« T |u ly 1. 1 W 4 ▼ juat out
SPIRITUALITY
W
tfw \ , / m
m v«'
\, /
\V/ w
V* / w
/ ' m
. /
V ,t
,
,
V
V
•••
' m
H
Bay Area UU
minister to speak
;)\\
P Make it a weekend M
I
w
p:
rffri*!
I
13 TH ANNUAL
m
w
proNm
ul
w m
f
I
I
I
Sunday, July 10, 9a
m/
D u n i w a y , "Park t r a c k
p
t
2
8 K ▼
mile fun run/w a lk
P a c / / o c c n t t o th e M e t r o ^
on 3 a r b u r 3lvd.//M
I:
i *
i
i
_
P “R e g i s t r a t i o n a n d c h e c k - in ;<J*w
jK'V ° t 8 : 0 0 a .m . d a y o f r a c e . /J®
k
VVt'.
‘«tiling like a
bubble bath
after a long
day’s fishing.
N
E <pN T IA L
Call O M i r o for info : M
Gay Unitarian-Universalist Minister Mark
Bellentini of Hayward. Calif., visits the Portland
area during Lesbian and Gay Pride weekend, July
8 to 10. Bellentini was one of the first out minis
ters in the UU movement. He is an inspiring
speaker on spirituality and sexuality.
Bellentini reflects on coming out: “Because to
me ‘out’ means trusting your inward resources
instead of everything that religion, psychology,
society, the law, public opinion and the media has
ever said about homosexuality, I’d say that to
come out as a person whose central sex imagery
is male-male is also to come out as a mystic—that
is, a person whose central religious imagery comes
from within, not from the ecclesiastical hand-me-
down process.” A special Lesbian and Gay Pride
Service is being held prior to the march Saturday,
July 9, at 9:30 am at the First Unitarian Church,
Southwest 12th Avenue and Salmon Street.
Following the service, the church will join the
Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade. Bellentini will
also preach at the regular Sunday morning ser
vices, at 9:30 am and 11 am. First Unitarian has a
strong ministry within the church to lesbians and
gay men, as well as outreach through events like
the Pride Service and participation in the Lesbian
and Gay Pride Parade. Every third Sunday at 6 pm
there is a potluck dinner where all are welcome.
Over 50 people attend each month.
kfi) lotions & oils
,'^J/
3638 SE Hawltiome * 236-7976
710 NW 23rd Avenue # 248-9748
Concerned about AIDS in your community?
C ommunity P lanning I n O regon
As Required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and
the Oregon Health Division, ALL 34 county health departments in Oregon
are currently involved in community planning for HIV prevention, client
services, and outreach. This planning process especially seeks input from
gay men, PLWA, PLWHIV, and interested members form the HIV
caregiving community.
O regon N eeds Y our I nput !
To get involved, contact:
Your county health department's HIV program,
OR
Doug Zeh, Oregon HIV Advocacy Center
1-800-777-2437 xt 151,
OR
David Lane, Ph.D., Oregon Health Division
(503) 731-4029.
Confidentiality Assured; Anonymity Possible
marriage is a threat
Pope John Paul II chastised queer unions as “a
serious threat to the future of the family and
society” in a 100-page letter on family values
addressed to the world’s Roman Catholics, ac
cording to a report in The New York Times. The
pope said that queer unions could not be “recog
nized and ratified as a marriage in society” and
warned Catholics to refrain from supporting the
notion of gay or lesbian marriage. The document
was issued two weeks after the European Parlia
ment in Strasbourg, France, offered support for
the idea of gay men and lesbians marrying and
adopting children.
Catholic group endorses
civil rights bill
Catholic Advocates, a national Roman Catho
lic gay rights organization funded and supported
by more than 60 religious orders of priests, broth
ers arid nuns, has issued a blistering criticism of
the Washington state Catholic bishops’ opposi
tion to the recent civil rights bill which failed in
the state Senate.
“It is repugnant that Catholic bishops seek to
deny the basic civil rights of gay and lesbian
citizens,” said Brother Rich Garcia, director of
Catholic Advocates. “The bishops’ opposition is
not based on Catholic Church teaching but is
based on ignorance at best, and mean-spirited
bigotry at worst. They should be ashamed.”
While the Catholic bishops of Washington
stated that they “oppose unjust discrimination”
against sexual minorities, they nonetheless op
posed the state’s proposed civil rights bill because
“this issue is not only about discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation, but about societal
acceptance and public endorsement of homo
sexuality.”
Catholic Advocates challenged the bishops’
position, noting that laws banning discrimination
on the basis of sexual orientation no more endorse
or encourage a particular lifestyle than laws ban
ning religious discrimination endorse or promote
a particular denomination or faith. "The bishops’
stated opposition to unjust discrimination rings
empty and false when they refuse to support
necessary legislation to protect the basic civil
rights of gay and lesbian persons. The bishops’
duplicity and hypocrisy are an embarrassment to
right-thinking Catholics,” Garcia said.
He noted that all major Protestant denomina
tions, the national organizations of Catholic priests,
brothers and nuns, and a number of Catholic
bishops support gay and lesbian rights. “We do
this not because we waver in our faith or in our
commitment to our church but precisely because
of that commitment,” Garcia said. “The denial of
a person’s basic civil rights is contrary to the
Gospel and is immoral. We call upon the bishops
to have a conversion of heart and to view gay and
lesbian persons not as the enemy to be battered
down but to view them as our sisters and brothers
entitled to justice,” he said.
Gay Lutheran
pastor defrocked
Pastor Ross Merkel of St. Paul Church in
Oakland, Calif., has been ordered “removed from
the ordained ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America” by a church discipline com
mittee. Members of the congregation have defied
the committee’s order.
As a result of his publicly coming out to his
congregation in 1993, Bishop Lyle Miller brought
formal charges against Merkel, citing the consti
tution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America, which states, “Practicing homosexual
persons are precluded from the ordained ministry
of this church.”
Bishop Miller has a history of denying ordina
tion to openly gay and lesbian candidates and
disciplining congregations who welcome openly
lesbian and gay pastors. Merkel, a gay man in a
committed relationship, has been charged with
“conduct incompatible with the character of the
ministerial office.”
“I’m not angry, and I’m not afraid,” said
Merkel. “I feel as if my life is more complete and
that I have fewer barriers to maintain, because
now there is no great secret to protect. All of that
energy is freed up for more productive things.”
Gay church organist
forced to resign
Robert Plimpton, an internationally known
organist who has played the pipe organ at San
Diego’s First Presbyterian Church for 11 years,
has resigned, due to recent decisions by church
elders.
In a letter to the 1,100-member congregation,
the church’s ruling body declared that there is no
place at First Presbyterian for employees who
participate in, endorse, or support “deviant sexual
behavior such as fornication and homosexuality .”
“I was not closeted,” Plimpton said, “but...I
also have a very strong conviction that anyone
who claims Christ as their personal savior has a
place in the church.”
GLAD event
The Gay, Lesbian and Affirming Disciples
Alliance will meet at Mercy Center in Burlingame,
Calif., Aug. 12 to 15, for its annual gathering.
Facilitators are Cynthia Winton-Henry and Phil
Porter. For information contact (206) 324-6231.
.
Compiled by the Rev. Matthew Nelson, an
ordained minister in the United Church o f
Christ.
_