Howdy

[nmwolfboy]

My name is Scott and i live in an old adobe farmhouse in a small farming village just north of Albuquerque, NM. The house is shared with my partner Wes and our Jack Russell terrier, Flapjack. I found the Soulforce site through web-surfing some progressive Episcopalian websites.

i was raised in southwestern Pennsylvania in the United Methodist denomination, but walked away from Christianity in anger & frustration in my late teens. Through most of the past 20 years, i have been pursuing a syncretic spiritual path that has included Neo-paganism, the Radical Faeries, and some Eastern religions. Recently, i've slowly and tentatively begun to establish a relationship with a welcoming Episcopalian congregation in nearby Albuquerque. Kind of reconciling my former gay angst with my Christian upbringing!

i spent most of my 20s as a small town queer activist in West Virginia and western Pennsylvania, trying to advocate for GLBT rights and AIDS services & treatment. I've always thought that if i could do anything to help change the world, it would be through my everyday interactions as a happy & openly gay man. When i later moved to Pittsburgh, i was active in ACT UP and Queer Nation.

In 1994 i moved from Pittsburgh to New Mexico with my former partner, Jim. Nowadays i'm involved with others in GLBT community building and political action in Albuquerque. Weekdays i commute from the village into Albuquerque for work as a director with a non-profit home health agency.

i look forward to good discussions & alot of learning in the Soulforce forums!

[Zerbie]

Cool intro Scott!! You sound really tough and brave - whoo hoo!!!

So, New Mexico - awesome! We're kinda neighbors, both in the southwest and all. Quite a change from Pittsburgh!

Is Coralles along a major interstate? The place name is really familiar, I think I've been there but not sure. :p

[nmwolfboy]

So, New Mexico - awesome! We're kinda neighbors, both in the southwest and all. Quite a change from Pittsburgh!

Is Coralles along a major interstate? The place name is really familiar, I think I've been there but not sure. :p

Gotta love the Southwest! When i vacationed here (before relocating) i was just blown away by the sky. Heck of alot different from the almost perpetually overcast steel-grey Pittsburgh sky. Not to talk down Pgh., i loved living there, too. :)

No, Corrales isn't along one of the interstates. It's along the west side of the Rio Grande, just below the escarpment where Rio Rancho & the big Intel plant are located. Lots of vineyards, lots of cottonwood trees, lots of apple orchards, lots of horses, and a surprising number of glbt residents.

Lately every morning when i drive through the cornfields by our house there are gatherings of migrating sandhill cranes. It's like a new ballet every day! One day about a month ago i passed through at least a hundred cranes, a huge number of canadian geese, and a metric buttload of crows hanging out there. Thankfully, they weren't interested in me at all. Though i've always liked Hitchcock's "The Birds", Tippi Hedren i'm not. :D

[keltic63]

hi Scott! welcome to soulforce.

I'm here in western PA, southeast of the 'burgh, in westmoreland county. You know what they say about Pittsburgh: what happens after 2 days of rain here? Monday!

[BruceChris]

I attend a UCC church, and we're pretty happy over here on the left, just this side of the Unitarians, some say. See below.

http://www.soulforce.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1093

In your Episcopalian church, right now there are all kindsa things going on. LOTS to get involved in. Whaddya think of that new lady bishop, isn't she from out your way? Or Nevada, anyway. The Episcopalian church (or at least the Anglican Communion) is one place where you can really get a serious discussion going on GLBT issues. I suppose you could always find some sort of activism to get involved in. We have, or had a member from Albuquerque, I haven't seen him lately, I'll look him up for ya. Edit: No luck, so far.

Peace and Love, Bruce Chris

[BenL]

Scott, welcome to SoulForce.

My husband Charley and I go to an Episcopal Church in Worcester MA, diocese of Western Mass. Our rector has just been elected bishop of Newark (NJ), and his last Sunday with us was Dec. 3. We're going to miss him a lot. Charley came out to him as trans and rector was totally supportive throughout the transition. We have a GLBT Alliance group at All Saints. Check us out on the Web at www.allsaintsw.org.

Your former residence, Pittsburgh, on the other hand, is home to a deeply conservative bishop, who is ready to take his diocese out of ECUSA (Episcopal Church USA) over the election of Gene Robinson as bishop of NH. So, our denomination has the extremes and everything in between. We could use another courageous voice on behalf of GLBT people and inclusiveness at all levels of church ministry. We're glad to have you.

Great bunch of people here at SoulForce. Gentle souls with warm hearts and firm convictions. Welcome aboard.

BenL

[nmwolfboy]

hi Scott! welcome to soulforce.

I'm here in western PA, southeast of the 'burgh, in westmoreland county. You know what they say about Pittsburgh: what happens after 2 days of rain here? Monday!

Thanks for the welcome. I grew up in little Washington. Lived in Indiana, PA for a couple of years, too. My ex is from the Connellsville/Uniontown area. What do you call two straight days of rain in Pittsburgh? The weekend! :D



In your Episcopalian church, right now there are all kindsa things going on. LOTS to get involved in. Whaddya think of that new lady bishop, isn't she from out your way? Or Nevada, anyway. The Episcopalian church (or at least the Anglican Communion) is one place where you can really get a serious discussion going on GLBT issues. I suppose you could always find some sort of activism to get involved in. We have, or had a member from Albuquerque, I haven't seen him lately, I'll look him up for ya.


I don't know much about the Presiding Bishop except that what I've seen, I like. It will be interesting to see what happens at the Bishops' meeting in February - will the dissenting Bishops stay when she is seated? It seems a few agenda-driven Bishops are most responsible for the conflict, but then i'm new to the whole issue. What impresses me is the 'listening & discernment' process the majority of the ECUSA has committed to.

The congregation i found here (St. Michael's and All Angels) amazes me with really being 'welcoming and affirming'. Perhaps it helps that the rector's previous position ministry was at Grace Cathedral and he grew up in Berkeley, CA.

Right now i'm just trying to reconcile back with organized Christianity & enjoying the process. Who knows where i'll end up? :)

i'm pretty 'plugged in' to the local GLBT community, working with the Albuquerque Pride organizers & other community leaders. It's a great group of folks!

Peace,
Scott

[Pablo Rafael]

Hi, Scott,

Just thought I would say hello since you are in the area. I live in southwestern Colorado which is almost in your backyard. (Out here in the southwest a few hundred miles distance makes one close neighbors.) I get to Albuquerque every so often; it has the closest major airport. I love New Mexico; it is one of my favorite places.

Your statement about reconciling being gay with your Christian upbringing is a common theme. It is a tragedy that so many people have had to choose between one and the other; I look forward to a day when both ideas can live in harmony and we can rejoice in both.

Tu Amigo, Pablo

[nmwolfboy]

Scott, welcome to SoulForce.
*snip*
Your former residence, Pittsburgh, on the other hand, is home to a deeply conservative bishop, who is ready to take his diocese out of ECUSA (Episcopal Church USA) over the election of Gene Robinson as bishop of NH. So, our denomination has the extremes and everything in between. We could use another courageous voice on behalf of GLBT people and inclusiveness at all levels of church ministry. We're glad to have you.

Thanks for the welcome, Ben. Can't say i'm pleased with the actions of the Pgh. Diocese's Bishop. It's amazing to me how our society's struggle for power over people is playing itself out in so many different arenas, including the ECUSA. You may have already read this report from a progressive Pgh. Episcopalian: http://www.progressiveepiscopalians.org/html/saving.html
i think he frames the situation facing the ECUSA very aptly.

Pablo: Thanks for your welcome, too, neighbor. :) You're right about the SW view of distance. Try to imagine what distance travelling was like out here even just 50 years ago!

[BenL]

Scott,

Just read it. Good synopsis. Of course, GC 2006 is history now, and did not pass any of the commission's resolutions, but the presiding bishops old and new put pressure on the House of Deputies to "submit" to requests of the Windsor Report. I felt marginalized by that action, and still do. I've done a lot of reading on this issue. Ultimately it's not about politics, or even theology, but about faithfulness and stewardship. I'll stick with that.

BenL

[Vanessa White]

I have seen you posting on some of the threads, but I am finally getting around to officially welcoming you!!! I live on the opposite side of PA, the far, Northeastern corner, right now in Scranton, but even with the rain, have made a couple of enjoyable trips to Pittsburgh. I want to get to New Mexico to see it someday, one of the places I have not been in my life but would like to visit. So glad that you found your way to us. As far as your revisiting of your Christian roots, I can identify. Raised Roman Catholic, left the church in my twenties due to the anti-gay rhetoric, or at least attitude. Joined a United Methodist church two years ago with my then partner and our daughter, even had our daughter baptized there. It is much more welcoming and affirming than Catholic church, yet I feel I need more. Since my split with my ex and my moving out, I feel like I need to do some church shopping yet again. Oh well, a work in progress is okay with me. ANyway, got kinda long winded there. Suffice it to say that you are among the closest of friends, and I am glad I will be seeing you around..... Peace, Vanessa :love:

[nmwolfboy]

I have seen you posting on some of the threads, but I am finally getting around to officially welcoming you!!! ...So glad that you found your way to us.

Thanks! Finding SF is proving to be a wonderful step in my walk.

Oh well, a work in progress is okay with me.

Me, too. :)

[zorrosdad]

Hi Scott,

It sounds like you have a great place to live, very interesting. Hang with the Episcopal Church. It would be a great place to explore your relationship with the christian church. I just spent the past 8 years with the Episcopal Church. They are headed in a very positive direction for the GLBT community. It may take some time and there will be fall out but there are some very committed people standing up for what it is right and just. I am no longer a part of the church but it has more to do with my personal journey and an encounter with a priest who was more concerned with himself than with what was right. He talked the talk but he didn't walk the walk. Long story short, he didn't mind me putting my neck on the line but he was not about to put himself in front of the moving bus for anyone.

I hope you enjoy the forums. I'm new here too. I look forward to getting to know some interesting people and having some great discussions.

Trent