PRIDE SERMONS: Stacy Graffam at St. Mark's: Teaneck

Stacy Graffam, a member of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Teaneck, N.J., gave a reflection at the parish's Pride Service on Sunday, June 24th. Stacy blogs about her life with wife Donna and their two kids at Out In Suburbia and has also written for Gay Parent magazine.

PRIDE SERMONS: Michael Petti at St. Peter's: Clifton

Mr. Michael Petti, a long-time advocate of LGBT inclusion and former commission member of The OASIS, the LGBT Ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, has shared with us the text of a reflection he gave at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Clifton on Sunday June 24th, when the parish observed its patronal festival and celebrated Pride Sunday using the readings for the Feast of St. Peter & St. Paul, which fell later in the week.

Michael compares Jesus' seemingly nagging Peter by repeatedly asking "do you love me?" to the distrust many LGBT people have for the institutional church, in light of how religious institutions have historically treated them. This is a distrust we, the church, have earned, and Michael urges us all to strive towards a place of welcome upon which our brothers and sisters can count.

Pride Events at St. George's: Maplewood

As a courtesy to a longtime Sponsoring Congregation of the OASIS, we are sharing word of the following events to take place at St. George's Episcopal Church in Maplewood to commemorate LGBT Pride Month:

• On Sunday, June 3rd at 12:00 p.m. (following the 10:30 Eucharist service), noted civil rights leader Joan M. Garry will lead a forum entitled LGBT People, Bullying, and the Deeply Held Religious Belief Card.
  
  Ms. Garry is former Executive Director of GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) and came to prominence in 1993 by successfully challenging New Jersey's second-parent adoption law to become the first lesbian in the state to adopt her partner's biological children. She is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School of Communications and writes a blog for The Huffington Post.
• On Saturday, June 9th, members of St. George's will host a table at SOMA Pride at Memorial Park in Maplewood.
• On Sunday, June 10th, IntegrityUSA Founder Dr. Louie Crew will be the guest preacher at both the 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Eucharist services. In addition to a lifetime of advocacy for LGBT people, Dr. Crew is a retired Professor of English, most recently of Rutgers University, an accomplished writer and poet, and a longtime member of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church.
• On Sunday, June 24th, members of St. George's will be joining us marching in the annual Heritage of Pride in New York City.

Recently, St. George's Rector, The Rev. Bernie Poppe, was quoted in the Newark Star-Ledger in response to President Obama's personal endorsement of marriage equality for LGBT persons.

St. George's is located at 550 Ridgewood Road, Maplewood, NJ., a very short walk from the Maplewood train station.


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Screening of "Love Free or Die" in Morristown Jun. 3

On Sunday, June 10 at 3 p.m., there will be a screening of Love Free or Die,  the award-winning biography of Bishop Gene Robinson, at the Church of the Redeemer in Morristown, N.J., an Integrity Proud Parish Partner.

The screening will be free.  A freewill offering will be taken to support further promotion of the film.  A discussion will follow the screening and refreshments will be available.   Redeemer is an easy walk from the Morristown train station (see map below).

Winner of a special jury prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, Love Free or Die is "compelling storytelling, even for those familiar with the outlines of Robinson’s story: his 2003 consecration as a bishop, the backlash from conservatives within the U.S. and global church, and the Episcopal Church’s decision at its 2009 general convention to continue to ordain gay bishops and to develop blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples," as reviewed by Peter Montgomery in Religion Dispatch.

Others in the church - both for and against Bishop Robinson's ordination - are interviewed, including the Right Rev. Otis Charles, who came out and married his partner after retiring as bishop of Utah; the Right Rev. Barbara Harris, the first female bishop in the Anglican Communion; and a Ugandan woman living with HIV.

Footage from some of the major public events in Bishop Robinson's episcopacy are featured, including a dramatic confrontation with a heckler while preaching in England.

The first of a series of screenings around the Diocese of Newark, this event is co-sponsored by the Church of the Redeemer and St. Gregory's Episcopal Church in Parsippany, with assistance from The OASIS and Integrity NYC-Metro.

PLEASE HELP US spread the word about this event by sharing this flyer. Facebook users please RSVP and invite your friends here.

Reviews of Love Free or Die:

• First Gay Bishop? Give Me a Break -  Religion Dispatches
• Doers of the Word: Bishop Gene Robinson in Love Free or Die - HRC
• New film chronicles gay Episcopal bishop - Bay Area Reporter.

EVENT SNAPSHOT:

• WHAT: Screening of Love Free or Die
• WHEN:  Sun., Jun 10 at 3pm
• WHERE: Church of the Redeemer, 36 South Street, Morristown, NJ
• COST: Free (contributions welcome)

Click for Directions

Parish Spotlight: St. Andrew & Holy Communion, South Orange N.J.

The Episcopal Church of St. Andrew & Holy Communion in South Orange, N.J., and its rector, the Rev. Canon Dr. Sandye Wilson, were profiled in today's Newark Star-Ledger. 


Read all about it:

Flinging the doors open wide, South Orange rector welcomes everyone into her lively and diverse community

Newark Star-Ledger

Parish Spotlight: Church of the Redeemer, Morristown, NJ

A congregation with a long history of inclusion has recently placed new energy into "believing out loud".

The Church of the Redeemer, in downtown Morristown, N.J., whose mission statement describes it as "a Christian Liberation community in the Episcopal tradition," has long been a place of radical hospitality. As its marquee has proclaimed for years, persons of every identity and belief system are welcome within its doors.  It recently called a new rector, the Rev. Cynthia Black, D.D., whose dedication to social justice meshes well with the church's history.

Redeemer has a number of public events in the month of October which are of interest to our community:

• On Thursday, Oct. 13th, at 7:30 p.m., members of the congregation will host a discussion of Stephanie Spellers' 2006 book, Radical Welcome: Embracing God, The Other and the Spirit of Transformation.  The book is described as "a practical theological guide for congregations that want to move beyond mere inclusively toward becoming a place where welcoming 'the other' is taken seriously and engaging God's mission becomes more than just a catch-phrase.
•  On Sunday, Oct. 16th at 7:00 p.m., the gospel duo and same-sex couple Jason and deMarco will offer a concert to benefit S.A.F.E., a non-profit organization dedicated to establishing safe housing for LGBTQ youth and young adults throughout the United States. 
• On Thursday, Oct 20th at 7:30 p.m., Bishop Christopher Senyonjo of Uganda will speak about his work with LGBT people in his country as part of a nationwide tour organized by the St. Paul's Foundation for International Reconciliation.  Bishop Christopher will also preach at Redeemer's 10:30 a.m. service on Sunday, Oct. 23rd.   "Bishop Christopher is one of the most courageous people I know. At great risk to himself and to his family he has been willing to speak truth to power-- in this case, the truth of God's love to the Anglican Church of Uganda, and to the Government of Uganda," said Rev. Black.

Redeemer has long been a Sponsoring Congregation of The OASIS.  The congregation is a Proud Parish Partner supporting the work of Integrity, and is adopting the Believe Out Loud Episcopal Congregation marque, which was somewhat of a "no-brainer" given its place in the vanguard of LGBT inclusion in our area.

Vestry member Steve Osvold told us, “Redeemer has a long history of social action and LGBTQI inclusion, but we’re definitely seeing a new burst of energy and commitment. Some of that grew out of our response to Tyler Clementi’s death last year, but it also reflects where we are as a parish, with an energetic and visionary new rector and a desire to see what new things we can do to make the world better reflect the world Jesus described in the Gospels. Redeemer’s generally been more interested in what’s possible than in the status quo, I think, and so many people seem to be seizing on that at this moment. It’s really an exciting time to be at Redeemer!”

In the 1980s, the congregation, which at one time was one of the largest in the Diocese of Newark, was coping with dwindling membership and a perceived lack of direction or purpose.  Coping with the reality that the parish must reinvent itself or die, the members called The Rev. Philip Dana Wilson as their fifteenth rector.

Under Wilson's guidance, the congregation responded to the illness and death of one of its own from HIV/AIDS in the early 1990s.  At a time when many still refused to care for AIDS patients, the members set up an AIDS ministry and converted Redeemer's oversized rectory into the Eric Johnson House, a residence for persons with HIV/AIDS who are coping with homelessness or transition in their lives. Today the House is operated by New Jersey AIDS Services, a nonprofit separate from the church, but a symbiotic relationship with the congregation remains.

This focus on caring for the disenfranchised and underserved has blossomed into other ministries and is now at the core of the parish's identity.  These are just a few of the ministries that the congregation now participates in or supports, a textbook example of the response predicted by The Rev. Rebecca Voelkel in her study To Do Justice: A Study of Welcoming Congregations.  In her research, Rev. Voelkel found that congregations who intentionally self-identify as LGBT-welcoming experience a further "hunger and thirst for justice" which leads to further commitment to social ministry.

When the time came to search for a new Rector, the congregation knew it needed someone who shared its commitment to inclusion.  The call went to The Rev. Cynthia Black D. D., who had long served as Dean of the Cathedral of Christ the King in Kalamazoo, Michigan, but was herself a product of the Diocese of Newark, ordained here in 1985. Rev. Black's own history of social justice and AIDS awareness work won her the praise of former Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, who stated, "Her ability to grasp the many dimensions of any situation and to articulate them clearly and boldly have been a gift to the Council and the church."

• Watch a video of the Celebration of New Ministry for The Rev. Cynthia Black

Today, Redeemer has been blessing same-sex relationships for over twenty years. The congregation also recently started its own LGBTQIA group led by parishioner Leah Thomas, who stated, "With the death of Tyler Clementi, the Church is developing a concerted outreach to the wider LGBTQ community, both local and global. As part of this effort, we are proud to host Bishop Senyonjo to help raise awareness of the situation of LGBTQ people in Uganda."

The OASIS is proud to call Redeemer a partner in the work of furthering equality, and we look forward to participating in this month's events.  Redeemer is located at 36 South Street in Morristown, N.J., within walking distance of the Morristown Station on the Morristown Line of NJ Transit Railroad.

Break the Silence Concert: More Details

Three renowned LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) choirs will come together for the first time to sing sacred and spiritual music, while lending their own unique voices to advance the existing Christian movement for LGBT equality.  The concert will take place in New York City at one of the oldest Christian institutions in the United States – Marble Collegiate Church.  The entire event is an initiative of the Believe Out Loud project, which is managed by the Collegiate Churches non-profit organization, Intersections International.

The three choirs are:

• The New York City Gay Men's Chorus, which has appeared at such venues as Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall and performed alongside such stars as Liza Minnelli, Stephen Sondheim, Carol Channing and Eartha Kitt.  From Town Hall to City Hall, from the advent of AIDS to the struggle for marriage equality, the NYCGMC and its more than 250 members have been producing innovative programs and serving the LGBT community for more than 30 years.
• The Anna Crusis Women's Choir, the longest running women's choir in the United States, was founded in Philadelphia in 1975.  In addition to being a premier performing arts group, they are an agent for social change that tackles issues facing LGBT persons and other disadvantaged populations.
• Lavender Light Gospel Choir, a men and women's chorus, was founded in 1985.  The group consists of several ethnic and spiritual backgrounds, and provides a special ministry to African-American gays and lesbians—a constituency who have historically been pressured within their communities to choose between their race and orientation.

Sung Won Park, director of Believe Out Loud and all LGBT programming for Intersections International, called the coming together of the three choirs "a historical event to shout out God's love for all people, especially those who have been marginalized by the church as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.

"The time has come for us to take a stand," said Park, "and let the world know that being silent about our support of LGBT equality equals shutting the doors to the sanctuaries for these individuals."
Believe Out Loud, a trans-denominational movement to promote LGBT-inclusion in the Christian church, has begun a three-year drive to get one million progressive Christian voices to believe out loud and show the public that an all-inclusive Christian collective can save lives.  According to a recent poll conducted by Public Religion Research Institute, an astounding two-thirds of the respondents see a direct connection "between messages coming from America's places of worship and higher rates of suicide among gay and lesbian youth." (http://www.publicreligion.org/research/?id=426)

Within the Episcopal Church, IntegrityUSA, along with TransEpiscopal, The OASIS and other diocesan LGBT ministries, has adopted the brand"Believe Out Loud Episcopal Congregations" for those churches who are intentionally welcoming and affirming of LGBT people.

"The church should serve to affirm life for all people," said Park.  "But if two-thirds of the public believes the church is not affirming life when it comes to LGBT people, it is a wake-up call to all churches to shift this perspective."

Believe Out Loud is an unprecedented coalition of the nation's leading religious and secular LGBT organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign (HRC); Gays & Lesbians Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD); the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; Progressive Christians Uniting; Public Religion Research; Christian Community Inc.; The Religious Institute; Many Voices; The Association for Welcoming and Affirming Baptists (American Baptist Church USA); Gay, Lesbian and Affirming Disciples Alliance (Christian Church/Disciples of Christ); Integrity USA (Episcopal Church); Lutherans Concerned (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America); More Light Presbyterians (Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)); The Coalition for LGBT Concerns (United Church of Christ); and The Reconciling Ministries Network (United Methodist Church).

Lessons in Grace from Maurice Mannion-Vanover

The New York Times reports on the death of Maurice Mannion-Vanover, a young man whose short life -- anything but what society would call "traditional" -- has much to teach us all. He and his family belong to St. Luke's: Montclair.

Against All Odds, A Beautiful Life

Are You Ready to Believe Out Loud?

This past weekend, folks from Delaware to Maine attended the Province I & II workshop of Believe Out Loud at St. James' Episcopal Church in Danbury, CT. This workshop was designed to acquaint Integrity diocesan organizers and any other interested parties with the Believe Out Loud program and help them develop an action plan to implement Believe Out Loud in their parish or diocese. It was led by Neil Houghton, the VP of Local Affairs of Integrity; John-Albert Mosley (Province I Coordinator) and Chap James Day (Province II Coordinator).

Believe Out Loud is a cooperative effort among seven major mainline denominations and numerous smaller churches. Its goal is to identify and promote individual faith communities who have taken the steps to be intentionally welcoming, as well as to help additional communities along the road to full inclusion. It dispenses with the 'eighties model of "going to be gay over there" and as such does not promote separate worship or other events for the LGBT community within a congregation or diocese. Rather than a club or committee, it is a mindset not just for the LGBT members, but for the entire parish, that everybody who seeks Christ belongs and is entitled to full participation. There are multiple resources available through the Believe Out Loud program and its partners to help achieve this goal, including educational tools for the areas where the church has historically been not so successful (e.g. transgender issues).

Certainly a large percentage of our parishes (in Newark) are living into this vision or are somewhere on the road to it. The OASIS enjoys the support of some fifty Sponsoring Congregations. Many people feel we have reached the point where LGBT folks can take for granted that they will be welcomed into parish life, and thus we can now say "mission accomplished". However -- as was witnessed at this workshop -- there are many LGBT folks out in the world who are either unchurched or "damaged-churched" and do not believe there is a place for them in a worship community. One of the goals of this program is to counteract that idea with a consistent brand that folks can look for. Another is to provide the educational tools to help parishes be prepared and at ease when LGBT people do visit or seek to join their communities. Even a congregation that is comfortable with gay issues may have less experience with bisexual or transgender people. Materials and resources are available to help overcome assumptions and fears and understand what pastoral needs members of these communities may bring to the table.

In order to officially be called a "Believe Out Loud Congregation" there is a three-phase self-analysis a parish undertakes. Typically the vestry can do this as a group. It can be an eye-opener as one sees one's surroundings through the eyes of a newcomer.

One theme generated a lot of discussion, as it is a common response when the question of being more visibly welcoming is posed: "We're fine with gay people coming here, but we don't want a reputation as 'the gay church' in town." Participants and the program leaders offered a variety of interesting and sometimes humorous ways of addressing this fear.

The Integrity Diocesan Organizer will be available to any congregation that wishes to embark on this process. Some of our parishes will "test out" of the process by demonstrating they are living into the goals of the program already, or take what few steps would be required to bring them to this level. For others the process may take longer, or they may decide they are just not "there" yet.

This was en enriching and invigorating look at the next steps churches can take to live boldly into their baptismal promise: Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of EVERY human being?

It's time to believe out loud!