KATALYST NEWSLETTER OF RECONCILING MINISTRIES NETWORK. 75 Reconciling United Methodists gathered in Orlando, Fl to Believe Out Loud Together

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1 VOL. 27 NO. 4 AUTUMN, 2010 Power, Love, Justice Rev. Troy Plummer Power, love, and justice leave it to one of our prophetic voices to put them all in one sentence. As a people of faith we have conflicted feelings about these three important words. We value love but seem most comfortable regulating love and we proclaim justice but often stayed so mired in the good work of mercy that we don t lift our heads to see how justice might change the whole of our ministry. We may just run when we see the word power unless it is in the phrase power of the Holy Spirit. This is problematic when we seek to transform our church and world due to misuse of power, love, and justice. Seventy-five United Methodist organizers returned from a Power Summit in October. We gathered to embrace collaboration between organizers in church and societal change for loving justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. In short to build power--the kind of power that comes from lifting a multitude of diverse voices together for equality for all. Several definitions of power arose: the ability to choose, the ability to act, power over in contrast to power Believe Out Loud Power Summit By Rachel Harvey, Deaconess Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice As a person of color, I have experienced power eroding justice, as a United Methodist I know power can stall action and as an ally I see power standing in the way of my LGBT sister s and brother s love. So why, with all the baggage power brings, would seventy-five Reconciling United Methodists participate in the Believe Out Loud Power Summit? This October we gathered in Orlando, FL with over 300 ecumenical church leaders to learn about the demands of justice, put our faith into action and name our collective power. Through workshops in leadership development and campaigns, phones banks to voters and potential leaders, and worship through song and over dinner; 75 Reconciling United Methodists gathered in Orlando, Fl to Believe Out Loud Together KATALYST NEWSLETTER OF RECONCILING MINISTRIES NETWORK Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with, power = organizing people and organizing money. Organizing people to choose and to act with others for the benefit of all might get close to love implementing the demands of justice. Letting go of normative power over understanding and speaking justice-love to power does transform our church and world. Whether a Judicial Council, a Council of Bishops, an annual, jurisdictional, or general conference all work better when love corrects everything that stands against love. RMN embraces the power God gives us to choose and to act through organizing people and money to create safe space and just policy for all God s children. It is just the daily work of living Christ s inclusive love in the here and now. Power, love, and justice all together, all the time. we unpacked and repackaged power. Our power comes not in the force of a fist but the persistence of a bud breaking through the surface. We speak the fire of God s justice across lips filled with grace for the church we choose to love knowing that one day God s justice will be known in the United Methodist Church and all of our love, all of our lives and all of our stories will be treasured as gifts from God. To bring about that day we must do what we do best - love. We must love the United Methodist Church enough to change it. We must speak truth to power when the church or society erodes the ground we stand on. And we must name and claim that in our hands, power will be a force of love. Autumn 2010 Katalyst 1

2 Spotlight: Broadstreet UMC, Columbus, OH By Rev. David Meredith, RMN BoardMember An iconic image in a stained glass window has formed disciples at Broad St. United Methodist Church since A woman kneels before Jesus to anoint his feet with oil, and Jesus embraces the gift gratefully while religious leaders look on in disapproval. Our 225 member church in the heart of Columbus would need ten pages to just introduce you to our ministries of love, power and justice. The congregation and its partners serve meals four nights every week (30,000 already this year), and provide housing at the Inn at Broad; we sponsor a monthly Interfaith Legal Clinic, offer holiday help through Bethlehem on Broad St., host recovery groups, and more. Special educational events for this year include a regional Believe Out Loud gathering where 150 people celebrated our stories. During the March Council of Bishops meeting in Columbus, ReThink Poverty drew 1500 persons from across the city including 9 bishops who prayed, rallied and discussed intersections between poverty, health, global concerns, families, children/youth, immigration, race, and sexuality. Our connectional ministry includes apportionments and Reconciling work. Broad St. raises money for RMN, mobilizes congregations and pastors, and has created the Ohio Hospitality Team for Sing a New Song This summer, members helped elect an openly gay man to Conference Chief Financial 2 Katalyst Autumn 2010 Broadstreet UMC Officer. In July, we hosted a solidarity picnic to raise awareness about on-going hate violence. In October, we organized a community response to LGBT youth suicides and sought out radio interviews, blogs, and newspaper articles to offer safe space and condemn antigay church teachings. We publically declare, the notion that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching is false (Columbus Dispatch, October 15, 2010). Everything revolves around our iconic window. These activities are the precious ointment of people s faith, the tears of their bold and audacious love, and the tender intimacy of their very bodies. Jesus said of this woman, Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her. Broad Street United Methodist Church seeks to remember and embody her today. New Reconciling Communities Churches: First UMC of Salt Lake City, UT Flagstaff Federated Community Church of Flagstaff, AZ Rose City Park UMC of Portland, OR Inclusion Community of Cornelius, NC Los Altos UMC of Los Altos, CA Asbury Memorial UMC of Savannah, GA Grace UMC of Baltimore, MD Communities: Micah 6:8 Sunday School Class of Louisville, KY Amazing Grace Class at North UMC of Indianapolis, IN Campus Ministries: Wesley Foundation of Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo, MI R E C O N C I L I N G M I N I S T R I E S N E T W O R K mobilizes United Methodists of all sexual orientations and gender identities to transform our Church and world into the full expression of Christ s inclusive love. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Helen Andrew Rachel Birkhahn-Rommelfanger Vincent Cervantes Rev. Daniel Diss Lawrence T. Duncan Elizabeth A. Fimbres Will J. Green Esther Villarreal Houser Madelyn Marsh Rev. David Meredith Dr. Randall Miller Rev. Holland Morgan Rev. Joshua M. Noblitt Rev. John Oda Elizabeth Okayama Rev. Dr. Karen Oliveto Rev. Dr. Bruce Robbins Sally Sparks Rev. Dr. Derrick Spiva Monica L. Swink Joy T. Watts Ralph A. Williams RMN STAFF Meg Carey Business Manager James Dalton Communication/Technology Coord. Rev. Carl Davis Director of Development Stephanie Harris Admin & Donor Relations Associate Rachel Harvey Associate Executive Director Audrey Krumbach, M.Div. Field Organizer Rev. Troy Plummer Executive Director

3 Powerfully Responding to God s Love With Justice By Rev. Carl Davis This Thanksgiving I gathered around a table with some of my closest friends and family to enjoy a very eclectic meal. As a traditional mid-westerner I look forward to a roasted turkey with cornbread dressing and mincemeat pie on the fourth Thursday of November. In addition to that fare, our table held vegetarian options for Keith, gluten-free options for Ted. We gathered together with our different foods, shared in fellowship and together gave thanks for, with and to each other. This reminds me of RMN. As you will read in this Katalyst, RMN s ministry is very diverse reaching people of all sexual orientations and gender identities all across United Methodism. Reconciling United Methodists are people of all ages and races from places large and small. RMN works in local settings through our more than 300 Reconciling Communities, connects with people in over 50 Annual Conferences, conducts regional trainings in almost every state and works to change the denomination s anti-lgbt policies at every level of the Church powerstructure from the Judicial Council, Gifts in Memory and Honor of... In Honor Of... Adrienne Sparrow Trevathan was honored by April Kelsey Ed & Janelle Armstrong was honored by Therese Armstrong B.J. Birkhahn-Rommelfanger was honored by: Bonnie Beckonchrist, Erika Hundreiser, & Ermalou Roller Tommy Macfarland & Daniel Nash were honored by Rev. Thomas & Denise Macfarland Margaret Engle was honored by JoEllen McIntosh Barb & Reg Olson were honored by the PRN Steering Committee Alice Cromwell was honored by: Thelma Walton, Joy & Bill Watts Iconic Stained Glass Window from BroadStreet UMC, Columbus, OH all the way to General Conference. Together we gather in our diversity to accomplish our mission of transforming the Church and world into the full expression of Christ s inclusive love, with grateful hearts. We are grateful to God for powerfully showing us perfect love in Jesus, and for giving us the gift of each other as we all share together in the work of doing justice. As we come to the end of 2010 and pause to count our blessings, I invite you to respond to God s inclusive love in a powerful way by making a gift to further the justice ministry of Reconciling Ministries Network today. Many people chose to honor a loved one with a Christmas donation to RMN in their name instead of buying a Christmas gift for a person who already has everything. In addition to receiving a personal letter of thanks recognizing the gift, recongnition will be given in the next Katalyst. Others simply add RMN to their Christmas list and send in their donation when they send out their Christmas cards. However you choose to share Thank you! Tiffany Steinwert was honored by David Mauzy Rev. Lea Mahan & Rick Bohan were honored by Joy & Bill Watts Rev. Don & Tammy Kuntz were honored by Joy & Bill Watts Erik Streeter was honored by East Saugus UMC In Memory of... Rev. Kim A. Nyhus is remembered by Nancy Newman Debra Evans is remembered by: Marlene Crowder, Rev. Robert & Richie Epps Don Best is remembered by: The City of Saginaw Wastewater Treatment Division Employees, Dorothy Freeman Rev. Edwin Reeves is remembered by Judith Reeves Autumn 2010 Katalyst 3

4 United Methodist Judicial Council Action The Judicial Council is the United Methodist version of the Supreme Court. It has 9 panelists who respond to cases regarding our United Methodist life together between the four-year General Conferences of our denomination. While a church court may seem bizarre, there is a need for settling concerns more than every four years. The fall docket of the council had several cases to consider on harmful LGBT exclusion including an opportunity to undo what they themselves call a wrong headed decision that allowed discrimination in accepting members. In most instances, the council employed technicalities to refuse to use their granted authority or deferred their clarification responsibilities back to the General Conference. Though this church court chose not to address this directly, the General Conference when it met in Fort Worth did remove pastoral discrimination in transfer of letter membership from other congregations. You can read the full decisions for Items 1158, 1160, 1164, 1178, 1179 at Reconciling Ministries honors the efforts of all the writers and annual conferences that continue to push this reluctant Council to assume the power they are given and apply the justice-love values shown clearly in the Gospel and in our UM Constitution. Jennifer Soule, Gayle Felton, Marti Scott, Nehemiah Luckett, and Ann Craig argued our case for inclusion before the Judicial Council. It is the first time this Council has heard from three out gay persons on their own behalf. Believe Out Loud Together Jurisdictional Organizers By Audrey Krumbach Jurisdictional Organizers This coming spring twenty-one capable, passionate, and grace-filled organizers will travel across our nation as part of the Believe Out Loud Together Campaign. Each of these organizers bring unique gifts and skills our campaign to raise the visibility of Reconciling United Methodists in fifty annual conferences in The RMN staff has been blessed as we have gotten to know these Jurisdictional Organizers and learn their passions for justice and inclusion. Here are just a few interesting facts they shared with us: 4 Katalyst Autumn 2010 Jennifer Soule, Gayle Felton, Marti Scott, Nehemiah Luckett & Ann Craig Surrounding our efforts for justice, was the powerful, loving presence of 30 Louisiana United Methodists prayerfully and gracefully visible wearing their rainbow stoles and buttons. RMN continues more strategically and assertively ongoing efforts to transform our church and world engaging all the power structures of our church the Judicial Council, the Bishop s Council, annual and general conferences, boards and agencies, universities, and local congregations. Our dedication continues to advance the movement step by step till we fully undo discrimination and affirm God s love for all God s children in the policy and practice of The United Methodist Church. Anthony organizes interfaith groups working for food justice, religious literacy, and ending Islamaphobia and volunteers with the Interfaith Youth Core as a coach for new interfaith leaders. Kelley Frances enjoys a good debate (argument), learning to cook as a vegetarian, reading for guilty pleasure, music, and extremely dark chocolate. Bridget is seeking ordination as an elder in the UMC and serves as minister to young adults in New York City and Long Island Churches. Britt serves as a prevention specialist for the county crisis center and organizes a community coalition to prevent domestic and sexual violence. Greta is Director of Foundation Giving for Denver s only daytime drop-in center for women, children, and transgender individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty. When he is not studying for seminary or organizing, David spends his time playing guitar, writing, and supporting DC s amazing roller derby squads. Don t know about the Believe Out Loud Together campaign in your area? Visit the campaign blog at www. rmnwitness.org.

5 Breaking Bread: Central Conferences Neal Christie, Bruce Robbins, Matt Lafferty, Nestor Gerente, Kapya Kaoma, Elizabeth Tapia, John Makokha What does it mean to be a world-wide church? Our denomination is struggling with this question. As faithful United Methodists, we acknowledge our history with colonialism and seek not to repeat the same errors. Currently, our church has Jurisdictional Conferences in the United States and Central Conferences outside the United States. Our Central Conferences are in the Philippines, Africa, and Europe. How do we balance the dynamics of power, justice, and love in such varied contexts? One priority of the Reconciling Ministries Network strategic plan is to live out the connectionalism of a worldwide church with the clergy, laity, and LGBT groups of the Central Conferences through communication and relationship building, identifying both unique needs and common cause. At Justice and Joy in 2009 with 540 reconcilers, Rev. Dr. Eunice Musa of Nigeria preached and participated on a panel with Bishop Danny Arichea of the Philippines and others. And October 2010, Elizabeth Tapia and Nestor Gerente shared of life, both hardship and hope, in the Philippines. John Makokha and Kapya Kaoma followed with the same for Africa. Forty Reconciling United Methodists listened and heeded the challenge to engage more deeply and search for mutual opportunities. Together, we generated quite a list of possibilities for both the short term and long term. In response, the RMN board committed $30,000 and established a task group headed by Karen Oliveto, Elizabeth Fimbres, and Esther Villarreal Houser to explore next steps particularly for 1) ongoing LGBTQ supportive ministries in Africa, 2) building relationships with Central Conference students attending school in the US, 3) assessing and strengthening partner relations already established by our annual conferences and congregations. You can help. If you or your church maintains a connection with a central conference community; if you or others you know are fluent in French or Portuguese, the two most used languages after English in our church; if you live near a United Methodist college or seminary and would reach out to students; if you know someone passionate about funding this work, contact us at BreakingBread@ rmnetwork.org. Elizabeth Tapia presenting at Breaking Bread Now is the Time! Legislation for General Conference 2012 You can participate in your denominational system for change by sending gay and transgender End Discrimination legislation through the annual conference for General Conference adoption. Ardent United Methodists gather every four years and change happens. Such petitions and resolutions may also be sent by congregations and individuals. When you advocate for change you also share your view for inclusivity broadly, find like-minded supporters, and identify opponents. All of this is vital to building a movement for change! Already, the Minnesota annual conference has passed eight pieces of legislation deleting discrimination in the Book of Discipline paragraphs 161F, 304.3, 341.6, 2702, 806, 613, and 311. These address the basics by removing the exclusion of gay clergy from ordination, removing the punishment of clergy for conducting same-gender marriage services or having them in our church buildings, and by removing a funding ban on the promotion of homosexuality. These resolutions also eliminate the judgmental incompatible with Christian teaching and self avowed practicing homosexual as a chargeable offense. These models, along with others, are available on our website at www. rmnetwork.org/act-now/annual-conference. Don t miss the petition deadline for your annual conference - some are early January! Contact your Believe Out Loud jurisdictional organizer for your annual conference s deadline, visit: Autumn 2010 Katalyst 5

6 Open Letter to the Council of Bishops We, the members of the Board of the Reconciling Ministries Network, are deeply disturbed and heartbroken by the epidemic of teen suicides in recent months. Most of these teens suffered severe bullying and constant harassment from their peers because of their perceived or actual sexual orientation or gender identity. These teen suicides are a critical issue for the religious leaders of all United Methodist Churches because there is an unambiguous relationship between these tragic suicides and the message of intolerance and hate that is preached and taught by anti-gay Christians. The United Methodist Church Book of Discipline states that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching, (Paragraph 161H). This ultimately promotes intolerance toward Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) persons. These messages of intolerance are found in many of our United Methodist Churches. LGBT persons are often seen as morally bankrupt, or in need of prayer and transformation in order to change their inherent God-given sexuality. Hateful antigay messages are then acted out in the form of bullying against LGBT youth by church leaders, family members, friends, peers and acquaintances. This ongoing rhetoric damages the spiritual lives of everyone. It also promotes an unsafe environment and a belief that LGBT youth are not worthy of Jesus inclusive love. Bullying must stop. The church s silence validates and gives permission for this violence. The church cannot sit idly by while hundreds if not thousands of LGBT youth are bullied. We, the members of the Reconciling Ministries Network Board, implore the Council of Bishops to provide the church with a public and vocal witness of tolerance and love instead of sanctioning, either directly or indirectly, this violence. As Bishops of the United Methodist Church we request that you: 1. Speak out against intolerance, bullying and harassment of LGBT youth, 2. Confirm the reality that we are all created in God s image and likeness and 3. Call all United Methodist clergy and congregations to do the same. We call on the Council of Bishops to remind the church of resolution # 158, approved by the 2004 General Conference and reaffirmed in 2008, in which General Conference addressed the high rate of teen suicide, noting that teens dealing with issues of sexual identity are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide than are other youth. The fact that the church has failed to establish and fund a task force, whose purpose is to educate the church on teen sexuality and suicide, makes the church complicit in the creation of a bullying culture. Pontius Pilate attempted to wash his hands of the blood of Jesus. We cannot remain silent lest we also be perceived as trying to wash our hands of the pain and blood of these young people and their families. We have a responsibility and an obligation to voice our outrage against intolerance, violence and hate in the form of bullying. We cannot allow one more child of God to take his or her own life because they believed they were not worthy of God s love. Neither can you. Reconciling Ministries Network Board of Directors, Parents Reconciling Network, Reconciling Ministries Clergy, Methodist Students for an All Inclusive Church, United Methodists of Color for a Fully Inclusive Church October, Katalyst Autumn 2010

7 August 25-28, 2011 Sawmill Creek Resort Huron, Ohio Sing of that great day when all will be one! God will reign, and we ll walk with each other as sisters and brothers united in love. Join United Methodists united in love to find family, create community, break bread, share stories, and mobilize for mission! Use Your Power for Good By Rev. Troy Plummer This is urgent. Kids are dying. Make it better. There are messages everywhere that validate this kind of bullying and taunting, said Ellen DeGeneres. Permission is given to be violent against gay kids. Permission to bully LGBT people starts long before the first taunt is hurled or fist is swung. Permission is given first by silence over incidents that then escalate. In our United Methodist life, permission is given systemically in policy. Saying in our policy that homosexuality and Christianity are incompatible is violence, and begets violence. It doesn t just get better on its own. We have to make it better. Love demands we use all our power to prevent this injustice. You can make a difference. In your home, at your church, at your annual conference: Prevent suicide now with a free resource created by Wallingford UMC, After The Fact. Teach GLSEN s free anti-bullying curriculum. Use Church and Society s anti-homophobia, anti-heterosexism curriculum. Resource a Sunday School class, your community with Rethink Inclusion resources. Show the For The Bible Tells Me So Video and use the Northaven UMC curriculum. Start the process to become a Reconciling Community to be public about inclusion. The links to all these resources (websites, videos, print materials) can be found at The cost of not taking action is too high. Do everything in your power to make it better today! Autumn 2010 Katalyst 7

8 Reconciling Ministries Network 3801 North Keeler Avenue, Third Floor Chicago, IL Address Service Requested Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Chicago, IL Permit #3870 Believe Out Loud Jurisdictional Organizers - Pg. 4 Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 8 Katalyst Autumn 2010