[MLPnews] MLPnews June 27, 2005

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MLP News

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....working for the full inclusion of LGBT people of faith
in the life, ministry, and witness of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

	

Volume 2
Issue 6
  June 27, 2005



 

 

 

In this issue:

    Another delete-B overture passes! Cascades Presbytery votes "yes"
    for equality and fairness
    More Light Sunday 2005 final results: 35 participating churches, one
    case of hostile backlash
    Twelve Months to Birmingham -- General Assembly 2006 is on the way
    Pictures of Pride - photos from More Light supporters at gay pride
    events on both coasts
    Bad Theology, Bad Medicine: So-called "Change Ministries" and
    "Ex-Gay" Claims
    MLP friends in the news - Rev. Hal Porter profiled in /Inside Bay Area/
    Transgender Theology: MLP co-moderator Erin Swenson to speak at
    Emory, Atlanta GA, June 29
    4 More Regional MLP Conferences - Pick Your Conference, Save the Date

    *Special More Light Sunday event reports:*
        More Light Sunday at Mt. Auburn Presbyterian, Cincinnati
        MLP in the news - Tulsa More Light Sunday gets press coverage
        "It's about the future" - More Light Sunday at Las Placitas
    Presbyterian, New Mexico
        More Light Sunday in Pittsburgh
        More Light Sunday in Tulsa, Oklahoma
        "The strongest sermon from this pulpit in over 10 years" - More
    Light Sunday at Royster Memorial, Norfolk

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Another delete-B overture passes! Cascades Presbytery votes "yes" for 
equality and fairness*


/Reported by MLP Cascades chapter chair Chris Jackson, who was on the 
scene as Cascades Presbytery (western Oregon) voted 92 yes, 61 no to 
send a "delete B / delete AI" overture to the 2006 General Assembly. The 
Cascades overture uses the language recommended by the MLP 2006 GA 
Overture FAQ <http://www.mlp.org/resources/overturefaq.html> - see the 
FAQ for how you can work to send a delete-B overture from your own 
presbytery. /

*Chris Jackson's report:*

Today at a Stated Meeting of the Presbytery of the Cascades in 
Milwaukie, Oregon, the Presbytery voted by paper ballot in favor of 
sending an overture to GA recommending the removal of "B" and the 
Authoritative Interpretation. Twenty-five minutes was allowed for 
discussion, and I was pleased to see that proponents outnumbered 
opponents at the microphone.

*Read more... <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20050625215429481> *



***More Light Sunday 2005 final results: 35 participating churches, one 
case of hostile backlash*

The list is in - here's our best take at a final list of More Light 
Sunday 2005 
<http://www.mlp.org/staticpages/index.php?page=more-light-sunday> 
participating churches. The number of participating churches tripled in 
2005, far exceeding our expectations. Our thanks go out to all of the 
organizers who planned (or will plan) More Light Sunday events this 
year... we hope to see you back in 2006! Our prayers and special 
commendations for standing up for the Gospel in the face of open 
hostility go out to Rev. Jeffery Falter, who was fired from his 
pastorship at Davis Memorial Presbyterian 
<http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20050527110756119> two weeks 
before More Light Sunday because he dared to suggest that LGBT people 
are "no different than the rest of us."

*More Light Sunday 2005 participants:*

Royster Memorial Presbyterian Church, Norfolk VA
College Hill Presbyterian Church, Tulsa OK
University Presbyterian Church, Chapel Hill NC
*See the full list...* 
<http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20050626180411122>

**


***Twelve Months to Birmingham -- General Assembly 2006 is on the way*
**

*What Letter from the Birmingham General Assembly will Presbyterians 
Write on June 22, 2006?*

One year from now on June 22, 2006 in Birmingham, Alabama, the 217th 
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) will conclude its 
business with prayer and a benediction.

May that benediction be one that ends the prejudice and discrimination 
against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons and their 
families. Injustice, homophobia and heterosexism were placed into our 
Church's relationship with its own children -- LGBT sisters and 
brothers, youth, college and seminary students, clergy, educators, 
elders and deacons -- 27 years ago by the 1978 General Assembly 
<http://www.mlp.org/resources/history.html#dg>.

It is time for change. It is time for justice. It is time for healing. 
It is time for grace...

Ironically and possibly providentially, the 2006 General Assembly will 
be in Birmingham, Alabama 
<http://www.watson.org/%7Elisa/blackhistory/civilrights-55-65/birming.html>. 
In 1963, the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was imprisoned there 
for participation in civil rights demonstrations. While serving his 
sentence, Dr. King wrote his famous essay, "Letter from a Birmingham 
City Jail." 
<http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html>
*Read more... <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20050624152106493>
*


*Pictures of Pride - photos from More Light supporters at gay pride 
events on both coasts*

More Light friends at First Palo Alto and with the MLP Open Doors 
chapter have both sent us photos of their participation in Pride 
parades, from San Jose California and Washington DC respectively.  We 
have the photos up on the MLP web site from both the San Jose event 
<http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=2005061421195837> and the 
Washington DC event 
<http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20050614214613159>.

*Bad Theology, Bad Medicine: So-called "Change Ministries" and "Ex-Gay" 
Claims*

/A crucial reminder from our field organizer Michael Adee. Be sure to 
take a look at MLP's resource page 
<http://www.mlp.org/staticpages/index.php?page=change-ministries> on 
this issue./

*So-Called Change Ministries, Ex-Gay Claims = Bad Theology & Bad Medicine*

Sadly in 2005, as I travel our church and country I still encounter 
younger or older women and men who have been pushed into so-called 
change ministries by fundamentalist-oriented pastors, their parents and 
even some Presbyterian clergy or churches. In their search to accept, 
affirm and embrace themselves as children of God being created good in 
the image of God just like heterosexuals, our sisters and brothers who 
are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning are simply 
seeking to integrate their sexuality or gender identity with their faith.

The major mainstream nationally accredited medical and clinical 
organizations such as the APA and AMA among others have condemned such 
"change ministries" as unnecessary, injurious and harmful to the healthy 
development of persons whose same-sex loving nature and sexual 
orientation is perfectly natural, normal and essential to who they are 
as human beings.
*Read more...* <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20050618121659743>

**

*
**MLP friends in the news - Rev. Hal Porter profiled in /Inside Bay Area/*

Rev. Harold "Hal" Porter, pastor emeritus of Mt. Auburn Presbyterian 
Church <http://www.mtauburnpresby.org/> in Cincinnati, and former 
national MLP Board Member, is profiled in a recent article 
<http://www.insidebayarea.com/localnews/ci_2798911> (extracts below) in 
the online news magazine Inside Bay Area <http://www.insidebayarea.com>.

Hal's sermon "Homosexuality is Not a Sin" 
<http://www.mlp.org/resources/packet/porter.pdf> has been part of the 
National MLP educational resources since 1999 and the documentary /A 
Place at the Table/ that tells the more light story of Mt. Auburn 
features Rev. Porter along with church leaders and members.

*Minister extends his hand to gays*

The Rev. Dr. Harold G. Porter has come a long way since he took a bold 
stand in 1978 in direct opposition to his church's firm stance that 
homosexuality is a sin.

The longtime pastor knew little about gays and lesbians, but in his gut 
he knew they had basic human rights just the same as anyone else. Rights 
that shouldn't stop at church doors.

"When I first looked at the question of homosexuality, I was concerned 
about the justice issue that all people should be created equally," 
Porter recalled.
*Read the full article...* 
<http://www.insidebayarea.com/localnews/ci_2798911>

*
*

*Transgender Theology: MLP co-moderator Erin Swenson to speak at Emory, 
Atlanta GA, June 29*

*Transgender Theology: Beginning the Dialogue*

Wednesday, June 29, 2005 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia

This workshop will feature three "firsts." Our workshop leaders, the 
Reverends Malcolm Himschoot and Erin Swenson, have each been a first as 
transgender ministers. Malcolm was ordained last year by the United 
Church of Christ. This made him the first openly transgender person to 
be ordained by any mainstream Protestant church. Erin Swenson made 
national news in late 1996 when her ordination as a Presbyterian 
minister was upheld following her gender transition, the first time any 
mainstream church had taken such a position on a minister who had 
changed gender.
*Read more... <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20050624150541279>*

*
**4 More Regional MLP Conferences - Pick Your Conference, Save the Date*

The first MLP Conference of 2005 was wildly successful, the MLP National 
Leadership Conference last month in Kansas City, Missouri. MLP is 
organizing four more regional conferences 
<http://www.mlp.org/index.php?topic=mlpregional> this year with you and 
your church, MLP Chapter, campus ministry, seminary campus and 
presbytery in mind. A special MLP Youth and Young Adult Conference is in 
the works, too. (see list below)

So, pick your conference and save the date now. We hope to see you at 
one (or more) of these conferences!
*Read more...* <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20050609162336635>

**

*
*

*Special More Light Sunday event reports*
Many of the full articles contain photos, so be sure to check the "Read 
more..." links.

*More Light Sunday at Mt. Auburn Presbyterian, Cincinnati
*

*The Rosevears Celebrate More Light Sunday and Go to Gay Pride in 
Cincinnati*
reported by MLP field organizer Michael Adee

On June 12 Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church 
<http://www.mtauburnpresby.org/>, Cincinnati, Ohio, a More Light 
Presbyterian Church, celebrated More Light Sunday 2005 with a special 
worship service and guest preacher, Lynn Hailey, Elder. Lynn recently 
participated in the National MLP Leadership Conference in Kansas City 
and is offering support to the MLP Group at Mt. Auburn.

Like all of our More Light Sunday celebrations, worship services and 
educational classes this year all across the country, it was a 
remarkably joyful day at Mt. Auburn that flowed into the church's 
participation in the local LGBT Pride Parade Festival. Gay Pride-goers 
and supporters "expect" Mt. Auburn to show up and their church group 
always gets a rousing welcome and applause similiar to the cheers that a 
PFLAG group receives.
*Read more... <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20050614205646356>*

*MLP in the news - Tulsa More Light Sunday gets press coverage
*

/The story of More Light Sunday in Tulsa and Michael Adee's visit as 
part of the MLP Oklahoma van tour 
<http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20050530205847605> was picked up 
by The Gayly Oklahoman <http://www.gayly.com>, a regional LGBT online 
newspaper./

*Diversity Interfaith Service Includes Guest Speaker, Shower of Stoles*

TULSA - For several years, Tulsa's Diversity Celebration has included an 
interfaith religious service involving GLBT-friendly faith communities. 
This year's service will be held at College Hill Presbyterian Church on 
Sunday, June 5, and will feature a major figure in that denomination's 
movement that encourages acceptance of GLBT people.
*Read more... <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20050611195600277>*

*
"It's about the future" - More Light Sunday at Las Placitas 
Presbyterian, New Mexico
*

/MLP supporter Ken Cuthbertson sent us this summary of More Light Sunday 
at Las Placitas Presbyterian <http://www.lasplacitaschurch.org/> - 
thanks Ken!/

PLACITAS, NM -- Rev. Jane Harmes of Las Placitas Presbyterian Church 
<http://www.lasplacitaschurch.org/>, and Parish Associate Rev. Ken 
Cuthbertson, co-led a service on Sunday June 5 celebrating the gifts of 
women and recognizing the struggles of LGBT persons for full inclusion 
in the PCUSA. Las Placitas Presbyterian Church has approximately 160 
members, and is located at the north end of the Sandia mountains just 
north of Albuquerque. The congregation is made up of a mixture of the 
historic old hispanic families from the village of Placitas, and more 
recent residents of the several "bedroom" subdivisions that have grown 
up in the area.
*Read more... <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=2005061117441462> *
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*More Light Sunday in Pittsburgh
*

/Maggie Ritchey, More Light supporter at Sixth Presbyterian Church 
Pittsburgh, sent us this report about More Light Sunday celebrations at 
two Pittsburgh churches./

Both Sixth Presbyterian Church <http://www.sixthchurch.org/> and 
Community House Church in Pittsburgh held More Light Sunday services on 
June 5, and both were marvelous. The afternoon festivity at Community 
House Church was particularly wonderful. That congregation shifted the 
time of its regular worship to mid-afternoon for that day to let other 
congregations in the area participate. Our third and newest More Light 
church in Pittsburgh, the Community of Reconciliation 
<http://www.communityofreconciliation.org>, was an equal planner and 
participant in that afternoon service. Their /fabulous/ pastor preached, 
a beautiful and moving audiovisual presentation of their church was 
shown on Community House's very impressive A/V set up, and they attended 
in large numbers, all wearing bright red "Radically Inclusive" T-Shirts 
celebrating their congregation. Quite a few of us from Sixth were there 
as well, some adorned in our "All Are Welcome In This Place" T-shirts, 
and we presented the Community House with a "diversity flag". 
(Christian-rainbow) like the one that has flown at Sixth for years. It 
was a glorious day!

**

*More Light Sunday in Tulsa, Oklahoma
*

/College Hill Presbyterian held an "open house, open dialogue" More 
Light Sunday event on June 5, with special guest Michael Adee as part of 
the week-long MLP Oklahoma van tour 
<http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20050530205847605>. Here's a 
report from event organizer Tim Gillean - thanks Tim!/

We had a great More Light Sunday at College Hill in Tulsa, beginning 
with our Adult Forum Class, "Celebrating our Faith, by Sharing our 
Stories." With National Field Organizer Michael Adee facilitating, we 
had stories from an 18 year old gay male, national More Light Board 
member Vikki Dearing, and a lesbian couple with five children. The faith 
stories were in some cases sad, but in all cases beautiful and important 
as a testimony to why we our equality movement must be successful in its 
efforts for full inclusion.
*Read more... <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20050607201047763>*

**

*"The strongest sermon from this pulpit in over 10 years" - More Light 
Sunday at Royster Memorial, Norfolk VA*

/On June 5, Royster Memorial Presbyterian Church in Norfolk, Virginia 
held a full "open house, open dialogue" event for More Light Sunday 
<http://www.mlp.org/morelightsunday>. Here's a report from the local 
More Light team coordinator Carol Bayma./

Since the political-religious climate in Virginia is strongly anti-LGBT, 
our More Light Sunday was a success simply by virtue of the session's 
decision to host the open house, open dialogue event and send written 
invitations to churches and ministers within our presbytery. We set up 
the fellowship hall with a round table and then, around an empty wooden 
cross, we stacked literature like "The Blue Book," pieces by Walter 
Wink, the MLP bulletin insert, and some local information about the MLP 
Eastern Virginia chapter that meets at Royster Memorial. Using lavender 
table cloths as a backdrop, we proudly hung twelve stoles from the 
Shower of Stoles Project <http://www.showerofstoles.org> on four walls. 
And to prove we are Presbyterian, we spread two tables with light 
refreshments.
*Read more...* <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20050607144533791>

**

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* <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20050624150541279>*
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