Charismatic conference in Long Beach, CA

[pnggrad79]

I had to tell ya'll about my experience this past weekend in Long Beach, CA. My partner and I have only been out a little over a year to our friends and family, and we have gotten involved in a GLBT church in Houston, TX. They make an annual trek to Long Beach every year for this conference, and I was amazed and astonished at the people they had for speakers One was Peggy Campolo, who unabashedly supports gay rights and has for years. Her husband, Tony, does not however. They had Don Milam, a Christian publisher, who over the past 10 years or so, has been brought to a deeper understanding of God's grace and how the church has failed in showing it to gays and lesbians. His granddaughter came out about a year ago, and he was put into contact with the pastor( Sandy Turnbull) of Glory Tabernacle Christian Center in Long Beach, where the conference is held, and she helped him come to grips with his granddaughter's lesbianism. Since then, he has written and spoken about his revelation of God's anointing of gay Christians. Last but certainly not least, Dony McGuire and Reba Rambo-McGuire and their children, Destiny and Israel, provided the praise and worship. I remember Reba Rambo singing with her parents Buck and Dottie Rambo in my teens. For her and her husband to sing in a gay church, and conference was astounding. The most moving and beautiful things at this conference was Saturday night, when Dony McGuire and Reba Rambo invited all the pastors of gay churches that were there, to come up on the stage, remove their shoes and he and his wife, personally washed their feet apologizing for the years he and his wife, and the Christian church at large had thrown stones , maligned God's work in Gay churches, and had excluded and thrown out these pastors and their congregations. He and Reba wept as they washed and kissed the feet of these pastors. He said that over the past year, his church has gone through some tough times because he has invited gay people to come in and welcomed them. Several members have left and he has caught a bunch of flack (sp?) because of his inclusion of GLBT people into his church. Needless to say it was a wonderful experience, and I left with hope that maybe the straight churches are slowly coming around and seeing that God is moving mightily in gay churches.

[keltic63]

wow, that is amazing. My parents had a lot of Buck and Dottie's albums when I was a kid. It's a beautiful thing when these people make such a public statement. One thing I try to keep in mind when trouble brews is that God is working, and perhaps the people that remain strong are the ones that God will use. A fine example would be when our church called its first woman pastor. We lost a total of 3 members. It may be that those 3 would have hindered God's work in our congregation, AND it may be that those 3 have something else that God needs them to do in another church. Same way with attendance at church services; the people that need to be there are there; it can be discouraging if it's just a few people, but God may not be concerned with numbers, just ministry.
I'm glad you had a good experience.

[schoolboi]

Rambo-McGuire’s ministered in my church about once a year when I was growing up, and I believe my grandmother told me they were at the church again not long ago. I always loved being in their meetings. They are very loving. I must say it does not surprise me that they are affirming of GLBT people, but I was not aware of this until now. Thank you for sharing. I wish I could have been there. I’m sure it would have brought a lot of healing for me. My heroes and sheroes are straight people who are willing to lose everything to say to GLBT people that we are loved by them and God just the way we are. I guess I get to add these two to the list! I’m going to try and get the tape if they have one. I know my grandmother will be happy to hear about it too.

[Vanessa White]

I am not familiar with these persons at all. Can someone give me a quick lesson on who they are and what role they played in the past with the church? It certainly sounds like they are people that are putting the word of God into action and trying to make amends, which just sounds so beautiful to me. I mean, it's great when someone develops an understanding for who we are, but it is much more intense in my mind when they apologize for the wrongdoings. That is just beautiful. Amen!

[Zerbie]

I've never heard of these particular people before, either.

I was fascinated to read about their apology, weeping onto the pastors' feet like that. It interests me very much from a personal standpoint. An experience I have being "bi" is that I sometimes identify fully with the gay community, and other times fully with the mainstream straight community, and when I feel myself in that "straight" role, well. . .I remember being little and thinking that when I grew up and met gay folk I wanted to drop on the floor, hug their knees, crying and apologize. I had forgotten feeling that way til I read this account from PNGgrad. I'm glad to know there is such a strong current out there moving in the right direction. If I had been there to see that happen, I would have probably cried for hours after. Only back in August did I hear a Christian pastor address a room full of gay people inclusively and lovingly, for the first time in my life. Everyone held their breath, and many people cried. I came home and wept on the floor for 45 minutes, in relief. I kept saying, "Finally." Imagine what PNGgrad observed happening at that conference!!

[pnggrad79]

Reba Rambo is the daughter of Buck and Dottie Rambo, who were Southern Gospel music giants. They were popular among that crowd of people who enjoyed that music. It is not surprising that a lot of people don't know who they are. The only reason I know who she is, is because I grew up listening to her parents' music, as well as a lot of other Southern Gospel singers. Reba married Dony McGuire, another singer in that genre, and they more or less left that genre, to pursue a more evangelistic ministry and now have a church in Nashville, called The River.

When I heard that she and her husband had begun a minsitry to GLBT people, it floored me because of her roots. Equally, I was floored to see that Cynthia Clawson and her husband, Ragan Courtney, ( Christian singers and songwriters) support GLBT rights. I told Reba at the conference that my parents had not spoken to me since coming out, and she cried. The foot washing she and her husband did was in no small way one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

[pnggrad79]

Schoolboi,
You can reach Reba and Dony at www.rambomcguire.org. for a CD of that service. It was Saturday, Feb. 18 at Glory Tabernacle Christian Center in Long Beach. Try Glory Tabernacle's website if you have no luck with Reba and Dony's website.

[cris]

Hi pngGrad,
I'm so glad you posted about the Charismatic Conference. I'd read about it online because I know the pastor, Sandy, and her partner, Janet. They're wonderful folks! I've sort of gone back and forth on the whole thing about straight folks "accepting" us. I mean, for years it seems like we try so hard to be accepted by them, when God is CRYING out, I LOVE YOU! Why do you need others' approval. But when I read something like your testimony of what happened at this conference, I realize that there is healing and reconciliation. Seems to me that the Holy Spirit working on the hearts of these folks does a lot more than we could ever do by trying to convince them that we are also redeemed, blood-bought children of God. I too was shocked when I saw who would be at that conference, and I thank God that Pastor Sandy and the organizers do something to bridge gaps and provide opportunity for forgiveness. I'm sure it was as much (if not more) for them than for GLBT folks who were there.

Can you tell me about your church in Houston? Are you attending the Bible School as well? I'm looking at it as a possibility, and I'd like to hear from students who attend.

Anyway, thanks and God bless you.
Cris

[pnggrad79]

Cris,
My church in Houston is Maranatha Fellowship-House of Glory, and is an apostolic congregation made up of GLBT people, but with an outreach to anyone of any race, creed, color, orientation, etc. Most of our membership has been ousted from regular churches, and so we exist because others would not accept us. We are located in downtown, on Fannin between Elgin and Holman. Our pastor is Rev. Janet Parker. Our music minister is Jeremy Beauchamp. Pastor Janet is good friends with Pastor Sandy and Pastor Janet Robertson. You are more than welcome to visit anytime you are in Houston. We are small, but we have a lot of love. I have been to the Bible School once, but plan on enrolling on a more fulltime basis.

I, too, was astounded at the guests Pastor Sandy had lined up. It was just so cool, to see profoundly straight people boldly stand up for what they know is a Spirit led act of God in the GLBT community.

How do you know Pastor Sandy and Pastor Janet?

[cris]

I met Pastors Janet and Sandy at the Spiritfest conference in Dallas nearly 3 years ago. It was a good experience for me if nothing else than having met them. Janet and I connected. She's a jewel and is not "too big" to stay in touch.

Does your church have a mix of folks, I mean like ethnically, in terms of gender, age? Thanks for the invitation, too.

By the way I was surprised what you said about Tony Campolo. I thought he was more accepting than that. In fact he has come under a LOT of fire from other ministers for being too liberal regarding us folks.

blessings!

[pnggrad79]

Our church in Houston is a mix; we have everyone there. We love the diversity.

Pastor Sandy and Pastor Janet have been to our church a few times, at least since I started going there about 1 1/2 years ago.

I wish I could move out to California and be a member of their church. That would be way cool. I mean I like our church here, but I like their church better.

[kdmckale]

Hey there!

I am a fellow congregant of pnggrad and wanted to offer some additional information on information requested.

(1) House of Glory: http://www.houseofglory.org

(2) ACTS Institute: http://www.emiglobal.org/ACTS/Home.htm

Kaleb

[keltic63]

bumping this up for easy access. an antigay website has linked to this particular thread, so at this point we are having many guests look at it.

with that said, I will repeat here what I said in a comment on that site's blog: I am offended that this particular anti-gay group has used the death of Dottie Rambo to seize an opportunity to bash the lgbt community.

[Zerbie]

Originally Posted by keltic63

bumping this up for easy access. an antigay website has linked to this particular thread, so at this point we are having many guests look at it.

Is our old conversation really THAT interesting?

[keltic63]

Originally Posted by Zerbie

Is our old conversation really THAT interesting?

it was actually quoted! so to them, it must be that interesting, plus it's proof positive for this particular anti-gay group that Reba is a heretic, and perhaps by association, her mother was too.....

[Zerbie]

So, lemme get this (haha) straight:

They are watching us and quoting our many exclamations of relief that people are actually expressing love, as "proof" of something bad???

Where are we quoted? Can you link to it?

[antiochian]

Another stereotype broken for me... I've always considered the charismatic types to be almost uniformly antigay. So I learned something.

[tdogg]

Originally Posted by antiochian

Another stereotype broken for me... I've always considered the charismatic types to be almost uniformly antigay. So I learned something.

Some are coming around! Not enough tho.

I've been wanting to pick up a CD of that, I tried a couple years ago but could never figure out how to actually get it ordered. I'll try again. Was thinking of sending a copy to my homophobic aunt (who I love but don't currently talk to) but she'd probably call it trash and throw it away like she did on the Soulforce booklet I sent her.

I really feel the tide is changing, slowly, maybe too slowly, but it is changing.

[Gregory_de_Bois]

Originally Posted by cris

By the way I was surprised what you said about Tony Campolo. I thought he was more accepting than that. In fact he has come under a LOT of fire from other ministers for being too liberal regarding us folks.

Of the two more welcoming stances: complete acceptance (type A) and celibacy (type B), he takes the latter. He accepts the personal experiences of gay and lesbian Christians, but believes them to be in error. He does not think they are going to hell, as long as they believe in the primary doctrines. He and his wife, Peggy, have a little dialogue recorded over at the Gay Christian Network. It was really helpful for me. Peggy's love and affirmation are very evident. I hope I can go to some kind of event like this someday.

[Gennee]

Originally Posted by tdogg

Some are coming around! Not enough tho.

I've been wanting to pick up a CD of that, I tried a couple years ago but could never figure out how to actually get it ordered. I'll try again. Was thinking of sending a copy to my homophobic aunt (who I love but don't currently talk to) but she'd probably call it trash and throw it away like she did on the Soulforce booklet I sent her.

I really feel the tide is changing, slowly, maybe too slowly, but it is changing.

Tdogg, some institutions are slow to change. Business and education are two areas notorious for dragging their feet. The institutional church is right there. God is doing a work in many churches. Some are seeing the errors of their ways. They are realizing that Jesus died for LGBT people also. Showing partiality is something condemned in scripture (James 2:14) and many have done this regarding LGBT folks. Thankfully, some churches are repenting and making amends.

Gennee