Open Hands Vol 6 No 4 - Living as God's Creation: Lesbian/Gay Reflections on Christian Theology

Open Hands Vol 6 No 4 - Living as God's Creation: Lesbian/Gay Reflections on Christian Theology

6

4

1991

Spring

Open Hands is published quarterly by the Reconciling Congregation Program, Inc., as a resource for congregations and individuals seeking to be in ministry with lesbians and gay men. Each issue of Open Hands focuses on a particular area of concern related to gay men and lesbians within the Church.
The R econciling Congregation Program is a network of United Methodist local churches that publicly affirm their ministry with the whole family of God and welcome lesbians and gay men into their community of faith. In this network, Reconciling Congregations fmd strength and support as they strive to overcome the divisions caused by prejudice and homophobia in our church and in our society. Reconciling Congregations, along with their kindred More Light (Presbyterian), Open and Mfirming (United Church of ChristfDisciples of Christ), Reconciled-in-Christ (Lutheran), and Welcoming (Unitarian Universalist) congregations, offer hope that the church can be a reconciled community.
To enable local churches to engage in these ministries, the Reconciling Congregation Program provides resource materials, including Open Hands. Information about the program and these resources can be obtained from:
Reconciling Congregation Program
P.O. Box 23636
Washington, D.C. 20026
Phone: 202/863-1586
Reconciling -'linistries u:ith Lesbillns and Ga.' _len
The Theological Task:
Different for Lesbians~ Gay Men~ and Bisexual .~........... .
Morris Floyd
On Being an Artist of the Spirit...................................................... 6
Rebecca Ruth Richards and Kathy Schaafsma
On My Journey Now ....................................................................... 8
Ra';"dy Miller
The Road Back:
From Religious Abuse to Healthy Spirituality ...............................l1
CathyAnn Beaty
Doing Theology: Some Personal Perspectives Making Our Own Doors ............................................................. 13 Douglas F ederhart God Loves Me .............................................................................. 15 Donna Jones Integrating Sexuality and Spirituality ...................................... 16 Gloria Soliz My Cup Runneth Over............................................................... 17
R. S. Umoja
Sustaining the Spirit A Eucharistic Liturgy ................................................................. 18
Dan Geslin and Bill Plieseis
Our Table Prayer...................... · ................................................. 20
Ahavat Shalom
Resources ......................................................................................... 21
RCP Report.....................................................................................22
2 Open Hand..
Living as God's Crea~on:
Lesbian / Gay Reflections on Christian Theology
Like all individuals and all groups of people, lesbian, gay, and bisexual
persons of faith have their own spiritual insights and experiences.
Among themselves, these offerings can constitute a legitimate theology of their own-much like the important perspectives offered by feminist, Black, Latin American, and other liberation theologies. Equally important, only when the insight of all these theologies are valued will Christians be on the way toward developing a theology that truly speaks to the complexity of human experience.
Various Christian denominations have official statements exploring why and how they "do theology." The United Methodist Church (UMC), for example, adopted a statement at its 1988 General Conference that defmes theology as "our effort to reflect upon God's gracious action in our lives." This statement, entitled "Our Theological Task," lists various responsibilities faced by Christians as we do our own theologizing: theological work is "both critical and constructive," "individual and communal," "contextual and incarnational," and "essentially practical."
Through much of Christian history, theology has been treated as the province of the narrow set of persons who have largely run the Churchessentially, heterosexual, White, European and North American males with formal academic training in religion. Yet, as the UMC statement reminds us, theology should be inclusive: "The discernment of 'plain truth for plain people' is not limited to theological specialists. Scholars have their role to play ..., but all Christians are called to theological reflection." Moreover, Christians of varied perspectives and cultures "are called to work within our diversity while exercising patience and forbearance with one another. Such patience stems ... from an awareness that we know only in part and that none of us is able to search the mysteries of God except by the Spirit of God."
It is in this spirit that we present this issue of Open Hands. For it is only when the UMC and other Christian denominations are intentional about blending in their theology the entire r ange of perspectives and cultureslesbian, gay, bisexual, and heterosexual; from all racial, ethnic, and economic spheres-that the Church will be able to claim with any integrity that it is working toward the inclusive theology that Christ clearly desires for us.
**********
We are pleased to announce that, beginning with this issue, Open Hands is printed on recycled paper. This paper meets both the guidelines for recycled paper set by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and stricter standards set by various state governments. In addition, because this paper is "uncoated" (i.e., not glossy), it is easily recyclable in many communities. It is also less expensive than our previous paper, enabling us to print Open Hands with two ink colors throughout--and still have a slightly reduced printing bill! T
Next Issue~ Theme:
Lesbian Concerns
Spring 1991
Reconciling Congregation Program Coordinator
Mark Bowman
Open Hands Co-Editors
Ann Thompson Cook Bradley Rymph
This Issue's Coordinators
Kristen Burkert Morris Floyd
Editorial Assistants
Van Dixon Donna Jones
Graphic Design
Supon Design Group
Open Hands is published four times a year. Subscription is $16 for four issues ($20 outside the U.S.A.). Single copies, including back issues, are available for $5 each; quantities of 10 or more are $3 each. Permission to reprint is granted upon request. Unsolicited manuscripts are welcomed and will be acknowledged if they are scheduled to be published. Subscriptions, letters to the editors, manuscripts, requests for advertising rates and information, and other correspondence should be sent to:
Open Hands
P.O. Box 23636
Washington, D.C. 20026
Phone: 202/863-1586
Copyright © 1991 by the Reconciling Congregation Program, Inc. Open Hands is a registered trademark.
Member, The Associated Church Press ISSN 0888-8833
® Printed on recycled paper
3
The Theolo~ea1 Task:
Different for lesb~Gay Men, and Bisexuals?
by Morris Floyd
Church people are accustomed to talking aboutor
at least listening to others talk about-theology.
Asked the meaning of theology, they might respond in a simple way that it is "thinking about God." The inadequacy of such a defmition becomes immediately apparent, of course, if one tries to imagine "thinking about God" independent from any religious or life experience.
Theological insight is required even to defme the term God that is to be the subject of thought. The question of God-or, for.that matter, of god(s)--does not arise in a vacuum. Rather, the idea of God arises most often as a result of questions about other subjects. In many cultures, the issue arises from a question about how "things" (the world , humankind, a people, the rain) came to be or about how "things" got to be the way they are. Questions such as these arise out of the experience of those asking the question. To this extent, theology has as much to do with the one who "does" it as with the One who is its subject.
This reality can be illustrated by thinking of the first few chapters of Genesis as a theological document. These chapters certainly meet the defmition of theology as "thinking about God." Opinions about the nature of God can be inferred from them, but these chapters also contain information about the world, the plants and animals that inhabit it, the relationships between them, and their relationships with the creator. God is described only with reference to other entities. Moreover, what we learn from these chapters depends a great deal on what questions we imagine the writer was addressing or on what questions we ask when we go to the text.
Reading the Bible as a theological document is not unlike the game show Jeopardy, in which the questions are at least as important as the answers. The depth of the question's significance can be seen by imagining an answer as "1492." The accompanying question might be "In what year is Christopher Columbus said to have discovered America?" Alternatively, the question might be "In what year was the fate of the indigenous people of the Americas sealed when the invasion from Europe gained a solid foothold in the hemisphere?" In the first case, "1492" would be a simple but correct response to a schoolchild's question. In the second case, itwould be a "true" response about a historical reality that has had a permanent impact on the cultures, politics, and ecologies of the north and south American continents. In comparison with the historical reality referenced by the question, the answer is of little significance. Even more important, the difference between the two questions reveals much about the experience of those who ask them. While it is true that the same person could ask either question, one may well wonder whether a person who was concerned with the second question would bother with the first.
The same principle applies in reading Genesis or engaging in any other theological endeavor. There mayor may not be "truth" or "truths" that are the same no matter who asks the question. The meaning of those ideas, however, likely will not be. That is why in any faith community it is so important to have a variety of people asking theological questions. Without that variety, the faith is reduced to a collection of principles whose full meaning is lost to the community. In time, the principles become more important than the questions, and a stultifying fundamentalism sets in. When that fundamentalism is further reinforced by one or another kind of social intolerance, emotional or physical violence can result. What CathyAnn Beaty refers to as "religious abuse" elsewhere in these pages is one example.
In short, any theological endeavor based solely on what the Bible "says" is destined to be incomplete. Theology must be informed by the witness of the Scripture, but that witness should be enlightened by the experiences of the persons doing the theology, the insights of our forebears in the faith, and the knowledge that further insight is still to come. Persons raised in a Methodist environment may recognize in this what is commonly called the "Wesleyan quadrilateral": the teaching of John Wesley that enlightened Christian theology has four sources-Scripture, experience, tradition, and reason.
E lsewhere in this issue, Randy Miller explains
that "the starting point ofdoing theology is
naming and defming one's own condition and experience." In addition, however, the authenticity of a "lesbianlgay/bisexual theology" will be greatest when that theology emerges on the basis of the experience of a whole community, rather than the experience of a single individual in that community.
To move even further-towards a complete, more inclusive theology--dialogue is necessary both among those whose experiences are similar and with those whose experiences are different. Any theology based solely on the experience of persons of one sexual orientation, one gender, or one ethnic group is destined to speak to and for only that subset of experience. Ifthe churches fail to empower their members for the theological task by fostering community among people with different experiences, the result may well be something not terribly different than what exists todaya disharmonious, sometimes vituperative competition of ideologies, rather than a symphony of shared vision, careful thought, and faithful action.
T he theological task does not end with creating a context in which this kind of "thinking about
God" can occur. Another aspect of Christian
theologizing is the establishment of a connection between the
4 Open Hand~
dialogue that is happening now empirical knowledge. ~~ In 1988~ a with the dialogue that has come rewritten theological statement before. This imperative can be a approved by the denomination~s
neology has as
particular challenge for lesbians~ General Conference~ affirmed gay men~ and bisexuals. Anti-gay ··efforts to discern the connections proof texts from the Bible have between revelation and reason~ been hurled against us for a long faith and science~ grace and
much to do·witn the
time by those who would~ in the nature ... in developing credible name of Christ~ deny us access to and communicable doctrine."5 the Gospel unless we are preSetting aside the implicit pared to deny the gift of our assertions that the purpose of sexuality. The parts of the doing theology is to develop
one wh.o"does" it
Christian tradition that have doctrine~ critical analysis is what respected that gift and honored keeps the theologian from talking our relationships have been only to her-or himself. Much carefully hidden~ while theological thinking about matters
as with ,the One
tradition~ s heterosexist and related to sexual orientation has homophobic aspects have been been devoid of reason~ ignoring emphasized. well-established insights from
A large measure of our scientific and empirical discitheological task then is to do as plines. When we avoid that fault~
who is its subject.
John Shelby Spong has suggested in the title of his recent book-to rescue the Bible from the fundamentalists.l At the same time~ we can open for public view those parts of the Christian tradition that have been hidden from us~ knowing that they offer a liberating word of good news for many.
To do so~ we will have to address the dozen or so biblical passages that seem to have specific references to same-sex behavior. This does not mean surrendering to the traditional approaches or literal interpretations of those who are predisposed to condemn us. Rather~ as James Nelson has pointed out~ it means adding value to the Bible and to the Christian tradition by bringing to them the ··crucial insights about the ways of God in human relationships~~ that arise from our ··consciousness of sexual oppression."2 This part of the theological task is not merely debunking. It also involves bringing into the discussion the rest of Scripture~ the parts that capture the fullest meaning of discipleship and give greatest expression to the inclusiveness to which God is calling the churches.
John McNeill~ a former Jesuit priest and author of The Church and the Homosexual~ has written about ··one of the true ironies of history: for thousands of years in the Christian West~ homosexuals have been the victims of inhospitable treatment-the true crime of Sodom-in the name of a mistaken understanding of Sodom~ s crime."3 You may not have to be lesbian~ gay ~ or bisexual to have that insight~ but it certainly helps in appreciation of the irony! And is it coincidence that only a gay scholar (historian John Boswell~ author of Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality) has persevered to discover centurieshidden evidence that celebration and solemnization of samesex relationships is a significant part of the Christian tradition.4
F inally~ the theological task requires an accountability to reason. As the statement on ··Our
Theological Task~~~ adopted in 1972 by the United we strengthen our own understandings
as well as improve the
credibility of our insights to those whose perspectives may be different.
T he theological task may~ itself~ not be different for lesbians~ gay men~ and bisexuals than it is for heterosexuals~ but the contributions we can make to that task are. To the extent that being gay or lesbian-or indeed~ having any other characteristic-is a key to one's identity, it will playa key role in that person~s contribution to doing theology.
Lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons of faith bring crucial insights to the church's ongoing need to develop and redevelop valid theology. The other writers in this issue introduce some significant areas of this insight: the importance of various forms of interpersonal and communal relationships; what it can mean to be an ··outsider'~ or victim of ··oppression"; why the church everywhere is called to be inclusive; and the comfort and sureness that can come from personally knowing the accepting love of God even when that love is denied by other humans~ whether they be in one~ s family of origin~ the chutch~ or society at large.T
Notes
1. John Shelby Spong, Rescuing the Biblefrom Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning ofScripture (San Francisco: Harper, 1991).
2.
James Nelson, "Reuniting Sexuality and Spirituality," The Christian Century, February 25, 1987, p. 188.
3.
John McNeill, "Homosexuality: Challenging the Church to Grow," The Christian Century, March 11, 1987.
4.
John Boswell introduces some of his fmdings in a videotape, 1500 Years ofthe Church Blessing Lesbian and Gay Relationships: It's Nothing New (available from Integrity, Inc., P.O. Box 19561, Washington, DC 20036).
5. The Book ofDiscipline ofthe United Methodist Church 1972, Para. 70, p. 70, and 1988, Para. 69, p. 86.
Morris Floyd is a ministerial member ofthe California-PaciflC
Annual Conference ofthe United Methodist Church, serving a special
Methodist Church~ declared~ ··Christian doctrines which
appointment as a health-care administrator in Minneapolis. He is one of
are developed from Scripture~ tradition and ·experience~
the spokespersons ofAffirmation: United Methodistsfor Lesbian, Gay,
must be submitted to critical analysis so that they ... avoid
and Bisexual Concerns.
self-contradiction and take due account of scientific and
Spring 1991 5
On Beingan Artist
ofthe Spirit
by Rebecca Ruth Richards and Kathy Schaaftma
Recently I (Rebecca) spent a glorious afternoon in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. For an entire hour, I was totally immersed in the qualities of light, sound, and smell elicited by one Monet painting, "A Bridge Over a Pool of Water Lilies." Deep in meditation, I remember wondering, what made Monet believe in his own work? The critics, authorities of artistic value, derided the style as "giving an impression," but not worthy of being called ""true" art. How did Monet know that his canvases would not end up on the trash heap or in dusty attic oblivion?
A partial answer came as I contemplated the pure joy of standing there in the warm, buzzing, summer garden, watching the artist in the rapture (or struggle) of creation. Monet painted what he saw in the scene, not what artistic authority prescribed. Most art-and true genius-is thusly born. Itbreaks with tradition; in the face of its critics, it has the courage to continue, to tell its own story.
During a time in my life when I was struggling to understand the gifts that I, as a pastor and as a lesbian, had to offer the church, I prepared a lenten sermon on I Samuel 16:1-13 and John 9:1-41. Both of these lessons have to do with ways of seeing things, and what it means to see. In the Hebrew Bible lesson, Samuel goes to Bethlehem to anoint Saul's successor. Even the prophet is subject to the lure of outward appearance and must be reminded that God sees things differently. This story is only one among many in scripture by which we are reminded that God's ways are not our ways.
In the passage from John, Jesus challenges the usual order of things, questioning the authority of the religious establishment. When Jesus heals the one born blind, the council of Pharisees responds with jealous anger, condemning Jesus and casting the healed one out of the temple. Jesus responds that indeed he has come ""that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind" (John 9:39).
Those of us who have been blinded to our own wholeness by the imposition of the dominant cultural norm of heterosexuality have had our eyes opened: Gay and lesbian Christians have been cast out of the temple, not by God, but
6 Open Hands
hy religious authorities who have patterned religious law concerning human sexuality after their own image. As we discover the wholeness within ourselves, we fmd the affirmation of God's hlessing. Through faith in God and in our own worth, we proclaim, as did the one horn hlind, "One thing I know, that though I was hlind, now I see" (Jo1m 9:25).
As we come to understand the failings of the church
in its interpretation of Scripture, we also look
more skeptically upon the Scripture itself. While we take very seriously the hiblical witness to the loving creator, we are fully aware that Scripture also reflects the imperfect human culture through which it has come. For example, we read in Genesis 19 (the infamous story of Sodom and Gomorrah) that Lot offered his young daughters to he gang-raped rather than turn over the messengers of God to the angry moh from Sodom. The moh was intent on hrutalization and murder, an expression of violence condemned hy God. But the fact that Lot's offer of his daughters is not also condemned reflects the values of the malecentered society which produced the text.
In an equally prohlematic text from Judges II, a hargain struck with God for military victory results in J ephthah ' s making a hurnt offering of his own daughter. Jephthah's willingness to sacrifice one of "his own" to achieve a goal demonstrates his culture's emphasis on ownership over relationship. A god whose favor can he had for a price is not a god of justice. Nor are Jephthah's actions an example of faithful living we want to emulate. Particularly disturhing for women is the model of faithfulness provided to the daughters of Israel hy Jephthah's unnamed daughter. Her sacrifice, commemorated annually, upholds the value of a woman's ohedience, even unto death, to patriarchal authority.
Even the New Testament is often more a conveyer of ancient cultural norms than of God's will. Paul's use of marriage analogies, in which the hride-church submits to her hushand-Lord, illustrates the role of women in marriage at that time. The proscriptions in I Timothy (Paul's authorship is widely disputed) against the leadership of women in the church reversed the place of women in the earliest Christian communities. Unfortunately, this reversal hecame the norm, estahlishing church practice for centuries. It is of particular interest to leshians and gay men that the church relinquished its earlier inclusivity in order to conform itself to the cultural norms of the Roman Empire.
Scriptural and ecclesiastical authority are riddled with patriarchal, sexist, racist, and heterosexist values. Therefore, in our efforts to understand divine nature and to develop a value system consistent with that understanding, we must turn to our own experience of God's presence in our lives and in our community offaith. Like the creative genius, we must trust our experience. We must acknowledge what we see and proclaim that vision. We must open our eyes, ears, hearts, and minds to the stirrings of the Spirit and honor what we receive. We must value these gifts and share them. We must trust that God's purpose is hest fulf"illed when all of HerlHis creatures have the freedom to speak and live their visions, for only then will God's will for all of creation-not the will of ruling authorities-he accomplished.
We must work confidently for the day when church authority will rest in the community of the faithful, a community as diverse as God's creation, with every race proudly represented, men and women working cooperatively together, gay men and leshians openly contributing their voices, with the voices of the poor, the elderly, the young, and the physically challenged all respectfully heard. Indeed, it is within the faith community that our new theology is tested, as we who are huilding the inclusive community of God share with one another our experience and our visions.
Christ's first commandment, to love God, and the second, to love our neighbors as ourselves, move us to
thankfulness toward God, to
~
zz::::,c:.
compassion towards others,
and to loving acceptance of
~
ourselves. Christ tells us not to
judge or condemn ourselves or
others. Towards tax collectors,
_the sick, the hlind, the leper ,
the rich, the poor, the confused
, the ostracized, Christ
shows us an example of
inclusive love, mercy, and
compassion. We see in Christ an active love, a hrightly hurning fire which could he quenched neither hy the threat of death nor hy death itself. We too must tend the fires of our spirits through loving action, with compassion for all our hrothers and sisters and with compassion for those who exclude us, condemning no one.
As leshians and gay men, we experience the love of God every day-in the heauty of nature; the courage of those who struggle; the love of our partners, friends, and relatives; the unexpected moments of perfect peace and tranquility; and the understanding we gain as we move through our lives open to the Spirit. God, in whom we too live and move and have our heing, sustains us and helps us to sustain each other.
Because we experience ourselves to he cherished children of our creator, we can celehrate our lives. We shall not deny who we are. We shall not deny God's love for us. Rather, as trusting children, we shall rejoice in that love and share it with all, especially with those whom society has rejected.
As we move toward the a.rticulation of a leshian/gay theology, we must he recalled to the struggle of the artist, not only to take courage, hut to he reminded, as Samuel reminded the assembly at Bethlehem, that "God sees not as people see" (I Samuel 16:7). Throughout the hiblical narrative, divine wisdom is revealed through the witness of those who stand against the outward and visible authorities andfor the internal authority of God's spirit and claim on their lives. God's spirit in the world does not wait upon the approval of religious authority-for good reason. And ifgay and leshian Christians are to he the instruments of God's grace, neither can we."
Rebecca Ruth Richards and Kathy Schaafsma are partners and members ofSt. John's UMC ofBaltimore City, a Reconciling Congregation. Rebecca directs a racial justice center, and Kathy coordinates Central American solidarity activities.
Spring 1991 7
b
y Randy Miller
/IOn my journey now, on myjourney now. And I wouldn't trade nothin' for my
journey now. /I -African American Spiritual
T hese days I am reminded almost daily what a rare and beautiful opportunity it is to be an Mrican American man who loves men. As a gay man, I am utterly convinced that my life has been blessed and continues to be shaped by the hand of a loving God. My journey to this affirmation has not been an easy one. The double burdens of racism and heterosexism have taken their toll, but the pain does not exceed the power. Indeed, it is only as I have begun to embrace and confront the painful experiences in my life that I have been able to speak theologically about my journey and to feel connected to other people who share similar journeys.
"Yet do I marvel at this curious thing,
To make apoet black and bid him sing. "
-Countee Cullen1
T he great genius of the M rican American experience, according to Marlon Riggs, 2 has always been a kind ofpastiche, the selective collection and reshaping of a hodgepodge of experiences and traditions to meet the survival needs of Mrican American people. In my own theological journey, I am indebted to many people, some living, some now ancestral. I offer these reflections as a way of keeping the faith and expressing my gratitude. I hope it might also be of help to those who have temporarily lost their way on the journey out and those who need an advocate in their struggle for human dignity. But mostly I write this for my Mrican American gay brothers and lesbian sisters who are living and all too often dying in a world that seems alien. This is/ or us. "Ain't none of us free until we all are free."
Doing Theology
"Somebody, anybody, sing acolored girl's song. She's so lost to herself that she does not know her infinite beauty." -Ntozake Shange3
I believe that the s~arting ~oint of do~~ theology is naming and definrng one s own conditIOn and experience. A popular misconception, which is
actively promoted by those connected with the institutional church, holds that theology belongs to the realm of experts-in the context of Western Christianity, usually males of European descent-and is thus inaccessible to those without appropriate training or credentials. In this way, the church has imposed, in effect, a ban of silence on the spirituality and experiences of people of color and women. Although recently the contributions of heterosexual women and people of color have been acknowledged to merit further attention, no such acknowledgement is forthcoming for those who are openly lesbian or gay.
It is time to break this silence and reclaim theology as a crucial part of who we are as faithful people. Instead of being limited to esoteric discussions, theology can and mu~t provide the energy necessary for survival and the grounding necessary for faithful action. As James Cone, the Black
8 Open Hands
~
-......;:---...--........ ~ ~ /
~~~,J,t/
~, (I) ~
~
~
liberation theologian, maintains in his autobiographical work, My Soul Looks Back4 , "When theology begins to be more than a philosophical exercise, when it becomes a matter of life and death, then the energy to do theology comes easily and naturally. "
Doing theology is as necessary to human existence as earth, air, and freedom. More than this, theology is a natural human expression. It belongs to all of us as surely as do love and grief. When theology is seen as the natural outgrowth of the experiences and reflections of faithful people, it becomes possible to understand how the lives of illiterate slaves and uneducated custodial workers can be undergirded with fundamental theological premises that were once and may still be needful to know.
Doing theology has played a crucial role in the experiences of Mrican Americans-perhaps best exemplified by the spirituals that our ancestors sang to each other. In the face of a society that continually suggested that the slaves were no one and nothing, spirituals offered the assurance that they and we are children of God and, thus, of inestimable worth.
For oppressed people who are aware of their condition, doing theology is a revolutionary act. It is always subversive in that it fosters a chafmg discontent with the present state of affairs and urges the oppressed to "steal away" at the first opportunity to the freedom and abundance that God intends for us.
God Is Black I God Is Gay
T o be Mrican American means coming to "the
angry awareness," in the words of Malcolm X,
"that your forebears have worked for over 400
years in this country, from can't see in the morning to can't see at night, without a dime in return." Mrican American people have survived the horror of the middle passage from Mrica, the holocaust of slavery, and the continuing effects of segregation, lynchings, and economic deprivation. We wake each day to a world that is in many ways hostile and
alien. At a very fundamental level, then, the problem becomes fmding the presence of the Sacred in a foreign land.
Mrican American theology has traditionally found God in the very midst of the struggle for freedom and human dignity. Unlike the image of the "Unmoved Mover"-a God who acts but is never acted upon-traditional Black theology envisions a God of pathos who weeps for her children's oppression, conspires on the side of the oppressed against oppressors, and acts to set her people free. The pivotal event is not the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus but the deliverance of the Hebrew children (M rican Americans) from bondage in Egypt. This understanding of the Exodus from Egypt makes clear that even now, despite all empirical evidence to the contrary, the basis of human freedom and dignity is found most fully within the will and intent of God. God empathizes and acts on behalf of the oppressed. That is why it is possible to affirm that God is Black.
Where traditional Black theology does concern itself with Jesus, it is with Jesus the "human one" rather than the Cosmic Christ. It is Jesus the human one who was born to poor parents, preached deliverance for the oppressed, and was finally executed by the authorities. Far from being removed from the reality of daily oppression, Jesus experienced it himself.
Where traditional Black theology is concerned with the crucifIxion and resurrection, it is to celebrate it as the triumph of the divine conspiracy. As one theologian put it, "Easter means the executioners don't have the last word." Easter, too, is ultimately about freedom.
Within traditional Black theology, then, human liberation and freedom become transcendent values, fundamental to our relationship with a loving God. When freedom becomes a transcendent value rooted in our understanding of the intent and will of God, it is not dependent on recognition of God's intent by those in power.
God desires freedom and liberation. It is this understanding that sent ordinary members ofMrican American churches into the streets and the pages of history during the
Spring 1991 9
civil rights movement. Despite city and state laws that sanctioned segregation and injustice, Mrican Americans implicitly understood that such things are contrary to God's will for their lives and thus required civil disobedience.
This is the great legacy of traditional Black theology: The acknowledgment that God has acted and continues to act for the liberation of all God's people. Those of us who are Mrican American and gay-marginalized even within an oppressed community--can testify to the larger community that God has acted, is acting, to liberate us as well. We affirm that God is gay in that the Holy One actively conspires for our liberation as well.
This understanding of human liberation and freedom as transcendent values becomes a tool for critiquing all human relationships, religious tenets, societal laws, and even liberation movements themselves: Are they life-enhancing? Do they acknowledge human dignity and worth? Is their effect to bring justice for all God's people?
The Journey Out
"Our humanity is our burden, our life. We need only to do what is infinitely more difficult, that is, accept it. " -James Baldwin5
am told fairly often that, if I want to be accepted or
successful, I must choose to live a fragmented, selfdestructive
life in the closet-or conversely, that I must choose between my experience as an Mrican American and my experience as an openly gay man. In reality, this is no choice. It demands an impossible splitting of the self and confirms deeply held societal beliefs that both "blackness" and "gayness" are unnatural, even evil.
As Barbara Deming says so powerfully, "We cannot live without our lives."6There comes a time when wholeness and integrity demand that we choose exile rather than be less than who we are. In choosing exile, we begin the journey out.
I have suggested that traditional Black theology is intimately concerned with human liberation and empowerment. At the heart of this concern is an affirmation that human beings are persons of sacred worth-what I have elsewhere called God's original blessing, "the blessing woven into the texture of who we are, that is surely ours even as our fmgerprints or the hairs upon our heads are part of us."
What if lesbian and gay people believed at the core of our being and lived our lives as if we were an intricate part of God's plan for her creation? What does this affirmation have to say about our identities, our "closetedness," and our freedom?
Perhaps the distinctive witness that Mrican American lesbians and gay men of faith have to offer is simply that such living is possible, despite what seems to be overwhelming eVidence to the contrary. Maybe the gift we have to give is our unique perspective as those who, of necessity, live within the context of at least two experiences of oppression and still make it to freedom. Perhaps what we have to pass on is the knowledge forged at the core of our being that, in the end, all struggles for liberation converge into a common struggle and that despite our differences, all people share a common humanity under the loving eye of the Creator. If so, such knowledge is obtained only by loving ourselves and beginning the journey out.'"
Notes
1.
Countee Cullen, "Yet Do I Marvel," in Abraham Chapman, ed. Black Voices: An Anthology ofAfro-American Literature (New York: New American Library, 1968).
2.
Marlon Riggs, unpublished speech, 1991 National Black Gay and Lesbian Leadership Conference, Los Angeles.
3. Ntozake Shange, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf(New York: Bantam, 1980).
4.
James H. Cone, My Soul Looks Back (Maryknoll, N.Y. : Orbis Books, 1986).
5.
James Baldwin, The Price ofTicket: Collected Nonfiction, 19481985 (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985).
6.
Barbara Deming, quoted in Audre Lorde, Need: A Choralefor Black Woman Voices (Latham, N.Y.: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 1982).
Randy Miller directs the Rafiki Services Project, San Francisco, which trains practical and emotional support volunteersfor African Americans with AIDS, and he serves on the National Council of Affirmation: United Methodists for Lesbain, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns.
Open Hands
I
10
Spring 1991
When I first began my ministry at Spirit of the Lakes Ecumenical Community~ a congregation of the United Church of Christ located in Minneapolis~ I knew I would hear many stories about homophobia in the church at large. Spirit of the Lakes~ members are primarily gay ~ lesbian~ and bisexual, and many of them have come from very conservative religious backgrounds. More often than not, the stories I hear are about struggles to recover from a combination of internalized homophobia and internal religious beliefs that do not reflect their personal spiritual experiences.
At first~ I heard in those stories references to biblical teachings and subsequent attitudes that condemned gay and lesbian people~ and the profound negative impact that those particular teachings had on parishioners ~ lives. As the months went on~ however~ I began to unearth layer upon layer of other "Christian teachings~~ and methods of religious education that had similar oppressive impact. Time and again~ I hear stories about being forced into believing doctrines and creeds about God and Jesus without being able to make choices about whether or not those doctrines~ creeds, and ways of religious life fit their particular spiritual experience.
Over time~ as I have listened to story after story~ I have discovered some very specific parallels between the struggles of survivors of physical~ emotional~ or sexual abuse and the struggles of survivors of this extreme religious indoctrination~ which I call "religious abuse." The results of this abuse~ I believe, have significantly influenced not only my congregants' development as children but their ability to function as healthy adults as well. This can be especially true when one becomes aware of one's sexual orientation at a very young age~ in those most impressionable years of spiritual growth.
I am beginning to understand that people who are no longer satisfied with their religious education cover a wide spectrum of experiences and concerns. At one extreme are people who are discovering that they were ritually abused or brainwashed to force on them specific beliefs (including, in some cases~ Satanic and other cults); these people can be trying to recover from such symptoms as multiple personality disorders ~ psychoses~ and suicidal tendencies. At the spectrum~s other end are people who simply have concerns and questions about pieces of religious teachings that no longer seem to fit with their lives. In the middle are many people who have left the church because they have not been given an environment that truly nurtures their spiritual needs. Rather~ they have grown up in environments which insisted that they believe certain "truths" or face rejection by God and the church.
Obviously ~ religious abuse covers quite a broad range. The crucial spiritual and therapeutic issues involved across the spectrum have only just begun to be addressed by a handful of professionals in church and therapeutic communities.
This kind of abuse commonly produces a lot of guilt and shame~ especially for people from Catholic~ fundamentalist, and very conservative Lutheran backgrounds. Of course, not all people who come from these particular religious backgrounds have suffered from religious abuse. Rather~ many of the people that I have spoken to who have grown up in these religious environments are seeking a spiritual reality that is true for them. Much of their struggle is a
11
result of what they learned as children. Rather than being Christian communities of faith that are welcoming not only given the tools and the permission to question and seek out of diverse sexual orientation but of theological understandtheir own faith when they were young, many grew up with ing as well. beliefs that were pushed onto them, and in some cases used Whatever the direction taken, however, there is a great to keep them "in line." need for internal healing before personal
A t the ages of theologizing can take three, four, and place. Folks who have five, children
been religiously abused are beginning to ask
need time to rediscover questions about God,
who they are and what beginning to understand
it means to care about what being in relationship
themselves. They need is about, and beginning to
permission to let go of express their joy and awe
guilt and work through in the world, in creation,
shame so that they can in themselves, and in their
begin to accept themfamilies. It is precisely at
selves as creative, this time that they begin to
lovable people in their be, if they are in rigid
own right. Itis also religious systems, taught
critical that they fmd and pushed to believe very
safe places and safe . specific doctrines and
people. Only then can creeds. These doctrines
they begin to ask commonly include a God
questions about what who is judgmental, who
they have been taught, demands a certain way of
as well as to grapple expressing religious belief,
with and learn about and who rejects those who
their own unique
do not. These doctrines
spiritual experiences. also specify a male God
Though who perpetuates a
religious abuse is a very patriarchal system. In
old reality, it is a very short, children raised in
new discovery. Both
an environment of
the clergy and the religious abuse receive a
church at large have message that "God loves
much to do to help you but you don't quite
parishioners further measure up. You need to
explore their stories be doing something to try
and spiritual searching. and better yourself and
I am just beginning to then you can fmd God's
see what religious abuse grace and go to heaven. If
can do to us, and I am
you don't believe what the
convinced that spiritual church teaches you about
recovery is possible. I
God, you will go to hell."
see it happening for This kind of indoctrimany
people at Spirit
nation often results in an
of the Lakes, as they inability to believe in
fmd a church home
oneself, to fmd one's
that not only is affirmtruth, and to express it
ing and nurturing of
within a community. It
them as lesbian, gay,
can also lead to dissatisfaction
with one's spirituality, lack of self-esteem, confusion
about boundaries (where do I stop and you begin), and, in
some cases, a deep loathing of oneself.
T he road back to healthy spirituality takes different directions. Many people leave the
institutional church altogether, either giving up
on ever having spiritual fulfillment or fmding their spiritual needs met in a wide variety of other ways. Other folks choose to leave the church for a time and then seek out
and bisexual people but also respects each individual's spiritual journey.
In addition, the therapeutic and church communities need to be willing to work together in exploring these issues further, especially for those people who have been severely abused either ritually or denominationally. Itwill take more than a nurturing church home to help those folks recover.
The Rev. CathyAnn Beaty is co-pastor ofSpirit ofthe Lakes Ecumenical Community, an Open and Affirming Congregation of the United Church ofChrist in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
12 Open Hand DOING
THEOLOGY
Some Personal
Perspectives
Making Our Own Doors
by Douglas Federhart
T he old neighborhood is no longer; rve been back, driven the streets of my Iowa hometown-streets familiar now only in name and memory. The houses look smaller, shabbier-30 years' weather took a hard toll. Dutch elm disease decimated what was once the canopy of trees that arched over the long slope of West 19th Street. And out beyond myoId house, the dirt road smothers now under a thick blanket of concrete. The hilltop that used to be my private mountain of wild grasses, sumac, and mayflowers-the entire bulk of earth is gone, flattened to a buildable terrain, the dirt now doing duty in some landfill, who knows where?
There's no perfume as sweet as an Iowa summer's eve, just after dusk when the air releases the last of its daytime heat, the grass even smeUing green as the dew gathers. For my little group and me, these were the hours to "spy" : lights just on in darkening kitchens, mothers at the windows putting away the last of the supper dishes, dads in the circle of light from living room lamps, alone at last with the Sioux City Journal. Then my friends and I would creep like would-be burglars across the thick lawns, drawing as close as we dared to the window sills, and what we'd steal would be looks in on other people's lives. And ifsomeone would turn our direction-did they hear our shushing noises through the open screen?-we'd dash away as ifour lives depended on a fast escape.
I suppose my friends moved on years ago to other games, grown-ups' games, and left behind that childhood stuff. But even now, at 41, I walk down nighttime streets and steal glances into other people's windows, other people's lives, and long for some imagined normalcy. For even as that boy those many years ago, I sensed my differentness, already beginning to know that I did not fit what other people assumed was "the way things should be." Not until my late teens did I have words to describe that differentness-and then, the words were crude and harsh, an affront to how I would describe myself.
On the outside looking in: that is perhaps the one universal in the experience of growing up gay or lesbian. Most of us "know" so early, and most of us, out of terror and societally induced shame, keep it secret for so long. I reached my emotional and spiritual showdown comparatively early-at 16, I spoke the words "I think I may be homosexual" to my parents and altered the course of my life from then on. Not that that statement was anything more than the beginning of the process: coming out is lifelong-ajourney only completed at our de,ath.
Spring 1991 13
Being gay or lesbian is a life of straddling two culturesthat of dominant society with all its assumptions and often oppressive attitudes~ and that of the counterculture of gay life~ of seeing the world from the outside~ from the country of the dispossessed.
I don~t mean this as a negative image. I am grateful for the gift of this "double vision~" and I value this ability to question deeply that being gay can bring. Questioning matters of sexuality has long been necessary to my survival as a human being~ and it seems that once I began asking those questions (discovering that the assumptions of mainstream society didn~t work for me) ~ the door was flung open to asking all sorts of other questions as well. Was the world the way my parents said~ the way our neighbors and our church painted it?
The social upheaval of the 1970s was the backdrop for my life as a young gay man. Along with so many people~ I discarded much of what had been held sacred by the generations before me. In the midst of all that~ church and religion went by the wayside. And~ like so many others at the time~ I began experimenting with alcohol and drugs~ and found there effects I grew to love and depend on: namely~ "better living through chemistry" to soften the pain of the alienation I had felt for so long. Paradoxically ~ as I took part in the raucous liberation of the growing gayllesbian movement~ I became subtly yet thoroughly chained to alcohol. Through it all~ never had I any awareness that there was a God operating in the Universe.
I relate these things because they are integral to how I now "do theology." I am firmly planted in the camp whose methodology starts with experience-what is my life experience~ and~ out of that~ what do I think I know about God? Nearly a decade ago~ on a spiritual retreat~ I heard Matthew Fox reclaim the word humility. He did a quick word-study with us~ pointing out that the root of the word is the Latin humus, meaning "earth." Therefore, to be humble probably has something to do with being "of the earth." I extend that by saying that humility is the state of knowing who we are, of being deeply in touch with our roots and the very personal ground in which we are planted.
My experience, then, includes this proclivity for irreverence: I take very little on faith, and I ask questions about any sort of theological assumption that other people take for granted. I tend to mistrust creeds and dogmas. Ifsomething is not plain and within the grasp of anyone's understanding, then I say itis unnecessarily clouded. Keeping people in the dark may be a means to a sort of power, but it seems to me dishonest and I don't accept it as a way of doing theology. For instance, to say God is Love is a remarkably simple statement, Sunday-school simple. But it has a childlike quality that speaks to me, that rings of a certain truth. This is what I look for, then, in theology: what is the heart of the matter, what is simple and direct? And what is congruent with my life experience?
My being gay has entailed another experience, too-that of being, in a spiritual sense, an orphan. As I grew ever further into my coming out, I came to realize that my family of origin, my blood family, was not the place where I received the kind of nurturing I needed as a gay man. I had to become, in effect, an orphan to fmd new ways of defming and creating family for myself. In my first years away at college, when I was first active in discarding traditional social expectations, I discovered in my new gay and lesbian friends the brothers and sisters I did not have growing up
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(my biological brother remains in deep ways a stranger to me). And, in recent years especially, I have come to lean heavily on my gayllesbian family, often seeking solace in their arms over losses and griefs-so many deaths-which· my original family understands only in a perfunctory way.
I criticize traditional churches on this point: the theology that church should be so structured around the "traditional" idea of family and its values. So much of that time when I felt on the outside looking in was time when I saw in my childhood church those apparently perfect families with those apparently "normal" children. I had no models of alternatives-if there were other gay people in that church (and there almost certainly were), the atmosphere was such that none ever dared let themselves be truly known-unless it was by scandal. My loneliness and bewilderment were only deepened at church.
I ronically, the spirituality that today most nurtures and sustains me came to me totally
outside the Church. It was through my recovery from alcoholism that I first encountered an extremely pragmatic spiritual program----.:.one grounded in the concept of unconditional love, call that love "higher power" or God or Goddess or any name that has personal meaning. In my Congregational upbringing, spirituality had been something we never talked about, and it was a revelation to me to be encouraged in an intimate, personal relationship with God as I understood God. This approach was my salvationespecially because I had the freedom to fmd what would work for me and, above all, to question and tryout new things. For the first time in my life~ I realized I had the power to think deeply, to meditate~ and to be open to experiencing the presence of God personally.
The remarkable transformation was manifold. First, I moved from the position of standing at some institution's
Open Hands 14
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iron door~ beseeching to be let in~ to the powerful position of
creating my own door and stepping into the embrace of my
own community. Second~ I found I could make my own
family and define for myself what kinds of ties I felt with
friends and mentors-brothers~ sisters~ aunts~ uncles~
mothers~ and fathers. And~ lastly~ I realized a Universal
Power~ a force I call God~ which is Unconditional Love~ the
Source of Justice and the Giver of Liberation.
I am back in church~ though the community is far from traditional. I fmd I fit best in a primarily lesbian/gay congregation. (Another irony: this worship family is part of the United Church of Christ~ leading me full circle to my childhood roots.) And~ though I went to seminary~ trained for the ministry~ and earned my mastees degree~ I found out that theology is not strictly the property of ""professionar~ theologians; rather ~ every one of us who examines our life in relationship to how we understand God is a theologian.
Now that I have said all this ~ one thing strikes me. I refer a number of times to being nontraditional~ to standing outside the mainstream. But now I feel the urge to ask~ ""Was Christianity ever envisioned to be a "mainstream~ movement?'~ Perhaps it will always be those of us at the outer limits~ the ""fringe~~~ who model for other s how to make their own doors and hence become the vehicles of transformation. Ifthis be one of the purposes my life might serve~ then truly there is grace to be so used."
Douglas F ederhart received his master ofdivinity degree from United Theological Seminary ofthe Twin Cities in 1984. For five years, he was an advocatefor the homeless at a churchsponsored shelter. He "retired"from that ministry afew years ago, and now operates a housecleaning service and writes fICtion.
Spring 1991
God Loves Me
by Donna Jones
As a lesbian~ I have experienced the institutional church as a source of great pain and even rejection. On the other hand~ it was in my small hometown church in rural Virginia that I came to understand myself as a lesbian and a Christian and to know where my own ministry should lie.
It was my home church that I fmally came back to after years of mistrust and fear. Of course~ I tried not to get involved-I was going only to please my family-but one day my father asked me to teach an adult Sunday school class. I decided to try it. It worked~ and everybody began to encourage me. Eventually ~ I became one of the primary adult teachers and also a lay speaker.
Now~ what does all this have to do with spirituality and theology? First~ the success I had in delivering messages of inclusion for all people in God~s house made me know that God loved me and had a plan for me. Second~ because I shared so much of my own life experience in my teaching (although not yet my lesbianism)~ I began to realize that the only way we can truly experience God is to openly share our lives with others. Lastly~ it helped me create my own images of the trinity and how the traditional ""Father~ Son~ and Holy Spirie~ played out in my own life.
""God loves me~~ is probably the most simple and personal theological statement ever made~ but it was the most important one for me as a lesbian to understand. Homosexuality had been presented as the worst possible sin. The fact that the word homosexuality was never even mentioned only served to emphasize how bad it really was to be ""funny" or ""queer." As a young person in the church~ everything told me it was wrong to be gay: Being uneducated in biblical translation~ I believed the Scriptures told me it was wrong; the tradition of my church told me it was wrong; and reason told me that society would reject me because it was wrong. The only thing that told me it was right was my experience (what little I had).
Based on the messages I received about how wrong and wicked my feelings were~ I truly believed that God loved me only when I denied those feelings. The problem was I couldn~t always suppress them. Much of the time I felt God couldn~t possibly love me.
As I grew older~ experience became more important to me and the church less important. Mter all~ I reasoned~ God didn~t love me anyway~ so why bother? Feeling that I was without God~s love when I needed it so badly~ I developed a negative self image and became self-destructive. I prayed for change but none came. I was so afraid of rejection that I would have done anything to avoid it~ and I was constantly trying to run away and hide~ yet couldn~t find any place where I truly belonged. Finally~ when everything came crashing down around me~ I realized that I had to be content with myself as a lesbian and a good person~ even if that meant that church and God had no place in my life.
When I came back to my home church~ I had lost all hope that I would ever have a real relationship with God. Then to my surprise~ my involvement in the church seemed to inspire other people. My sharing of some of my stories seemed to get through to people. Suddenly~ I was fmding a gift that God had surely given me~ and yet I knew that I was
15
a lesbian. To me this could only mean one thing, God loved me! I had fmally come home and found peace.
With the overwhelming realization that God could love and use me, I became aware of a need to bring my two worlds together-the gay/lesbian world and the Christian world. How could I do this? Perhaps the only way is sharing. It was through sharing my own life experiences that I had learned that God loved me.
Since that beginning, I have learned that this sharing means opening ourselves up to each other, giving each other the benefit of the doubt. Itmeans sharing our pain and our secrets as well as our joys. It means trusting one another and being openminded and nonjudgmental.
What do lesbians and gay men have to share? Of course, we have the same gifts and graces that others have. In addition, most of us have experienced a deep sense of alienation from God, the church, and society which allows us to identify with others who are oppressed. Christ's story of oppression, shared throughout the ages, is one that ends in hope and joy. As a lesbian, I have been oppressed, but I have hope, and that needs to be shared.
In sharing my experiences, I also need to share my understanding of God in all three forms. Like most people, I grew up with the traditional trinity of "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit," and I still have trouble changing to different, gender-inclusive words. I have realized, however, that I have never taken the traditional expressions literally. For me, "God the Father" has always been reflected in my father's hands, strong and gentle; my mother's smile, warm and caring; amI my grandmother's voice, wise and understanding. A God more concerned with love and justice than with fear and power. A God who wants us to be who we are, not a figment of society's imagination. A God who loves all people no matter who they are, not just society's elite.
When I think of "Jesus the Son," I think of a kindred soul, a person who associated with every type of person. I think of a brother who would be proud to have a lesbian or gay man for a sister or brother (perhaps even marching in Gay Pride Day celebrations). I also think of a "rebel with a cause." I identify with Christ and sometimes look to him as the leader of all social justice movements.
The Holy Spirit, to me, is a sister, a companion on life's road, the Sustainer. She marches with me at Gay Pride Day. She cries with me when I have been rejected or hurt because of my lesbianism. She laughs with me at my Holy Union. She rejoices in the strength I have and applauds my love for women. She is my "forever friend."
My theology is not wrapped up in theories and books. It is a personal experience of God, a personal sharing with God's people, and a knowledge that God loves all that I am. This is my story, my way of dealing with God, my hope for all people to come together and celebrate their differences as well as their similarities with the God I love. T
Donna Jones is systems manager for the Federation of Parents and Friends ofLesbians and Gays (P-FLAG) and a lay member ofDumbarton United Methodist Church, a Reconciling Congregation in Washington, D.C.
Integrating Sexuality and Spirituality
by Gloria B. Soliz
L esbians, gay men, and bisexuals who consider themselves practicing Christians frequently wrestle with the question, "How does our participation in the institutional church and our sexuality fit together?" Unfortunately, much of the time we compartmentalize by staying sexually closeted in our Christian community and spiritually closeted in our sexual communities. Instinctively, we know our faith and sexual orientation are both integral parts of who we are as children of God, yet we can wonder if it is possible to integrate our spiritual and sexual selves and continue to be active in our worshipping communities.
The institutional church often answers this question with diametrically opposing answers, yes and no. Within the United Methodist Church (UMC), for example, the Social Principles affirm that we, like heterosexuals, are "individuals of sacred worth," while the Book ofDiscipline simultaneously declares that "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" are not to be ordained. Positions like this can make it hard for lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals in the church to have integrated experiences as fully sexual and spiritual selves. This can even be the case when one is part of a more supportive spiritual community such as a Reconciling Congregation or an Mfirmation group.
I responded to God's call to ordained ministry and came out to myself as a lesbian simultaneously, bringing an incredible burst of energy and joy. The journey began, but I had no idea how my coming out and my call to ordained ministry would fit together within the homophobia of the church in which I had been born and reared. I just knew that discovering my sexual identity and my call to ordained ministry were both gifts from God.
I lived the life of a closeted United Methodist clergyperson for four years. During those years, the UMC adopted the Disciplinary language explicitly denying ordination and appointment to "self-avowed practicing homosexuals." Over time, the pain of this decision became excruciating, as my identity as a clergywoman and my sexual identity each became compartmentalized. The stress of this lifestyle caused me to die a little each day. In the midst of all the stress, the cover-up, and the lying, is it any wonder that my theological development became stifled? My studies in seminary and my work in my pastorates became a means of justification by works to make up for my sexual identity.
The Board of Ordination did not have to beg the question overtly or covertly. I had internalized the oppressive and threatening situation well. I was held captive by my own fear, which eventually became self destructive. In the end, I was forced to resign in the face of being discontinued. The reasons given were that I was,theologically inarticulate and had an aversion to authority.
In hindsight, I can see that in my state of mind there was no healthy integration of my sexual orientation with my ministry. My lifestyle and my theology did not have a chance to mature in the warped and convoluted sin of the United Methodist Church. The board's appraisal of my having an aversion to authority was not clear to me. If they
Open Hands
meant that I had an aversion to the authority of God in my life, they were right. I was not being faithful in the deepest sense. Ifthey meant that I had an aversion to their authority, yes, this is probably also true. But I refuse to accept a totally negative connotation of an aversion to this authority. As a working-class woman of Hispanic descent, I would mostly likely never have entered-let alone graduated from-college or gone on to seminary.
In the midst of the sin of racism and sexism, I have continued to be compelled by a desire for an intimacy with God. In my journey, I have made plenty of miscalculations and mistakes in this realm of sin, yet God continues to offer forgiveness and grace.
Over two years ago, I accepted a position in Christian education with a United Church of Christ. My immediate reason for taking the job was fmancial, but, as I talked with a clergy friend from seminary, I also recognized the importance of a continued professional ministry within the church. Then it became clear that I might be putting myself in another compromising situation. The next day I made an appointment with the church's pastor, so that I could come out to him. I was prepared to resign ifhe had any objections to my lesbianism. Obviously, the pastor was accepting of me, since I am going into my third year on the staff.
A lthough it is not necessary for me to make an issue of my sexual orientation, it has become more important for me to be open and honest when opportunities present themselves to deepen relations with parishioners and friends. It has been a blessing to have the new experience of providing professional Christian leader-. ship without having my sexual orientation constantly threatening my ministry. I know that God has forgiven me for hiding a part of myself and I have begun to forgive myself. I am still seeking the path that will lead to greater integration of my spirituality and sexuality in my ministry. In the meantime, I have begun to fmd peace.
My last six years have been filled with depression and grieving. However, through family, friends, and my Christian brothers and sisters in Mfirmation, God's healing power also has been at work in my life. Perhaps the most significant source of healing in my life has come from the love of a special woman. I understand this new love as a precious gift of hope from God.
Whether or not the UMC and other denominations ever resolve their institutionalized conflicts, we who are God's lesbian, gay, and bisexual children are called by Godindividually and collectively-to integrate our lives. As people of faith, we cannot remain conflicted and compromising regarding our Christian faith and our sexuality. Ours is a higher calling to our full humanity in Christ. Our love-making informs our theological understanding of a loving and compassionate God. We cannot settle for anything less than being fully sexual and fully spiritual children of this God of love.T
Gloria B. Soliz, M.Div., is coordinator ofchildren and youth ministries at First Congregational Church in San Francisco, an Open and Affirming Congregation. She is also a health educator with Lyon-Martin Women 's Health Services in San Francisco.
Spring 1991
My Cup Runneth Over
by R.S. Unwja
L esbians are Sunday school teachers, chairs of
women's groups, committee members, pastors of
congregations. Yet we continually hear that God loves us but hates our ""lifestyle." We watch as some of our sister clergy come out, are removed from their congregations or never granted ordination. We listen to whispers of condemnation about the ""two friends" who sit in the rear pew and leave immediately after services. Our childhood God despises homosexuals; our church family denies our very existence; our traditional theology openly condemns us; our denominations and churches believe we are sick individuals who choose to alienate ourselves from God by refusing to ask for forgiveness for our sinful ways.
This is my experience, from the heart of a wounded Christian lesbian, unable and unwilling to relinquish my Christianity, looking for an overflowing cup in the midst of a seemingly endless drought. Over the years, my reflections. my stunted spiritual growth, and my weariness at working so hard to be part of-indeed a leader of-a denomination that has not accepted me, called me to step away from it. Doing so has led me on an inward journey, striving to fmd the theology of fullness for which I long.
Contemplating the times in my life when I have felt spiritually whole, when I have felt God's love filling me to overflowing, I recall the tender embrace of my lover. My own experience confirms what Carter Heyward and Virginia Mollencott discuss in books and lectures: that it is through relationships, intimate friendships, and lover relationships that we can experience God's love at work in our lives.
Together, my lover and I have seen God's gentleness in our most intimate moments, God's compassion when we comfort one another. Itis through the joys and pains of this relationship that I have felt God's spirit entwined with my own, filling me with unconditional love.
Throughout the Scriptures, this idea of the sanctity of relationships is a strong theme. Jesus' intimate friendships and his parables reveal how God's love for us can be experienced through the love of another, whether an intimate friend or a stranger. God chose to become human to teach us how to relate to God and God to us. Especially significant for lesbians is the story of Ruth and Naomi-a story of love between two women, through which they learn the power and life-changing excitement of a constant yet evolving God.
We who are lesbians need to believe that our lover and friend relationships are sacred, that the way we interact with one another is precious'to God, that our most intimate relationships deserve to be developed, nurtured, and cherished, not only by ourselves, but by our church family. Itis also time to gather, to share our journeys toward spiritual wholeness, to acknowledge our presence and intentional worship, to reclaim Jesus' theology of relationships in all aspects of our lives, including Christian worship and rituals. For it is through our love that we may be filled to overflowing with the presence of God.T
R. S. Umoja is an ordained United Methodist clergywoman using a pen name in compliance with her bishop's request.
17
Sustaining the Spirit
A Eucharistic Liturgy
Bill Plieseis and Dan Geslin Dan Geslin F
F
Gm --J JIJ F :I
r Fl
p)
C3
r 0::1
PEOPLE : CELEBRANT: CELEBRANT: Yah -weh's spir -it now is with you! And Sbe al-so is witb you! Let us give God praise and glo -ry!
It's a rigbt, good tbing to do! PE OPLE: God of life and lib -er -a -tion, we now ga -tber in your name. Bring your praise and gay thanks· giv. ing, and your prom.ise we pro· claim.
Gm7 Om OmOm
J 3I J j In F1 !pIJ
a -ver wa -ters void and deep, Did your spir-it bring forth na -ture and from earth you gave us birth. CANTOR-When the sky down· poured the wa -ters, and the earth was drowned in pain, In the ark you saved us, era -died in your prom -ise: born a -gain.
CELEBRANT: Out of noth -ing -ness and cha -as,
Gm FF Gm F
~~ J J r-g n 1j j 1fl in n 1J 1U cJ fl l F riA i7J n 1J :11
PEOPlE: Then you breatbed in • to our nos· trils-breatb of life and light 01' mind -You cre· a • ted in your im· age, eacb of us your im· age still. PEOPLE: In tbat sky you put a rain· bow, to re· mind us ev· er· more That life comes In maD -y col-ors and your love's for ev -'I)' • one.
I' Bb/G F/A F/G F Bp/G F/A F/G F Bb/G F/A F/G F Bb/G F n 19 Fj n I 3 J R. J n 3 J r a F1 n I 3 J FJ. 3• II
1 1
~ II: Fl
CANTOR' Next through A -bra -ham and Sa -rah, old of age and sex -less then, You birthed us an end -less prom -ise -we, your peo -pie, you our God.
CANTOR: God of life and lib -er -a -tion; you have called us each by name, So we dance our gay thanks -giv -ing and your prom -ise we pro -claim!
Om Om A7 Om J 3 J J 3I J j I n p) FJ I j.
CELEBRANT: When you heard our groans and sor -rows in the chains of sla· ver -y, With a might. y love you saved us; set us free for lib -er -!y. CANTOR Through your psalm -ists and your pro -phets, men and wo -men, young and old, You re-vealedyourWord a· mongus, Godofloveand notof stone. F Gm c7 F I n iJ J J I J PEOPLE' Mo • ses led us t'ward your prom -ise, Mir -iam led us in your dance; eel· e -bra . ling, lib· er -a -tion, We con -tin -ue now tbat dance. :I
PEOPLE Once a -gain in great op -pres -sion, wben tbe time was full and right, Ma -ry, young, still in -de -pen· dent, sbe your lov -er birtbed your Word.
Om Gm7 Om A7 Om
1 J J P ) n I j. I n A n I J j
J J 3I J j 13 JJ1rplJ
I'~ J J 3
CANTOR: Je -sus healed and taught a -mong us, shared our strug -gles and our joys, Felt the pain of hu -man bon -dage, preached the way of your sha -10m.
18 Open Hands
F Gm c' A7 F Gm c7
1& b a J ra R ia J IHlda 1,1 IODiRlr r IArEa J ~.
PEOPLE: Out of fear they'd lose their pow· er if we peo. pie fol· lowed him, Pa • tri· archs and em· pire ru· lers plot· ted then, and now, Christ's end.
Dm Gm7 Dm A7 Dm
I' b I: J J £J n IJ j I]J p) a la. IJEJ;4 B id J I J J r1 J15 1 J :1
CELEBRANT. On the night be -fore they killed him, he took bread and gave you thanks, Break -ing it he said "my bod· y, " ask -ing "please re • mem -ber me. CELEBRANT Af-ter sup -per in the same way Je -sus took the pro -phet's cup, Blest it, passed it on, he asked us, "drink of the new cov . e · nan!."
c7 A7 c7
Gm F Gm
""'I'
~ a J rn a lJ J In J1£J IJ lE3cJ R lr Jj n IJ. II
~
PEOPLE: We pro· claim the death of Je . sus, but Christ's res· ur • rec • tion too; Though they tl)' to kill your prom· ise, still Christ lives and lib· er • ates!
F Bb/G F/A F/G Bb/G F/A F/G F Bb/G F/A F/G F Bb/G F
~ !!iii;
LO .q.....:::: J
I'b I A IJ J Inn. d J JIB ro Pj n IJ J fJ. J I IJ
CANTOR: God of love and lib· er • a -tion, we're Christ's bod· Y in your name! With our lives of gay thanks -giv • ing we your prom· ise do pro· claim!
• Om Gm' Om Om
A'
~ J JJ JIJj ~ 17) Ella. Im;4 a id J I £J r1iplJ
CE LEBRANT Christ breaks bread with those who hun -ger and shares drink with those who thirst, And to those who know op • pres· sian, gives your prom· ise of re . birth.
A7
F Gm c' F Gm c'
I'b a J i7J fl l aJ In ;4 n I J 10 c:::J FJ lr r IDmaJIJ. ~
PEOPlE: At this cov -e .. nan • tal ta -ble we your prom -ise now re • tum; We will share with those who hun · ger, we will set the cap' tives free!
F Bb/G F/A F/G F Bb/G F/A F/G F Bb/G F/A F/G F Bb/G F
I' bfI: FJ I n J. SF] J J In J J. J J Jln 19 Po filJ J Fl. J I :1
CELEBRANT· At this ta . ble all are wei· come: God's good gifts for you are free. Bread of life, cup of sal . va . lion, feast of grace for you and me.
PEOPlE On this day of res -ur· rec • tion we will sing and dance and play, For our God of lib -er . a • tlon is a -live in us to -.day!
PEOPlE· AI -Ie • lu -ia! Christ Is ris • en! AI Ie I. ia! Christ's a • live! AI Ie lu • la! feel the spir· it! AI • Ie -lu -ia with· out end!
PEOPlE AI • Ie -lu -la! Christ Is ris • en! AI -Ie • I. • la! Christ's a -live! AI • Ie • lu -la! feel the spir· it! AI • Ie • lu -ia and A -men!
Writtenfor Easter 1990 at Spirit ofthe Lakes Community Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota © 1990 Dan Geslin and BiU Plieseis. AU Rights Reserved.
Spring 1991 19
----------------------------------- ---
forw
ard~ we see that vict •ving made the journey~ ,.ronl"J'Ir71:ayllesbian congregation in San Francisco
Our Table Prayer
Holy Spirit~ birth is a beginning and death a destination.
Life is a journey:
from childhood to maturity and youth to age;
from innocence to awareness and ignorance to knowing;
from foolishness to discretion and then~ perhaps ~ to wisdom;
from
weakness to str ength back again ; from health to sic
some high stage ~ in love
20 Open Hands
Resources
LJ
.
LESBIAN/GAY THEOLOGYGENERAL EXPLORATION
Fortunato, John E. Emhracing the Exile: Healing Journeys of Gay Christians. New York: Seabury, 1982. Explores the interaction of sexuality and spirituality and the invitation to growth that lesbian/gaylbisexual experiences of "exile" can present.
Heyward, Carter. Touching Our Strength: The Erotic as Power and the Love of God. San Francisco: Harper, 1989. The openly lesbian Episcopal priest and theologian explores the "re-imaging" of sex and of God as sparks that empower people in relationship. Probes "the Sacred" or "divine terrain" through sexual experience and attempts "to give voice to an embodied-sensual-relational movement among women and men who explore our sexualities as a liberating resource."
Nelson, James B. Embodiment: An Approach to Sexuality and Christian Theology. Minneapolis: Augsburg, . 1978. Between Two Gardens: Reflection on Sexuality and Religious Experience. New York: Pilgrim Press, 1983. Classic works on the interrela~ tionship of human sexuality, including homosexuality, with Christian spiritual experience. Stemmeler, Michael L., and Clark, J. Michael, eds. Constructing Gay Theology. Las Colinas, Texas: Monument Press, 1991. The contributors to this booklet explore the problems of unapologetically constructing gay male theology. Thomas M. Thurston analyzes existing approaches toward a particularly gay theology, J. Michael Clark sets parameters for such a theology, and E. Michael Gorman examines the relationship of religion and spirituality to other aspects of gay culture. John J. McNeill provides a response to all three papers.
LESBIAN/GAY THEOLOGYPERSONAL PERSPECTIVES
Boyd, Malcolm. Gay Priest: An Inner Journey. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1986. The well-known openly gay Episcopal priest shares his personal spiritual journey. Especially moving are his lengthy meditations on images of "God the Lover" and "Christ the Runner."
Spring 1991
Glaser, Chris. Come Home! Reclaiming Spirituality and Community as Gay Men and Lesbians. San Francisco: Harper, 1990. Presents a vision of faith, hope, and affirmation that invites gay men and lesbians to come home to their spirituality through Christian faith and community. Written not only for gay men and lesbians, but also for others seeking to benefit from gay spirituality and ministry.
Hull, Gloria T.; Scott, Patricia Bell; and Smith, Barbara. But Some of Us Are Brave: Black Women's Studies. Old Westbury, N.Y.: Feminist Press, 1982. Black women (including lesbians) discuss such topics as racism, Black feminism, and theology.
McNaught, Brian. On Being Gay: Thoughtson Family, Faith, and Love. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1988. Valuable reflections on developing honest relationships with oneself, with others, and with God.
Mud Flower Collective. God's Fierce Whimsey. Carter Heyward, ed. New York: Pilgrim Press, 1985. Black, Hispanic, and White women-a mixture of working class, feminists, theologians, and ethicists-address classism, racism, sexism, and homophobia through perspectives of Christian feminist theology.
Zanotti, Barbara, ed. A Faith of One's Own: Explorations by Catholic Lesbians. Trumansburg, N.Y.: The Crossing Press, 1986. Stories of lesbians raised as Catholic both exemplify those women's sufferings and illustrate their brave and creative quests for meaningful spiritual life. Discusses the varieties of Catholic lesbian faith-faith as a womancentered response to the world springing from the passion of loving women and trusting one's energies to the values inspired by lesbian existence.
OTHER LIBERATION · THEOLOGIES
Several varieties ofliberation theology have emerged over the past two decades or so. These theologies often emerge
•
from the experience ofan oppressed
•
group. As such, they may be models for a distinctively lesbian/gay theology. Following are afew examples:
Cone, James H. God of the Oppressed. New York: Seabury, 1975. Speaking the Truth: Ecumenism, Liberation, and Black Theology. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1986. Two of several books by one of the leading proponents ofMrican American liberation theology. In God ofthe Oppressed, Cone argues that "one's social and historical context decides not only tIle qQ.estio~s we address to God but also the mode or the form of the answers to the questions." In Speaking the Truth, Cone demonstrates that liberation is an inclusive element of the entire Christian faith, as well as an aspiration of all oppressed peoples.
Dussel, Enrique. Philosophy of Liberation. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1985. Dussell-an Argentinean philosopher, theologian, and ethicistexamines the alienation of the world's poor and proposes "thinking the world" from their perspective as a means toward creating a just world order.
Gutierrez, Gustavo. A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation. rev. ed. Maryknoll, N. Y. : Orbis Books, 1988. Gutierrez, a Peruvian, describes this book in the introduction as "an attempt at reflection, based on the Gospel and the experiences of men and women committed to the process of liberation, in the oppressed and exploited land of Latin America" in which he "reconsider[s] the great themes of the Christian life" from the perspective of "a commitment which seeks to become more radical, total, and efficacious." Harrison, Beverly W. , ed. Making the Connections: Essays in Feminist Social Ethics. Boston: Beacon, 1985. Essays on the connections between various forms of oppression and how that relates to the theological task. Some essays deal specifically with heterosexism in Christian theology. Tutu, Desmond. Hope and Suffering: Sermons and Speeches. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1985. The Nobel Peace Prize-winning South Mrican bishop expounds his faith and certainty that liberation will eventually come to South Mrica because the God of liberation is working with and for South Mricans in their struggle. Especially noteworthy are five sermons on "Liberation as a Biblical Theme."
21
Rep Report
Welcome to Our 49th RC-Third Avenue Community Church (Columbus, Ohio)
The Reconciling Congregation Program (RCP) recently welcomed its 49th Reconciling Congregation. Reborn from a disbanded congregation and boarded-up building, Third Avenue Community Church is, indeed, a symbol of the resurrection. Three years ago some community and church leaders with an "alternative" vision began an experimental congregation in the building of the former Third Avenue UMC. The new congregation is a chartered UMC congregation and an affiliated Episcopal congregation.
Third Avenue Community's 50 members have been attracted to the congregation because of its commitment to social justice issues. The congregation has a strong community outreach program. A monthly "community days" dinner draws 100 to 150 persons from the neighborhood. The congregation is active in AIDS ministry and sponsors a community recycling program. In addition, the congregation houses several community-based nonprofit groups.
*******
While the RCP is primarily a local church-based program, its commitment to inclusiveness continues to be embraced by other UMC groups. The Baltimore Conference Committee on HIV/AIDS Ministries declared itself a "Reconciling Committee" this past winter and states its commitment to reconciling ministries in its resource materials.
RCP Board MeetsEvangelism Top Priority
The Board of Directors of the Reconciling Congregation Program held its semiannual meeting in February in Atlanta, Georgia.
The 17-member board, comprised of members of Reconciling Congregations, Reconciling Conferences, and Mfirmation, affirmed that the 92 in '92 campaign (to enlist 92 RCs by the end of 1992) continues to be its top priority. The board authorized the development of new resources to assist congregations studying the RCP and implemented strategies to nurture these prospective RCs.
In other business, the board:
•
adopted a plan for an RCP witness at the 1992 General Conference of the UMC;
•
provided information and support for churches regarding lesbian/gay covenant services;
•
adopted a budget for the coming year;
•
fmalized terms of a ""separation agreement" with Mfirmation;
•
postponed until August a proposal to add ""bisexual persons" to the RCP purpose statement to allow further study by board members and RCs;
•
authorized hiring a part-time program assistant in September 1991.
Additional information on the RCP board meeting and ongoing RCP program development is available in the bimonthly RCP newsletter. Ifyou do not currently receive this newsletter and would like to be more informed about the RC movement contact the RCP office (202/863-'1586) and ask to be put on the RCP newsletter mailing list.
Novel RC Promotion in Oregon
Metanoia Peace Community, a Reconciling Congregation in Portland, Oregon, has launched a campaign to have 1,000 United Methodists in Oregon and Idaho declare their willingness to be part of a new RC. Metanoia is distributing buttons saying "I would be proud to be a member of a Reconciling Congregation" to a key supporter in 100 congregations in the conference. This person, in turn, will enlist at least 10 other persons in that congregation to wear the button in worship on one or more Sundays in April and May.
Study Committee Considers Changing UMC Policy-Draws Reaction
The UMC Study Committee on Homosexuality considered proposals and recommendations to be included in its final report during its February meeting.
The proposal, which drew widespread interest, was to change the statement in the UMC Social Principles that currently reads: ""we do not condone the practice of homosexuality and consider this practice incompatible with Christian teaching." The proposed new statement reads, in its entirety:
""We acknowledge with humility that the Church has been unable to arrive at a common mind on the compatibility of homosexual practice with Christian faith. Many consider the practice incompatible with Christian teaching. Many believe it acceptable when practiced in a context of human caring and covenantal faithfulness. The present state of knowledge in the relevant disciplines does not provide a satisfactory basis upon which the Church can responsibly maintain a specific prohibition of homosexual
22 Open Hands
practice. The Church seeks further understanding through continued prayer, study and pastoral experience. In doing so, the Church continues to affirm that God's grace is bestowed upon all and that the members of Christ's body are called to be in ministry for and with one another, and to the world."
This statement was supported by 17 members of the committee in a nonbinding, preference vote. Four members opposed the statement in favor of retaining the present "incompatible" language.
Since this statement was designed to be a compromise, reports of it expectedly drew dissent from both sides of the debate. The progressive Methodist Federation for Social Action said that the statement did not go far enough to welcome lesbians and gay men as full-fledged United Methodists. The conservative "Good News" caucus attacked the committee for considering changing the church's current policy.
Mfirmation: United Methodists for Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns issued a statement saying, in part: "nothing less than an unqualified affirmation and invitation to full participation in all aspects of church life is acceptable. Committee members may compromise their opinions in the hope of gaining approval for a recommendation. Lesbians, gay men, and bisexual persons have learned... that compromising our identity is too high a price to pay."
The committee will fmalize its report at its August 22-25 meeting and present its report to the General Council on Ministries in September. The General Council will then decide what and how to report to the 1992 General Conference.
Ifyou are interested in providing thoughts or feedback to the committee before it completes its work, you can send correspondence to: UMC Study Committee on Homosexuality, clo C. David Lundquist, GCOM, 601 W. Riverview Avenue, Dayton, OH 45406.
Spring 1991
Cokesbury Story Follow-up
Our story in the Fall 1990 issue, "Does Cokesbury Exclude Gayl Lesbian Books?" elicited a response from the Cokesbury store at GarrettEvangelical Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. A spokesperson from that store said that books on lesbian/gay spirituality are available and can be ordered from them.
ClOUT-"Christian lesbians Out Together"
A new movement to "empower lesbian Christian women and to challenge the churches to which they belong" was launched in February with a statement signed by 113 clergy and laywomen from the United States, Canada, and Europe. ""Christian Lesbians Out Together" (CLOUT) is an intercultural, multi-
NOW AT
racial group from 14 Christian denominations. ""While we realize the risks in coming out, we are aware of the risks involved in not coming out," says one of CLOUT's organizers, Irene Monroe, an Mrican-American doctoral student who has worked as a Presbyterian pastor. According to Monroe, ""CLOUT is based in the conviction that lesbian Christian women continue to be victims of spiritual abuse in churches which insist that lesbians and gay men remain either celibate or silent about their sexual activity."
An initial international gathering of CLOUT is being planned for November 1991. For more information and/or to get on the group's mailing list, write: CLOUT, P.O. Box 758, Jamaica Plains, MA 02130.
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Poignant stories from Reconciling Congregations that portray the pain and estrangement that lesbians and gay men feel in the church and the hope of reconciliation in the congregations. 38 mins. VHS. 1988. Free study guide with each order.
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23
----------------------- -------------------------
Disciples Adopt "Open and • Upcoming National Gatherings
Affirming"
The interdenominational movement of congregations publicly welcoming lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons continues to expand with the beginning of an Open and Mfirming congregation program in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Open and Mfirming began in 1985 as a program of the Vnited Church of Christ (VCC). Since the VCC and Disciples denominations are moving toward a merger or federation, the GLAD Alliance (the Disciples lesbian! gay group) also adopted the Open and Mfirming name and principles.
Currently, seven congregations in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) are Open and Mfirming. The coordinators of the Disciples' Open and Mfirming program are Allen Harris (1010 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10028) and Lorie Rudel (4231 S. Lucille, Seattle, WA 98118).
: June 4-12., Presbyteriansfor Lesbian/Gay Concerns will be present for the
: Presbyterian General Assembly in Baltimore, Maryland. For information, write:
: P.O. Box 38, New Brunwsick, NJ 08903.
: June 9-16., Annual gathering of Seventh-Day Adventist Kinship International
: at Menucha Camp, outside Portland, Oregon. For information, write: P .O. Box
: 3840, Los Angeles, CA 90078.
: June 23-26., National Gathering of the United Church Coalition for Lesbian/
: Gay Concerns preceding the V CC General Synod in Norfolk, Virginia. For
: information, write: VCCUGC , 18 N. College, Athens, OH 45701, or call: 614/593•
730l. : July 4-7., Joint conference of Evangelicals Concerned Midwest and Western : regions in Denver, Colorado. For information, call 303/830-2823. : August 29-September I., National convention of Dignity/USA in Washing: ton, D.C. For information, write: Dignity/uSA, P.O. Box 29661, Washington, DC
•
20017.
· September 20-22., National meeting of Affirmation: United Methodists for
•
Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns in Atlanta. For information, write:
• Mfirmation, P.O. Box 1021, Evanston, IL 60204.
· Oetober 11-14., Annual convention of the National Federation ofParents and
• Friends ofLesbians and Gays (PFLAG) in Charlotte, North Carolina. For
•
information, write: Charlotte PFLAG, 5815 Charing Place, Charlotte, NC 2821l. · Oetober 25-27., Annual conference of Emergence International (Christian
•
Scientists) near Palm Springs, California. For information, write: P.O. Box 581,
•
Kentfield, CA 94914 or call: 415/485-188l.
· Oetober 25-30., National gathering of GLAD Alliance (Disciples of Christ) in
•
conjunction with the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples) in Tulsa,
•
Oklahoma. For information, write: P.O. Box 19223, Indianapolis, IN 46219-0223.
Reconciling Congregations
ARIZONA
Tucson
St. Francis in the Foothils
CALIFORNIA
Albany
AlbanyUMC
Berkeley
Trinity UMC
Fresno
WesleyUMC
Los Angeles
United University
Wilshire UMC
Milpitas
Sunnyhills UMC
San Francisco
Bethany UMC
Calvary UMC
Hamilton UMC
Trinity UMC
Santa Monica
Church in Ocean Park
Vacaville
St. Paul's UMC
West Hollywood
Crescent Heights UMC
COLORADO
Denver
St. Paul's UMC DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Washington
Christ UMC
Dumbarton UMC
GEORGIA
Atlanta
Grant Park-Aldersgate UMC
ILLINOIS
Chicago
Albany Park UMC Irving Park UMC Parish of the Holy Covenant United Church of Rogers Park
DeKalb
University UMC
Evanston
Hemenway UMC
Wheadon UMC
Oak Park
Euclid Avenue UMC
WinflRld
Winfield UMC
KANSAS
Mission
ecumenikos
LOUISIANA
New Orleans
St. Mark's UMC MARYLAND
Baltimore
St. John's UMC
MINNESOTA
Minneapolis Prospect Park UMC Walker Community UMC WesleyUMC
MISSOURI
Kansas City
Kairos UMC
NEW YORK
Brooklyn
Park Slope UMC
New York Metropolitan-Duane UMC Washington Square UMC
Oneonta
First UMC
OHIO
Columbus
Third Avenue Community
Church
Toledo
Central UMC
OREGON
Estacada
Estacada UMC
Portland
Metanoia Peace Community
PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia
CalvaryUMC First UMC of Germantown
TENNESSEE
Nashville
Edgehill UMC
WASHINGTON
Seattle
Capitol Hill UMC
Wallingford UMC
WISCONSIN
Madison
University UMC
Sheboygan
Wesley UMC
RECONCILING CONFERENCES California-Nevada New York Northern Illinois Troy
RECONCILING COMMISSION General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns
RECONCILING ORGANIZATION Methodist Federation for Social Action
24 Open Hands