Volume 11: Issue 3
November/December 2006
Reaping
the Spiritual Harvest:
Celebrating 10 Years of Whosoever
Growing
Together:
A Community of Harvest
Table Of Contents
Cover
Story: Growing Together:
A Community of Harvest:
The Seed Rejoices
--By: Candace Chellew
It occurred to me that as we walk through a beautiful
garden or a lush forest, no one gives the seed the glory. Instead,
they admire the beautiful flower or the mighty oak that grows from
the seed. The seed itself is never given a place of honor, but its
fruit - impossible without the seed - is always recognized.
It's the Real Thing
--By: Lori Heine
Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender folks have a vocation from God
that, in many ways, resembles that of Christ Himself. He royally pissed
off a lot of very powerful people, and He was killed for it. Likewise,
our calling seems to be to upset the proverbial applecart - to comfort
the afflicted, sure enough, but also to afflict the comfortable. To challenge
hate, and to help bring about a more loving world.
A City on a Hill
--By: John Campbell
Let your light shine. It doesn't have to be anything grandiose or spectacular.
Even if it's just a little light, it will illuminate hope into the life
of someone who needs it ... and I think that is what this life is supposed
to be all about.
Homospirituality:
Some of My Remarks Regarding
Christianity and Same-Sex Love
--By: Rev. Dr. Jerry S. Maneker
We are usually not dealing with intellectually and spiritually honest
people when we deal with homophobes who cloak their prejudices in faulty
biblical exegeses, and refuse to live out the Gospel when it comes to
LGBT people. This fact is not unlike the role of racists in the "Church"
in the middle part of the last century.
Imagine the Possibilities
--By: Becky Taylor
If we focused on God's vision - of love and longing
to be in relationship - the answer seemed to be, imagine the possibilities,
then get with it and create this community that you're dreaming about.
Features:
Excerpt from the book Going to
Heaven:
The Life and Election of Bishop Gene Robinson
--By: Elizabeth Adams
Clearly, the center of opposition to the full inclusion of gays and lesbians
in the life of the church was not holding. But just as Barbara Harris's
election as bishop had re-ignited vehement opposition to women's ordination,
the church did not seem ready to accept an openly gay bishop.
Used
--By: Martin E. Marty
David Kuo is as well positioned as anyone to give behind-the-scenes
views of how the "elites" in the administration in Washington regard their
most faithful and core supporters: "goofy" and "nuts" are among the in-house
words applied, says Kuo.
A Church Without Walls
--By: Gareth Fenley
Jesus
drew such big crowds just by preaching on the hills that feeding all those
people in a pinch was a problem calling for divine intervention. But for
Rev. Paul Turner's small flock, free food is a planned attraction and the
church itself could be the miracle.
Controversial
New Book Tackles
Black-church Homophobia
Attempting
to break "hundreds of years of silence," a new, controversial book
argues that pervasive homophobia in the historically black church
has reached "crisis" proportion.
The Co-optation of Christianity
--By: Rev. Dr. Jerry Maneker
The "Church" has allowed itself to be
co-opted by opportunistic politicians and clergy where the name of God
is used to hurt, demean, condemn, discriminate, ostracize, and even kill
others.
Letters to the Editor
A
Decade of Whosoever:
Blessed by Community
-- By: Brady Ennis
I feel very blessed to be part of the Whosoever community, knowing
that I am not alone in this world.
Finding a Home Online
-- By: Michael W R Crile
Had it not been for Whosoever during these past few months, I would not have
been able to handle the fact that I nearly lost the love of my life. The
friends that I have made here are not just friendships made here on earth,
but also wonderful friendships that we will be able to take to heaven.
Same-Gender
Marriage:
So, Who's Getting Married
in New Jersey?
-- By: Stephen Parelli
Civil Unions for gays and lesbians is not freedom, it is toleration;
marriage is equality and therefore freedom. Civil Unions for gays is a
concession; it is not civil liberties.
From the Pulpit:
God Has Never Disappointed You
--By: Rev. Candace Chellew
I submit to you today that God has never disappointed you. God has always
been there - through the bad times, in the good times, in the dull times,
in the stable times, in the storm, in the calm, in the grief, in the pain,
in the joy, in the doubt, in the love, in the hate, in the distress, in
the relief. At no time have you been left to your own devices.
Shaking the Dust Off
For God
--By: Gary Simpson
The stronger the rejection, the more powerful the witness. That is why
queer Christians are becoming a powerful force for God! When Christians
live out the faith with loving service to humanity, their lives are a
testimony that convicts those who rejected them. And their lives serve
as a testimony to those who witnessed the persecution they endured as
they served the Lord faithfully.
The Impossible Choice
--By: Eric Dale Eubanks
Instead of splitting our world and ourselves into secular / spirit,
we are called out by God in Christ to the freedom of integration and wholeness.
Bible Study and Inspiration:
Do We Know How to Be a Friend?
--By: Suzie Chamness
We've all had friends who will drop anything and help us out. Are we
the kind of friend that would drop something and help them out? That's
the kind of person Paul is esteeming; he is admiring it. He recognizes
this in Tychicus.
God's Welcome is a Funny Thing
--By: Emmy Kegler
God's welcome is a funny thing. I do not know if God is challenged by
the welcome He extends. I don't know if God is vulnerable. But I know
that His people are. God's people are people like all others - afraid
of challenge, afraid of change. Yet by God's grace, by the Spirit of the
Lord, the welcome which once was intended for the keepers of the law of
Moses, has now been extended to all.
Holy
Humor!
Yard Work - As Viewed From Heaven
The Answer is in the Bible
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