here i am

[ruthkelso]

hi, all, i'm new to forums, but i really like this format.

i've been with Soulforce since june of (i forget what year that was), at the presbyterian action in long beach, california. some of you may remember how that one was literally a walk in the park.

i've forgotten how i even first found soulforce, but it was during the time when mel was asking folks to send in the stories of how the hate rhetoric was impacting their lives. those letters were to be taken to jerry falwell. even though i took the steps beginning the journey, read and signed the vow to nonviolence, and truly committed myself to the principles that were being set out, i just wasn't ready to actually do the footwork necessary to put this new way of life into action. then, by the time the long beach action was announced, i was ready. best darn thing i could have done. that action literally changed me. and i continue to be changed in amazing ways by each successive action.

i'd really like to hear how some of you were first introduced to Soulforce. the ways in which people are brought together to fellowship and work toward a better world continues to remind me of the amazing grace with which i've been blessed.

[Jennifer5]

Glad you're here!

As for how I found Soulforce...
My uncle set it up to have Mel White come to our church... I was there and just talking to this stranger -I had no idea who Mel White was - this stranger was really nice it felt like I had known him my whole life, of course to later find out that it was Gary Nixon. Then we went in to hear Mel talk, it was long but from that point I was hooked. I begged my parents and we went to the action in Colorado Springs last year... ever since this has felt like home!

[Jamie McDaniel]

Hi Ruth! So good to see a Soulforce veteran make it to the forums! I've chuckled that our many veterans have ventured into Jerry Falwell's church, shouted for justice inside the Southern Baptist convention, stood before meetings of anti-gay religious leaders with shirts saying stop the spiritual violence, and talked about Soulforce in various holding cells, but haven't quite made it to the new Soulforce community forums yet.

[Zerbie]

Welcome welcome to the forums!

I have waited for an MLK/Gandhi inspired organization for the gay community since I was a little girl. I remember being 7 and hoping someone would start one!!!! So I'm very grateful that Mel did just that.

I looked for a Soulforce chapter in my region, and there isn't one - there was a phone number and a name, but I spoke to him and he said the group wasn't meeting for a while and things were in transition, they would get back to me and invite me when they started meeting again. That was in June or July, and nothing since. So I would like to check out a 3D meeting and maybe an action someday, if the opportunity arises.

Meanwhile, I'm knockin' myself out working on our local campaign to defeat the marriage amendment at the polls in November.