
Shrewsbury
Mt. Olivet Lutheran (RIC)
Somerville
Clarenden Hill Presbyterian (ML)
South Hadley
UMC of Holyoke, S. Hadley, & Granby
Springfield
First Ch. of Christ Congregational (ONA)
Stowe
First Parish Ch. of Stowe & Acton (WEL)
Sudbury
The First Parish (WEL)
Memorial Congregational UCC (ONA)
Waltham
First Presbyterian (ML)
Wayland
First Parish of Wayland (WEL)
Wellesley
Wellesley Congregational (ONA)
Wendell
Wendell Congregational (ONA)
West Newton
First Unitarian Society (WEL)
Second Church in Newton UCC (ONA)
West Somerville
College Avenue UMC (RC)
Williamstown
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
First UMC (RC)
Worcester
Bethany Christian United Parish (W&A,
ONA, O&A)
United Congregational (ONA)
MICHIGAN
Ann Arbor
Amistad Community Church, UCC (ONA)
Church of the Good Shepherd (ONA)
First UU (WEL)
Lord of Light Lutheran (RIC)
Memorial Christian (O&A)
Northside Presbyterian (ML)
Bloomfield Hills
Birmingham Unitarian (WEL)
Detroit
Truth Evangelical Lutheran (RIC)
Douglas
Douglas Congregational UCC (ONA)
East Lansing
Edgewood United Church (ONA)
UU of Greater Lansing (WEL)
Ferndale
Zion Lutheran (RIC)
Grand Rapids
Plymouth Congregational, UCC (ONA)
Kalamazoo
Phoenix Community UCC (ONA)
Skyridge Church of the Brethren (SCN)
Lansing
Ecclesia (O&A)
Lansing Church of the Brethren (SCN)
Southfield
Calvary Lutheran (RIC)
Williamston
Williamston UMC (RC)
Ypsilanti
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
MINNESOTA
Becker
Becker UMC (RC)
Burnsville
Presbyterian Church of the Apostles (ML)
Edina
Edina Community Lutheran (RIC)
Good Samaritan UMC (RC)
Mahtomedi
White Bear UU (WEL)
Mankato
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
Maple Grove
Pilgrims United (ONA)
Minneapolis
Christ the Redeemer Lutheran (RIC)
First Congregational (ONA)
First Unitarian Society (WEL)
First Universalist (WEL)
Grace University Lutheran (RIC)
Hennepin Avenue UMC (RC)
Hobart UMC (RC)
Holy Trinity Lutheran (RIC)
Judson Memorial Baptist (W&A)
Lyndale UCC (ONA)
Lynnhurst Congregational (ONA)
Mayflower Community Cong. UCC (ONA)
Minnehaha UCC (ONA)
Our Savior’s Lutheran (RIC)
Parkway UCC (ONA)
Praxis (RC)
Prospect Park UMC (RC)
Spirit of the Lakes (ONA)
St. Andrew’s Lutheran (RIC)
Temple Baptist (W&A)
University Baptist (W&A)
Walker Community (RC)
Wesley UMC (RC)
New Brighton
United Church of Christ (ONA)
Northfield
First UCC (ONA)
Robbinsdale
Robbinsdale UCC (ONA)
St. Cloud
St. Cloud UU Fellwoship (WEL)
Univ. Lutheran of the Epiphany (RIC)
30 Open Hands
St. Paul
Cherokee Park United (ML, ONA)
Dayton Avenue Presbyterian (ML)
Macalester-Plymouth United (ML, ONA)
St. Anthony Park UCC
St. Paul Mennonite Fellowship (SCN)
St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran (RIC)
Wayzatta
St. Luke Presbyterian (ML)
MISSOURI
Kansas City
Abiding Peace Lutheran (RIC)
All Souls Unitarian (WEL)
Country Club Congregational (ONA)
Fountain of Hope Lutheran (RIC)
Kairos UMC (RC)
St. James Lutheran (RIC)
St. Mark’s Lutheran (RIC)
Trinity UMC (RC)
Van Brunt Blvd. Presbyterian (ML)
St. Louis
Centenary UMC (RC)
Epiphany (ONA)
Gibson Heights United (ML)
St. Marcus Evangelical UCC (ONA)
Tyler Place Presbyterian (ML)
University City
Bethel Lutheran (RIC)
MONTANA
Billings
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
Butte
United Congregational Church (ONA)
Missoula
University Congregational UCC (ONA)
NEBRASKA
Lincoln
Unitarian Church (WEL)
Omaha
First Lutheran (RIC)
Reconciling Worship Community (RC)
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Concord
South Congregational, UCC (ONA)
Exeter
Congregational (ONA)
Hanover
Our Savior Lutheran (RIC)
Jaffrey
United Church (ONA)
Milford
Unitarian Universalist Congregation (WEL)
Pelham
First Congregational (ONA)
Plymouth
Plymouth Congregational (ONA)
Sanbornton
Sanbornton Congregational UCC (ONA)
NEW JERSEY
Belvedere
St. Mary’s Episcopal (OAS)
Bloomfield
Christ Episcopal (OAS)
Boonton
St. John’s Episcopal (OAS)
Chatham
St. Paul’s Episcopal (OAS)
Cherry Hill
UU Church (WEL)
Chester
Church of the Messiah Episcopal (OAS)
Clifton
St. Peter’s Episcopal (OAS)
Denville
Church of Our Saviour Episcopal (OAS)
East Brunswick
East Brunswick Cong. UCC (ONA)
Englewood
St. Paul’s Episcopal (OAS)
Exeter
Congregational Church (ONA)
Fort Lee
Church of the Good Shepherd (OAS)
Hackensack
Christ Episcopal (OAS)
Hackettstown
St. James’ Episcopal (OAS)
Harrington Park
St. Andrew’s Episcopal (OAS)
Hasbrouck Heights
Church of St. John the Divine (OAS)
Haworth
St. Luke’s Episcopal (OAS)
Hawthorne
St. Clement’s Episcopal (OAS)
Hoboken
All Saints Parish (OAS)
Jersey City
Grace Van Vorst Episcopal (OAS)
St. Paul’s Episcopal (OAS)
Kearny
Trinity Episcopal (OAS)
Leonia
All Saints Episcopal (OAS)
Madison
Grace Episcopal (OAS)
Maplewood
St. George’s Episcopal (OAS)
Mendham
St. Mark’s Episcopal (OAS)
Millburn
St. Stephen’s Episcopal (OAS)
Montclair
St. John’s Episcopal (OAS)
St. Luke’s Episcopal (OAS)
Unitarian (WEL)
Montvale
St. Paul’s Episcopal (OAS)
Morristown
Church of the Redeemer (OAS)
St. Peter’s Episcopal (OAS)
Unitarian Fellowship (WEL)
Mt. Arlington
St. Peter’s Episcopal (OAS)
New Brunswick
Emanuel Lutheran (RIC)
Newark
Cathedral of Trinity and St. Philip (OAS)
Grace Episcopal (OAS)
Norwood
Church of the Holy Communion (OAS)
Oakland
St. Alban’s Episcopal (OAS)
Parsippany
St. Gregory’s Episcopal (OAS)
Passaic
St. John’s Episcopal (OAS)
Paterson
St. Paul’s Episcopal (OAS)
Plainfield
First Unitarian Society (WEL)
Pompton Lakes
Christ Church (OAS)
Princeton
Christ Congregation (ONA, W&A)
Ridgewood
Christ Episcopal (OAS)
South Orange
First Presbyterian & Trinity (ML)
Sparta
St. Mary’s Episcopal (OAS)
Summit
Calvary Episcopal (OAS)
Teaneck
St. Mark’s Episcopal (OAS)
Tenafly
Church of the Atonement (OAS)
Towaco
Church of the Transfiguration (OAS)
Titusville
UU of Washington Crossing (WEL)
Upper Montclair
St. James’ Episcopal (OAS)
Verona
Holy Spirit Episcopal (OAS)
Wantage
Good Shepherd Episcopal (OAS)
NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque
First Unitarian (WEL)
Santa Fe
Christ Lutheran (RIC)
First Christian Church (O&A)
Unitarian Church (WEL)
United Church (ONA)
NEW YORK
Albany
Emmanuel Baptist (W&A)
First Presbyterian (ML)
Binghamton
Centenary-Chenango Street UMC (RC)
UU Congregation (WEL)
Blooming Grove
Blooming Grove UCC (ONA)
Brookhaven
Old South Haven Presbyterian (ML)
Brooklyn
Church of Gethsemane (ML)
First Unitarian Cong. Society (WEL)
King’s Highway UMC (RC)
Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian (ML)
Park Slope UMC (RC)
St. John-St. Matthew-Emmanuel
Lutheran (RIC)
Buffalo
Westminster Presbyterian (ML)
Churchville
Union Congregational (ONA)
Copake
Craryville UMC (RC)
Cortland
United Community Church (W&A, ONA)
Dobbs Ferry
South Presbyterian (ML)
Fairport
Mountain Rise UCC (ONA)
Gloversville
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
Grand Island
Riverside Salem (ONA)
Henrietta
John Calvin Presbyterian (ML)
Huntington
UU Fellowship (WEL)
Ithaca
First Baptist (W&A)
First Baptist Church (W&A)
St. Paul’s UMC (RC)
Marcellus
First Presbyterian (ML)
Merrick
Community Presbyterian (ML)
Mt. Kisco
Mt. Kisco Presbyterian (ML)
Mt. Sinai
Mt. Sinai Congregational UCC (ONA)
New York City
Broadway UCC (ONA)
Central Presbyterian (ML)
Good Shepherd-Faith Presbyterian (ML)
Grace & St. Paul’s Lutheran (RIC)
Jan Hus Presbyterian (ML)
Judson Memorial (ONA, W&A)
Madison Avenue Baptist (W&A)
Metropolitan-Duane UMC (RC)
Our Savior’s Atonement Lutheran (RIC)
Park Avenue Christian (O&A)
Riverside (ONA, W&A)
Rutgers Presbyterian (ML)
St. Paul & St. Andrew UMC (RC)
St. Peter’s Lutheran (RIC)
Trinity Lutheran (RIC)
Trinity Presbyterian (ML)
Unitarian Ch. of All Souls (WEL)
Washington Square UMC (RC)
West-Park Presbyterian (ML)
Oneonta
First UMC (RC)
UU Society (WEL)
Palisades
Palisades Presbyterian (ML)
Plattsburgh
Plattsburgh UMC (RC)
Poughkeepsie
Unitarian Fellowship (WEL)
Rochester
Calvary-St. Andrews (ML)
Downtown United Presbyterian (ML)
First Unitarian (WEL)
Lake Avenue Baptist (W&A)
Third Presbyterian (ML)
Westminster Presbyterian (ML)
Saratoga Springs
Presb.-New Eng. Cong. (ML, ONA)
Saratoga Springs UMC (RC)
Sayville
Sayville Congregational UCC (ONA)
Schenectady
First UMC (RC)
First Unitarian (WEL)
Slatehill
Grace UMC of Ridgebury (RC)
Slingerlands
Community UMC (RC)
Snyder
Amherst Community (ONA, O&A)
Syracuse
Plymouth Congregational UCC (ONA)
Winter 1999 31
Troy
First United Presbyterian (ML)
Utica
Unitarian Universalist (WEL)
Williamsville
UU of Amherst (WEL)
Yorktown Heights
First Presbyterian (ML)
NORTH CAROLINA
Chapel Hill
Church of the Reconciliation (ML)
Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist (W&A)
United Church (ONA)
Durham
Eno River UU Fellowship (WEL)
Raleigh
Community UCC (ONA)
Pullen Memorial Baptist (W&A)
Wilmington
UU Fellowship (WEL)
Winston-Salem
First Christian (O&A)
UU Fellowship (WEL)
NORTH DAKOTA
Fargo
St. Mark’s Lutheran (RIC)
OHIO
Brecksville
United Church of Christ (ONA)
Chesterland
Community Church (ONA)
Cincinnati
Clifton UMC (RC)
Mt. Auburn Presbyterian (ML)
Cleveland
Archwood UCC (ONA)
Euclid Ave. Congregational UCC (ONA)
Liberation UCC (ONA)
Pilgrim Congregational UCC (ONA)
Simpson UMC (RC)
West Shore UU (WEL)
Zion UCC (ONA)
Cleveland Heights
Church of the Redeemer (RC)
Noble Road Presbyterian (ML)
Columbus
Calvary Lutheran (RIC)
First English Lutheran (RIC)
First Unitarian Universalist (WEL)
North Congregational UCC (ONA)
Redeemer Lutheran (RIC)
St. Mark Lutheran (RIC)
Dayton
Congregation for Reconciliation (ONA)
Cross Creek Community (ONA)
Faith UCC (ONA)
Miami Valley Unitarian Fellowship (WEL)
Granville
First Baptist (W&A)
Lakewood
Cove UMC (RC)
Parkwood Congregational, UCC (ONA)
Norton
Grace UCC (ONA)
Oberlin
First Church in Oberlin (ONA)
Shaker Heights
First Unitarian of Cleveland (WEL)
Toledo
Central UMC (RC)
OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma City
Church of the Open Arms, UCC (ONA)
Epworth UMC (RC)
Tulsa
Fellowship Congregational, UCC (ONA)
UM Community of Hope (RC)
OREGON
Ashland
United Church of Christ, Cong. (ONA)
Beaverton
Southminster Presbyterian (ML)
Corvallis
First Congregational Church (ONA)
First UMC (RC)
Estacada
Estacada UMC (RC)
Eugene
First Congregational, UCC (ONA)
Unitarian of Eugene & Lane Co. (WEL)
Forest Grove
Forest Grove UCC (ONA)
Gresham
Zion UCC (ONA)
Klamath Falls
Klamath Falls Cong. UCC (ONA)
Lake Oswego
Lake Oswego UCC (ONA)
Milwaukie
Clackamus UCC (ONA)
Milwaukie UCC (ONA)
Portland
Ainsworth UCC (ONA)
First Congregational (ONA)
First UMC (RC)
Metanoia Peace Community (RC)
Peace Church of the Brethren (SCN)
Southwest United (ONA)
St. James Lutheran (RIC)
St. Mark Presbyterian (ML)
University Park UMC (RC)
Salem
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
First Unitarian Society (WEL)
Morningside UMC (RC)
Springfield
Church of the Brethren (SCN)
PENNSYLVANIA
Allentown
Muhlenberg College Chapel (RIC)
St. John Lutheran (RIC)
Devon
Main Line Unitarian (WEL)
Harrisburg
Unitarian Church (WEL)
Lansdale
Trinity Lutheran (RIC)
Levittown
United Christian Church (O&A, ONA)
Lewisburg
Beaver Memorial UMC (RC)
Philadelphia
Calvary UMC (RC)
First Germantown Mennonite (SCN)
First UMC of Germantown (RC)
Holy Communion Lutheran (RIC)
Old First Reformed (ONA)
St. Michael’s Lutheran (RIC)
Tabernacle United (ML, ONA)
Univ. Lutheran of the Incarnation (RIC)
Pittsburgh
First Unitarian (WEL)
Sixth Presbyterian (ML)
St. Andrew Lutheran (RIC)
Upper Darby
Christ Lutheran (RIC)
Wayne
Central Baptist (W&A)
RHODE ISLAND
East Greenwich
Westminster Unitarian (WEL)
Newport
Newport Congregational (ONA)
Providence
Mathewson Street UMC (RC)
SOUTH CAROLINA
Columbia
Gethsemane Lutheran (RIC)
SOUTH DAKOTA
Erwin
Erwin UCC (ONA)
TENNESSEE
Chattanooga
Unitarian Universalist (WEL)
Knoxville
Tennessee Valley UU (WEL)
Memphis
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
Nashville
Brookmeade Congregational UCC (ONA)
Edgehill UMC (RC)
First UU Church (WEL)
Hobson UMC (RC)
TEXAS
Austin
First English Lutheran (RIC)
First UU Church (WEL)
St. Andrews Presbyterian (ML)
Trinity UMC (RC)
College Station
Friends Congregational (ONA)
Corpus Christi
St. Paul UCC (ONA)
Dallas
Bethany Presbyterian (ML)
First Unitarian (WEL)
Midway Hills Christian (O&A)
Northaven UMC (RC)
El Paso
St. Timothy Lutheran (RIC)
Fort Worth
St. Matthew’s Lutheran (RIC)
Houston
Bering Memorial UMC (RC)
Comm. of the Reconciling Servant (ML)
Faith Covenant (ML, ONA)
First Congregational (ONA)
Grace Evangelical Lutheran (RIC)
Lubbock
St. John’s UMC (RC)
Mesquite
St. Stephen UMC (RC)
Plano
Dallas North Unitarian (WEL)
San Antonio
Spirit of Life (RIC)
UTAH
Salt Lake City
Mount Tabor Lutheran (RIC)
South Valley UU Society (WEL)
VERMONT
Bennington
Second Congregational (ONA)
Burlington
Christ Presbyterian (ML)
College Street Congregational (ONA)
Middlebury
Congregational UCC (ONA)
Putney
United Church (ONA)
Rutland
Rutland UMC (RC)
Thetford
First Congregational Church (ONA)
VIRGINIA
Alexandria
Mount Vernon Unitarian (WEL)
Peace Lutheran (RIC)
Arlington
Clarendon Presbyterian (ML)
Unitarian Church (WEL)
Charlottesville
Sojourners UCC (ONA)
Harrisonburg
Sanctuary UCC (ONA)
Oakton
Fairfax Unitarian (WEL)
Roanoke
Unitarian Universalist (WEL)
WASHINGTON
Bellevue
Eastgate Congregational UCC (ONA)
First Congregational, UCC (ONA)
First UMC (RC)
Carnation
Tolt Congregational, UCC (ONA)
Chelan
Fullness of God Lutheran (RIC)
Edmonds
Edmonds UU (WEL)
Ellensburg
First UMC (RC)
Federal Way
Wayside UCC (ONA)
Leavenworth
Faith Lutheran (RIC)
Marysville
Evergreen UU Fellowship (WEL)
Medical Lake
Shalom UCC (ONA)
Mountlake Terrace
Terrace View Presbyterian (ML)
Olympia
Comm. for Interfaith Celebration (ONA)
Pullman
Community Congregational UCC (ONA)
Richland
Shalom UCC (ONA)
Seattle
Broadview Community UCC (ONA)
Central Lutheran (RIC)
Fauntleroy UCC (ONA)
Findlay Street Christian (O&A)
First Baptist (W&A)
Gethsemane Lutheran (RIC)
Magnolia UCC (ONA)
Pilgrim Congregational (ONA)
Plymouth Congregational (ONA)
Prospect UCC Cong. (ONA)
Ravenna UMC (RC)
Richmond Beach Cong. UCC (ONA)
Trinity UMC (RC)
St. Paul’s UCC (ONA)
University Baptist (W&A)
University Christian (O&A)
University Congregational (ONA)
University Temple UMC (RC)
Wallingford UMC (RC)
Spokane
Unitarian Church (WEL)
Suquamish
Community Congregational (ONA)
Vancouver
East Vancouver UMC (RC)
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
White Salmon
Bethel Cong., UCC (ONA)
WEST VIRGINIA
Wheeling
UU Congregation (WEL)
WISCONSIN
Brown Deer
Brown Deer UCC (ONA)
Delavan
Delavan UMC (RC)
Eau Claire
University Lutheran (RIC)
Madison
Advent Lutheran (RIC)
Community of Hope UCC (ONA)
First Baptist (W&A)
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
James Reeb UU Congregation (WEL)
Lake Edge Lutheran (RIC)
Orchard Ridge UCC (ONA)
Plymouth Congregational UCC (ONA)
University UMC (RC)
Milwaukee
Cross Lutheran (RIC)
Pentecost Lutheran (RIC)
Plymouth UCC (ONA)
Reformation Lutheran (RIC)
Village Church, Lutheran (RIC)
Racine
Our Savior’s Lutheran (RIC)
Sheboygan
Wesley UMC (RC)
Waukesha
Maple Avenue Mennonite (SCN)
CANADA
ALBERTA
Calgary
South Calgary Inter-Mennonite (SCN)
Edmonton
Unitarian Church (WEL)
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Vancouver
First United Church (AC)
Trinity United (AC)
Unitarian Church (WEL)
MANITOBA
Winnipeg
Augustine United (AC)
First Unitarian Universalist (WEL)
Young United (AC)
ONTARIO
Thunder Bay
Lakehead U. Fellowship (WEL)
Toronto
Bathurst United (AC)
Bloor Street United (AC)
Glen Rhodes United (AC)
Trinity-St. Paul’s United (AC)
Waterloo
Olive Branch Mennonite (SCN)
Westminster United (AC)
SASKATCHEWAN
Regina
St. James United (AC)
Saskatoon
King of Glory Lutheran (RIC)
St. Thomas-Wesley United (AC)
CAMPUS MINISTRIES
Key:
LCM=Lutheran Campus Ministry
LSC=Lutheran Student Center
LSM=Lutheran Student Movement
UCM=United Campus Ministry
UMSF=United Methodist Student Fellowship
UNITED STATES
CALIFORNIA
Cal-Aggie Christian House, UC-Davis (RC)
UCM, UC, Riverside (RC)
UCM, USC, Los Angeles (RC)
Wesley Fdn., UC-Berkeley (RC)
Wesley Fdn., UC-Santa Barbara (RC)
Wesley Fdn., UCLA, Los Angeles (RC)
COLORADO
LCM, CU-Boulder (RIC)
Wesley Foundation, U. of Denver (RC)
DELAWARE
Wesley Fdn., UD, Newark (RC)
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
UMSF, American U. (RC)
ILLINOIS
Agape House, U. of Illinois, Chicago (RC)
Ill. Disciples Fdn., UI, Champaign (O&A)
UMSF, Ill. Wesleyan, Bloomington (RC)
UCM, No. Illinois, DeKalb (RC)
University Christian Ministry, Northwestern,
Evanston (RC)
INDIANA
LCM, IU, Bloomington (RIC)
IOWA
LCM, UI, Iowa City (RIC)
Stud. Cong., Luther Coll., Decorah (RIC)
KANSAS
LCM, KSU, Manhattan (RIC)
United Methodist CM, UK, Lawrence (RC)
KENTUCKY
Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
(ML Chapter)
MICHIGAN
Guild House, UM, Ann Arbor (O&A)
Wesley Fdn., Central Mich. Univ., Mt.
Pleasant (RC)
Wesley Fdn., U. of Michigan, Ann Arbor (RC)
MINNESOTA
LCM in Minneapolis (RIC)
Stud. Cong., St. Olaf, Northfield (RIC)
NORTH DAKOTA
Univ. Lutheran Center, NDSU, Fargo (RIC)
OHIO
UCM, OU, Athens (O&A, RC, W&A)
OREGON
LCM in Portland (RIC)
Wesley Fdn., UO, Eugene (RC)
PENNSYLVANIA
Christ Chapel, Gettysburg College,
Gettysburg (RIC)
LSC-LCM, Kutztown U, Kutztown (RIC)
TENNESSEE
Wesley Fdn., Vanderbilt, Nashville (RC)
TEXAS
LCM, UT, Austin (RIC)
VIRGINIA
Campus Christian Community, MWC,
Fredericksburg (RC, RIC)
WASHINGTON
The Common Ministry, Washington State
U., Pullman (RC)
LCM, WWU, Bellingham (RIC)
Wesley Club, UW, Seattle (RC)
UM Fellowship, UPS, Puget Sound (RC)
WISCONSIN
LCM, UW, LaCrosse (RIC)
LCM, Metro Milwaukee(RIC)
LCM, UW-Stout, Menomonie (RIC)
Wesley Fdn., U. of Wisconsin, Madison (RC)
CANADA
SASKATCHEWAN
LSC, LSM, Saskatoon (RIC)
JUDICATORIES
which have passed welcoming resolutions
Conferences (ONA)
California/Nevada N.
Central Pacific
Connecticut
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
New Hampshire
New York
Ohio
Rocky Mountain
Southern California
Conferences (RC)
California-Nevada
New York
Northern Illinois
Oregon-Idaho
Troy
Wisconsin
Regions (O&A)
Northern California/Nevada
Synods (ML)
Synod of the Northeast
Synods, ELCA (RIC)
Eastern North Dakota
Eastern Washington-Idaho
Greater Milwaukee
Metro Chicago
Metro New York
Metro Washington, D.C.
Pacifica
Rocky Mountain
Sierra-Pacific
Southeast Michigan
Southeast Pennsylvania
Southern California–West
NATIONAL MINISTRIES
which have passed welcoming resolutions
Disciples Peace Fellowship (O&A)
Gen’l Commission on Christian Unity &
Interreligious Concerns (RC)
Lutheran Student Movement—USA (RIC)
Methodist Fed. for Social Action (RC)
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