Towards a Welcoming and Inclusive Church
IWR is a program of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
In the News
- News This Week - July 25, 2010
- Last Week's News - July 18, 2010
- Archive News
- Editorials
- Employment Opportunities
- Press Releases/Books/etc
- Testimony/Speeches
- Join the IWR Discussion Forum
- Join our Mailing List
- Locate Your Denomination's Welcoming Program
IWR Resources
A Time to Build Up
AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD!
- Click here to download A Time to Build Up (pdf)
- Click here to download A Time to Build Up formatted for print (pdf)
All in God's Family: Creating Allies for Our LGBT Families
Giving you opportunities to gather with other members of your congregation to pray, to learn, to share, and to work together to transform your lives, your congregation, and your world into a loving place in which God's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender families can thrive.
AVAILABLE NOW!
To Do Justice: A Study of Welcoming Congregations
In order to both highlight the vibrancy, faithfulness and power of the Welcoming Movement and to counter the 'false witness' of those who seek to quash this movement of hospitality and justice, the Institute for Welcoming Resources surveyed pastors and leaders of 1,200 Welcoming congregations to ask them about their work and witness. Two areas emerged that warrant particular focus and celebration:
- Successfully completing a Welcoming Process makes a congregation more likely to work and witness on other justice issues.
- Congregations that directly engage the question of welcoming LGBT persons have low levels of conflict.
AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD!
transACTION
A Transgender Curriculum For Churches and Religious Institutions
AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD!
Liturgical Resource
A Place in God's Heart...
A Place at Christ's Table
Worship Resources for the Welcoming Church Movement
- Click here for index and resources
- Click here to download A Place in God's Heart... A Place at Christ's Table (pdf)
Contact IWR
Embodying Our Faith
Thy Will Be Done
Thy Will Be Done follows Male-to-Female Transsexual Sara Herwig in her path to ordination in the Presbyterian Church. Efforts have been made to block her ordination by the evangelical conservative groups who don't recognize her as female and question her fitness to be a Pastor..... but who also challenge her candidacy because she is in a same-sex relationship, with a woman. At issue is the organized Christian Church, with all its political and financial power, as one of the fiercest battlegrounds for LGBT rights and gender recognition.
More information about and showings of Thy Will Be Done
Faith in Action
Metropolitan Community Churches Decries "Solution to Gay Marriage" Calls on National Organization for Marriage to Immediately Issue an Apology
The solution to same-sex marriage, according to a supporter of the National Organization for Marriage, is to bring back lynching.
The National Organization for Marriage is currently on a nationwide tour to promote "traditional" marriage and in an anti-gay rally in Indianapolis, this week, a supporter held a sign with a couple of nooses on it and the words, "The Solution to Gay Marriage", and quoting Leviticus 20:13.
Speaking on behalf of Metropolitan Community Churches, The Reverend Dr. Neil Thomas, Senior Pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of Los Angeles and President of California Faith for Equality, said, "This is a dreadful misuse of the sacred text quoted. It is hate speak and gives permission to religious extremists and right wing fundamentalists to incite violence against God's gay and lesbian children. This is nothing less than a hate crime."
Lutherans Offer Warm Welcome to Gay Pastors
With a laying on of hands, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on Sunday welcomed into its fold seven openly gay pastors who had until recently been barred from the church's ministry.
The ceremony at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in San Francisco was the first of several planned since the denomination took a watershed vote at its convention last year to allow noncelibate gay ministers in committed relationships to serve the church.
"Today the church is speaking with a clear voice," the Rev. Jeff R. Johnson, one of the seven gay pastors participating in the ceremony, said at a news conference just before it began. "All people are welcome here, all people are invited to help lead this church, and all people are loved unconditionally by God."
Seven LGBT Lutheran pastors, previously ordained in protest of official policies of discrimination in the Evangelical Church in America, were welcomed back to the denomination under the new policies passed in August, 2009, that allow full inclusion of LGBT people. The moving ceremony in St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, in San Francisco, which was streamed on-line, July 25, 2010,could easily have been overlooked by media since it was not a story of conflict—but one of reconciliation and celebration. But, with GLAAD’s assistance, this historical event received the media attention it deserved.
New Poll: Only 1-in-5 Californians Say Proposition 8 'Good Thing'
Comprehensive New Poll Examining Religious Based Attitudes on Same Sex Marriage Two Years after Proposition 8
As the state of California awaits U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker's decision on whether Proposition 8 violates the U.S. Constitution, a new survey released today by Public Religion Research Institute examines the role religion plays in structuring attitudes toward same-sex marriage and a range of other issues related to rights for gay and lesbian people.
In 2008, pundits pointed to the influential role churches and religious groups played in Proposition 8's outcome. The bilingual (Spanish and English) poll of 3,351 adults in California, including oversamples of 350 African Americans and 200 Latino Protestants, represents the most comprehensive portrait of religion and attitudes on same sex marriage and other gay and lesbian issues since Proposition 8 was approved.
A Glimpse of Beloved Community
The clouds parted with impeccable timing Sunday just in time for our picnic in Piedmont Park, despite what seemed like open monsoon season earlier in the day. I got there right before 3pm with my Mom and Dad who drove down from NC to be with me for the day. I wondered whether it would just be the three of us because of the weather, but gradually over the next hour individuals, couples, families, and groups of friends started showing up one after another, over 150 in all. They spread out colorful blankets, shared delicious food, played games and combined their healing energy together in one beautiful display of love and solidarity with all those who have been targeted because they are different.
UCC Coalition's National Gathering 2010 is Underway!
"It's time to believe out loud" is the opening phrase from David Lohman's new song, "Believe Out Loud," about inclusion and proudly speaking-up for our StillSpeaking, inclusive God. I can say that here in San Diego it is definitely time to believe OUT very loudly at the Coalition's National Gathering.
Argentina Passes Historic Freedom to Marry Bill
Becoming the First South American Country to End Exclusion from Marriage
Statement from Evan Wolfson, Executive Director of Freedom to Marry, on today's passage of a freedom to marry bill in Argentina that makes Argentina the first country in South America to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage:
"Today's historic vote shows how far Catholic Argentina has come, from dictatorship to true democratic values, and how far the freedom to marry movement has come as twelve countries on four continents now embrace marriage equality. Argentina's vote for the freedom to marry marks an important advance for fairness and family values as more couples around the world will now share in marriage, with families helped and no one hurt. Today's vote adds momentum to the international movement to secure the freedom to marry for all loving and committed couples."
"Key to Argentina's human rights achievement was strong leadership from legislators and the president. It is time we see more of our own elected officials standing up for the Constitution and all families here in the United States. America should lead, not lag, when it comes to treating everyone equally under the law."
At the request of local leaders, Freedom to Marry submitted testimony to the Argentina Senate in early July.
Marriage Equality at the 219th GA in Minneapolis... and what's next?
Yesterday was a day of mixed experiences and mixed emotions. We rejoiced with the extraordinary pro-LGBT vote approving by 53 to 46% a "Revise-B" Ordination Overture. This vote advances the moral equality of LGBT persons in both Church and society within the USA and around the world. There are Presbyterians in over 100 countries. So, creating one standard for ordination for all persons regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or any other human condition in the Presbyterian Church (USA) is remarkable statement for justice and equality.
P.S. -- a great 2-page resource for you right now is our "More Light on Marriage" available here: http://www.mlp.org/resources/MLonMarriage.pdf
A Resolution from the Lutherans Concerned/North America Board of Directors to the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8, 2010
Minneapolis, Minnesota
WHEREAS, the Presbyterian Church (USA) is meeting in its 219 General Assembly the same week as the Lutherans Concerned/North America Biennial Assembly and Reconciling in Christ Conference, and
WHEREAS, the Presbyterians are considering policies and practices that will further the full-participation movement, such as the removal of a policy that requires celibacy of people who are gay and lesbian, and denied their calling to "the rights and duties of membership", as well as establishing marriage as a blessing and covenant available to all people, and
WHEREAS, More Light Presbyterians, That All May Freely Serve, Presbyterian Welcome, and Soulforce are some of LC/NA's sister organizations working at the Presbyterian General Assembly for the cause of full-participation whose work closely mirrors LC/NA, and
219th General Assembly votes for Ordination Equality
We are overjoyed and grateful to announce that the 219th General Assembly voted for Ordination Equality moments ago. The Assembly approved by 53 to 46% the majority report from the Church Orders Committee which sent the "Revise-B" Ordination Overture from the Presbytery of Western Reserve to the Assembly for consideration.
This Ordination Overture offers our Church one ordination standard for all people in the Presbyterian Church (USA) regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status and any other human condition.
The Task Force at the 2010 LGBT Jewish Movement-Building Convening
This week, the Rev. Rebecca Voelkel, the Task Force's program director of the Institute for Welcoming Resources, and former board member Beth Zemsky, are meeting with nearly 50 Jewish leaders in Berkeley for the 2010 LGBT Jewish Movement-Building Convening.
The meeting of organizations and activists serving the LGBT Jewish community and advocating for diversity and inclusion in the Jewish world is the first of its kind.
Read more from the Task Force Blog...
Reclaiming Christianity: An Event for Christians who Love
Reclaiming Christianity is a one-day conference sponsored by Gay Christian Network for Christians in your area to band together and take a stand. We'll show you how to start a dialogue, how to respond to anti-gay Bible arguments, and how to change Christianity's reputation in your community and around the world. We'll offer you practical tools you can use to change hearts and minds, and we'll all work together to build a strategy for changing the world.
Upcoming Event Locations
- June 19: Raleigh, NC
- June 26: Indianapolis, IN
- July 17: Birmingham, AL
- July 31: Detroit, MI
- August 14: Houston, TX
Details and registration for the events are on this website: http://www.ChristiansWhoLove.com
Believe OUT LOUD
The Believe Out Loud Power Summit is an advanced training for leaders and activists in the Welcoming Church Movement.
- Click here for more information on the Believe Out Loud Power Summit
The Institute for Welcoming Resources is delighted to be a partner in the transdenominational Believe Out Loud campaign. Believe Out Loud provides a much-needed national network for churches committed to welcoming and affirming lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people as beloved children of God.
Believe Out Loud is based in a simple truth: Privately believing that LGBT persons should have an equal share in our church and society is not enough; we must publicly proclaim that belief. Believe Out Loud gives the congregations, parishes and missions of our denominations the means to do exactly that.
Practice Spirit, Do Justice takes place in conjunction with the 23rd National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change in Minneapolis, Feb. 2 – 6 2011.
Practice Spirit, Do Justice is the culmination of many years of relationship building and organizing across pro-LGBT religious and spiritual communities. The goal of this special mini-conference at 2011 Creating Change is to build stronger alliances between secular and religious communities.
Read more about Practice Spirit, Do Justice.
Now Available!
Building an Inclusive Church: A Welcoming Toolkit
Drawing upon twenty-five years of experience within a variety of Christian denominations, this Toolkit is a step-by-step guide to help facilitate a Welcoming Process in your local congregation. Biblically and theologically based, it uses tools of relational organizing, congregational assessment, conflict management and change theory.
AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD!
Building an Inclusive Church
Training Opportunities
- August 20-21, 2010 — Indianapolis, IN
- September 10-12, 2010 — Holland, MI
- September 24-25, 2010 — Seattle, WA
ENDA Action Center
This is an important time for ENDA and we need the active support of all faith organizations and members of faith communities to get a vote on this critical piece of legislation.
If the Employment Non-Discrimination Act doesn?t pass now, it will not pass in Congress. It is as simple as that. That?s why, more than ever, we need you to help move ENDA forward. That?s why we need you take part in the National Week of Action.
What action can YOU take right now?
Join us on Facebook.
Be it our 7,000-strong group or our new Facebook page, make sure you stay tuned for live updates. Then, invite your friends, families, and fellow supporters of LGBT equality to join.
Call Congress today.
Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard (202) 224-3121. Give the operator your zip code and ask to be connected to your Representative. Tell your elected official, we need ENDA now. Let them know:
Discrimination is a real problem that affects real people. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people need basic job discrimination protections. Congress must prioritize ENDA for passage. ENDA can?t wait, PASS ENDA NOW.
Tweet about it. Then let us know that you?ve taken part in the National Week of Action. Let us know what you?ve done to move ENDA forward and make sure that crucial employment protections for the LGBT community are passed. Tag your tweet with #ENDAnow.
Together we can make sure that ENDA passes now. Will you join us?
3 Steps For ENDA
Here are things YOU can do during House recess to move ENDA!
- VISIT House Members In District Offices. Get an appointment, drop by their office, and definitely leave a note.
- WRITE Your Representative. Handwritten is best, so mail it, or send an email.
- CALL Your Representative today! Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Give the operator your zip code and ask to be connected to your Representative.
Suggested voicemail message:
My name is _______ , and I live at (your street address) in (your city). I am calling about ENDA. My message is simple and direct: we need committee markup and a House vote on ENDA the week of April 12. Thank you.
- United ENDA support letter - SEND IT OUT! 04.22.10
- ENDA Action Alert 11.13.09 (pdf)
- ENDA Bulletin Insert (pdf)
- UE Faith Call Summary 11.02.09 (pdf)
- Clergy sign-on letter in support of ENDA
Follow as ENDA Makes its Way Through Congress
- Senate Hearing - Nov. 5, 2009
- Task Force Press Release: ENDA will provide much-needed employment protections for LGBT workers - Nov. 5, 2009
Multi-Faith Work
NEW DOCUMENTARY!
"In Our Fullness: Faith and Activism Across Difference"
presents conversations with activists about faith-based work for radical social change around issues including sexuality, gender, race, class, and age. The video includes powerful testimonies from activists representing Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Native spiritualities, presenting challenges and successes in faith-based progressive-left coalition building.
Produced by the Institute for Welcoming Resources, a Project of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, in partnership with the Macalester College Chuck Green Civic Engagement Fellowship.
For more information: info@WelcomingResources.org
Additional Ecumenical & Multi-Faith Groups Convened by IWR
New & Timely Resources
- Balancing on the Mechitza: Transgender in Jewish Community While the Jewish mainstream still argues about homosexuality, transgender and gender-variant people have emerged as a distinct Jewish population and as a new chorus of voices.
- She Looks Just Like You: A Memoir of (Nonbiological Lesbian) Motherhood After ten years of talking about children, two years of trying (and failing) to conceive, and one shot of donor sperm for her partner, Amie Miller was about to become a mother. Or something like that. Over the next nine months, as her partner became the biological mom-to-be, Miller became . . . what? Mommy's little helper? A faux dad?
- The Church Has AIDS explores the social issues and stigmas that fuel the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the African American community. Minister Palmer looks at religious based heterosexism and religiosity and it's impact over such issues as sexuality and sexual orientation in an upfront and in your face manner.
- All Whom God Has Joined provides - in one accessible volume - a unique collection of liturgical and ceremonial resources as well as pastoral care tools and insights on same-sex covenanting ceremonies for clergy and couples addressing these issues. Those who want a clearer understanding of this subject will also benefit from this one-of-a-kind book.
- The damage done by hatred and prejudice-based on race, sexual orientation, religion, or gender-runs very deep. The damage done is often invisible, but it simmers beneath the surface anyway. In Race and Prayer, Malcolm Boyd and Chester Talton have collected poems, prayers, and prose that bring the anger and frustration to light, and ultimately, they hope, to a place of reconciliation and healing.
