The truth about God’s lesbian and gay children suffered a tragic (though temporary) setback this Wednesday, August 5, 1998. In Canterbury, England, bishops from 160 nations representing 70 million Anglicans worldwide (including the Episcopal Church in the U.S.) voted 526 to 70 (with 40 abstentions)
The following is a pastoral letter to homosexuals sent by some of the Lambeth bishops. The following has been released by Bishop Ronald Haines of Washington on behalf of the signers. The statement is still being signed. August 5, 1998 Dear sisters and brothers, The
In the aftermath of the anti-lesbigay vote of Anglican bishops, there is anger, rejection, defiance, networking, mourning, organizing, and that “gutted and lynched feeling.” The lasting image of the now-concluding global Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops will likely prove to be the confrontation between Nigerian
It’s Sunday morning in the Waterloo, Ont., Christian Reformed Church. A lone microphone is standing at the front of the sanctuary and during prayer requests an elderly man in his sixties walks up to it and shyly clears his throat. His shoulders are stooped slightly
Here’s a powerful and moving story that has never received adequate historical coverage. But it is a bit of history that forever changed the international struggle for gay rights and equality. In the summer of 1968, one year prior to the Stonewall events, there was
Seeing a woman in the pulpit of a church still shocks me a little. Raised Southern Baptist, I was taught women’s roles were limited. We were enlisted mainly to look after the children in the nursery, cook breakfast for brotherhood meetings [and of course clean
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! We greet you in the name of Jesus Christ who has broken down all dividing walls of hostility and made us one with Christ, one
Healing is not what they’re looking for the First United Methodist Church in Omaha, Nebraska. Their pastor, Rev. Jimmy Creech, was charged with disobeying the Order and Discipline of The United Methodist Church by violating one of its Social Principles when he conducted a commitment
A meeting of historic significance to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities took place on Dec. 12 as two internationally recognized human rights activists met in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Rev. Troy D. Perry, moderator of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC),
New Light Shed on Reformation Historical Markers – Contemporary Focus on Unity In Philadelphia, August 1997, the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) approved a “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification” which results from years of Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialog aimed