Vanessa White
09-08-2008, 09:08 AM
Hi all!
Yep, been away a LONG time; I have become a blogging addict, so if you are interested at all, my address for my blog is http://vanessaleighsblog.wordpress.com. I write a great deal about gay and lesbian identity, from my perspective.
I am starting this thread as kind of a jump off what png posted about her experience at her church. I think that downplaying who we are is one thing, but as keltic said, being asked to outright LIE about who we are and what our relationship is, by calling our spouse a "roommate" or the infamous "friend" title is disrespectful and unacceptable. Really, those titles are about keeping others in their comfort zone, not for our benefit at all.
I have been away a great deal, not just due to blogging frenzy, which is part of it. Also, I have been doing a bit of activism right here in my own corner of the globe, and the door that got cracked open at our church is on its way to being kicked open by myself and my partner over the next few months. As many of you know, we had a showing with members of our congregation of "For the Bible Tells Me So". It went very well, and as a result, I have wanted to go further with the topic with our church. I am ready, and in light of having a new pastor, it seems timely.
I met with a couple of women from the congregation a couple of weeks ago, to discuss how we can/should proceed with the topic into the future. I wrote an article for our church newsletter, entitled the Belfry. They helped me to edit it in a way so that most persons would take the time to read it. I had initially titled it, "Christianity and homosexuality", but they suggested that the title would probably cause many to skip right over it, and from what I understand, just about EVERYBODY in our two churches reads it. So, they suggested that the title be "For the Bible Tells Me So", and then speak a bit about scripture and the passages most frequently quoted against homosexuality, and then to invite those in the congregation to have a conversation about this. So, that is what I did. The newsletter should be out by now, and since I didn't make it to church yesterday, I didn't get to see it. I am looking forward to going next week, and even though it seems harder than ever to get to church on Sundays, I think now that I have put this issue out there, I absolutely have to be present, visibly, to get it moving. We are hoping to get a book study, maybe even using one of Mel's books eventually, as well as the film, to get the conversation going. I am told that there are some members of the congregation, not sure how many, that literally take what the Bible "says" about certain issues, including this one, as being against God and the church. SO, the discussion will be lively, that is for sure. In addition, we are going to start a speaker series for the church, to address various issues of diversity and oppression, and I am the slated speaker/educator for the topic on homosexuality, sometime in January....... it is moving forward, YAY!!
SOmething quite encouraging that came out of this for us, is that we were told that a woman from the congregation wrote a letter to our former pastor, expressing serious concerns about the possible views of our new pastor, which could mean that our family specifically may no longer feel welcomed there. I felt so humbled and touched by that action, it is just a beautiful thing......
ANyway, I know that I have been MIA, and got a nudge about coming back today from a friend, so that is my side of the earth and its happenings....
Good day all!!!! :love:
Yep, been away a LONG time; I have become a blogging addict, so if you are interested at all, my address for my blog is http://vanessaleighsblog.wordpress.com. I write a great deal about gay and lesbian identity, from my perspective.
I am starting this thread as kind of a jump off what png posted about her experience at her church. I think that downplaying who we are is one thing, but as keltic said, being asked to outright LIE about who we are and what our relationship is, by calling our spouse a "roommate" or the infamous "friend" title is disrespectful and unacceptable. Really, those titles are about keeping others in their comfort zone, not for our benefit at all.
I have been away a great deal, not just due to blogging frenzy, which is part of it. Also, I have been doing a bit of activism right here in my own corner of the globe, and the door that got cracked open at our church is on its way to being kicked open by myself and my partner over the next few months. As many of you know, we had a showing with members of our congregation of "For the Bible Tells Me So". It went very well, and as a result, I have wanted to go further with the topic with our church. I am ready, and in light of having a new pastor, it seems timely.
I met with a couple of women from the congregation a couple of weeks ago, to discuss how we can/should proceed with the topic into the future. I wrote an article for our church newsletter, entitled the Belfry. They helped me to edit it in a way so that most persons would take the time to read it. I had initially titled it, "Christianity and homosexuality", but they suggested that the title would probably cause many to skip right over it, and from what I understand, just about EVERYBODY in our two churches reads it. So, they suggested that the title be "For the Bible Tells Me So", and then speak a bit about scripture and the passages most frequently quoted against homosexuality, and then to invite those in the congregation to have a conversation about this. So, that is what I did. The newsletter should be out by now, and since I didn't make it to church yesterday, I didn't get to see it. I am looking forward to going next week, and even though it seems harder than ever to get to church on Sundays, I think now that I have put this issue out there, I absolutely have to be present, visibly, to get it moving. We are hoping to get a book study, maybe even using one of Mel's books eventually, as well as the film, to get the conversation going. I am told that there are some members of the congregation, not sure how many, that literally take what the Bible "says" about certain issues, including this one, as being against God and the church. SO, the discussion will be lively, that is for sure. In addition, we are going to start a speaker series for the church, to address various issues of diversity and oppression, and I am the slated speaker/educator for the topic on homosexuality, sometime in January....... it is moving forward, YAY!!
SOmething quite encouraging that came out of this for us, is that we were told that a woman from the congregation wrote a letter to our former pastor, expressing serious concerns about the possible views of our new pastor, which could mean that our family specifically may no longer feel welcomed there. I felt so humbled and touched by that action, it is just a beautiful thing......
ANyway, I know that I have been MIA, and got a nudge about coming back today from a friend, so that is my side of the earth and its happenings....
Good day all!!!! :love: