FamilyOfFaithSpiritVoice_July1996.pdf
- Title
- FamilyOfFaithSpiritVoice_July1996.pdf
- extracted text
-
l
AN OUTREACH TO MEMBERS AND FRIENDS OF FAMILY OF FAITH MCC
JULY
UPCOMING
1996
&
Well, District Conference has come
and gone. I was impressed to see the
presence of Family of Faith so obvious.
We had a large group of people attend
(14, I believe). Isn't that wonderful?
We had people participate in worship
Sundays
services, workshops, choir, liturgical
9:15 Adult Ed. - 11:00Worship Service
dancing, and our bowl of green marbles
Wednesdays
was actually used as the baptism bowl in
6:30 Praise & Worship - 7:30 Choir
the healing service.
Owing the SCD-DCOL meeting, a site
Thundays
was selected for Heartwings IX. It will
7:30 Codependency Support Group
be in Denton, Texas on Feb.14-16, 1<)Cf?_
Becky Hall and Chris Altman will be in
charge. They have Marsha Stevens
booked to do a concert. We selected
1st Sunday of Month Potluck
new Steering Committee Members,
1st Friday of Month
Ruth Wise, Robert Schroeder, Becky
SAFE HA VEN (ages18-30)
Hall, Hillie Bailey, and Mattie Tippin.
The District is sending the names of 3
2nd Sunday of Month Board Meeting
nominees for UFMCC Board of Flders:
(open to all)
Clarke Friesen, Darlene Gamer, and
10th of each month ..newsletter due.
Hong Tan.
There were some non-binding resolu3rd Wednesday of month
newsletter mailing 5:30 pm
tions brought to the floor. One was that
children and young adults be invplved in
conference and worship services rather
than just have workshops about children
and young adults. The other was a rec1st • Caregiver's T earn Mtg 7:00 pm
ommendation to local churches:
Maranatha Fellowship MCC is donating
4th • Independence Day
the first $100 to support Rev. Ed Paul in
5th - SAFE HA VEN - 8 - Midnight
his passion of global outreach. This will
15th - Fundraising Team Mtg 7:00 pm
be a monthly contribution by them.
Other churches or individuals are urged
20th - Mop & Glow 10 am
to contribute monthly or whenever pos6:00 Christmas Decorating Party
sible. This position is where Rev. Ed
Carolling, Food & Fun
Paul feels he js being called. He has
21st - Christmas In Julydone wonderful work and needs support
to benefit OUR HOUSE &
to keep this ministry going.
Our Bags & Socks Campaign
Thanks to all who came to the forwn
22nd
- Assimilation Team Mtg 7:00pm
before I left. Your input was appreciated.
29th - Council of Ministries
-Dia1a H., Lay Delegae
Meeting 7:00 pm
ONGOING EVENTS
What a joy the South Central
District Conference was! We were so
blessed by so many opportunities! I
want to share with you that each
congregation was asked to bring a
symbol of their church within the
bounds of: water, bread, light. Our
church, during a Wednesday night
Praise & Prayer service followed by
choir rehew.-sal, decided ~'lat green
marbles were the best symbol of who
we are. Realizing that they did not
fall into the specific requested categories, we decided to place them in a
large dear bowl and place a candle in
the middle of them. They would
symbolize a way in which our light
shines through Christ to others.
Diana, our Lay Delegate, and myself
carried them forward when they
called our church's name. I had previously agreed to be a part of healing
service. My part was to be "healing
through baptism" and I had the
opportunity to baptiz,e and re-baptize many folks that night (I even
baptized a mother and daughter
together!). The significant part was
that I baptized with water which had
been placed in our large dear bowl of
green marbles! As I reached into the
water the color green was everywhere! What a wonderfully empowering experience!
WEEKLY
1\101'.rrHLY
JULY
(Continued on next page)
FAMILY OF FAITH MCC
•
5451-E Soum
MINGO • TULSA, OKLAHOMA •
1996
622-1441
(Pastor's Pen continued)
What about you? Do you have
your green marble with you as you
read this? Perhaps you haven't
heard about their significance. Let
me fill you in!
The Green Marbles are a reminder
to us of several things:
'9' First of all the color green
reminds us of God as Creator. We
see the color green in the life-giving
plants and trees and in the life-giving
love of God!
'9' Secondly, the color green symbolizes to us that everything we have
is provided to us by God. The marble reminds us of the stewardship of
giving just a portion of the "green we
carry around" back to God.
'9' Third, the green reminds some
of us of a time when wearing green
on Thursdays meant you were queer.
We now, proudly, carry green every
day of the week!
'9' Fourth, we know that from time
to time we "lose our marbles." We
have found these to be easy to
replace and it's a painless and inexpensive process. In fact, we keep a
supply near the altar of our church
for everyone to partake of as needed.
'9' Lastly, carrying the green marble reminds us that we are but one of
a greater community. When out and
about in the community you might
see a person across the room holding
their green marble. Simply pull your
own out and respond in kind. It's a
sort of sohdarity that we carry
around in our pockets, our pocketbooks, our backpacks, and so on. It
reminds us that we are everywhere!
I would hke to extend to you an
invitation to pick up a green marble
the next time you're in church. Feel
God's creation, feel the sense of community, be reminded of the responsibilities of stewardship, and let it
empower you to go forth daily, being
the person God created you to be.
&tlOlllPllA&Tl&E
0 what fun it is to ride...
7:30Wednesdays
Everyone
isWelcome!
We'reup to somethingnew and
to stayfor
exciting.Allarewelcome
choirpractice
...joinin,orjustlisten.
WhatDo Those
SymbolsMean?
TA
This article is the second in a series to
discover what these commonly used symbols of pride mean to the gay/lesbian
community. This colmnn by Steven W.
Anderson was fotmd on the internet.
TW~ RAINBOW f=LAG
Color has long played an important
role in our community's expression of
pride. In Victorian England, for example,
the color green was associated with
homosexuality. The color purple ( or,
more accurately, lavender) became
popularized as a symbol for pride in the
late 1960s - a frequent post-Stonewall
catchword for the gay community was
"Purple Power". And, of course, there's
the pink triangle. Although it was first
used in Nazi Germany to identify gay
males in concemration camps, the pink
triangle only received widespread use as a
gay pop icon in the early 1980s. But the
most colorful of our symbols is the
Rainbow Aag, and its rainbow of colors
- red, orange, yellow, green. blue, and
purple - represents the diversity of our
community.
(Continued on page 4)
Hey there! t'ired of the heat already?
Join us for a refreshing look at
Christmas, on July 21st, at our
I 1:00am service when we cdebrate
"Chnstmasin July"! You can get a
head start by attending our decorating
party at 6:00pm July 20th. We will do
some carolling around the piano, decorate and of course munch on the seasonal snacks everyone brings. We will
be honoring 2 causes with Christmas
gifts thisyear. The first is our Sleeping
Bags and Socks Project. Thus far we
have acquired 8 sleeping bags and 36
pairs of socks. Our goal is to have 200
bags and 400 pairs of socks to distribute to the homdess by December 1st.
Summer's a great time to get a great
deal on sleeping bags! Our other recipient of giftsis OUR HOUSE. They
are in need of paper products such as
towels, napkins, toilet paper, etc. They
can alwaysuse munchies as wdl. Bring
your gifts fur the Bags & Socks Project
and/or OUR HOUSE to the service.
We will place them under our tree that
morning as a part of our cdebration!
What
theBible
Does
(and
doesn't)
Say
about
Homosexu
This 9 week class will begin approximately July 21st at 9:15am on
Sundays. The cost is $15.00 which
includes
the
study
guide.
Scholarships are available. Please
call the church office for the exact
starting date and to pre-register.
AROVND
tl1c
Fc11owsl1ip
SPOTLIGHT ON TIIE NEW
SoUIH-CENTRAL
0IS1RICT COORDINATOR,
REV.ELFANOR NFALY
*Rev. Nealy is due to arrive in
our District the first of July!
The Rev. Eleanor Nealy has been an
active member of the UFMCC since
1983. She has been active in the MCC
New York congregation for the past several years, most recently as the Chair of
the Spiritual Development Commitee
(this is one of 9 growth committees
implementing a plan to double the size
of the church in 5 years). She has been
employed secularly as the Director of
Project Connect (a drug and alcohol program) at the Lesbian and Gay
Community Services Center. As Chair
of
the
Spiritual
Development
Committee, she has proven to be an
excellent organizer, facilitator, and
administrator,as well as a gifted teacher.
Her pastor, the Rev. Pat Baumgardner,
shares with us that Eleanor's understanding of the spiritual and emotional needs
of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, coupled with her
pastor's heart and skills as a counselor,
have made her an exceptional leader
both at the church and in the wider community. She has also served the District
as a member of the District Clergy
Review Committee and the new Board
of Ordained Ministry (BOM). Prior to
her membership and staff work at MCC
New York, Eleanor served as the solo
pastor of MCC Christ the Liberator in
New Jersey. Her skills in the pulpit and
classroom reveal a person of tremendous
insight, wisdom and vision
Rev. Nealy holds a B.S. in Bible and
Bachelors of Social Work from
Philadelphia College of Bible. She
holds a Master of Divinity from Union
Theological Seminary and an M.S.S.W.
from Columbia University School of
Social Work.
(Continued next column)
(A round the Fellowship Cont.)
She has, in addition, authored the
following publications:
• Amazon Spirit: Daily Meditations
for Lesbians in Recovery, PerigeeBerkley, 1995
• Developing
Community-Based
Services to Engage Active Drug and
A /coho/ Users in Treatment," The
Journal of Chemical Dependecy
Treatment, (accepted for publication,
August 1996.
Welcome to the South Central
District Rev. Nealy! We hope you'll
visit with us at Family of Faith soon!
** Watch this space as we discover
more and more of what our
denomination is all about!
PRAYER
LIST
REQUESTS:
Dee as she continues to recover from
her car accident
Diana Hall as she seeks help with a
motorized wheel-chair, and as she is
showing signs of liver disease
Carol who has AIDS
(& her friends and family)
MCC of Greater Tulsa's pastoral search
The Upcoming Community Center
William who has AIDS
Suki and Datha in the loss
of their "child" of many years
Dr. Jeffrey Nytch our liaison from
District Committee and his lover Robby
in ALLcircumstances
Ella has been blessed with the "Ultimate
Healing" and gone home to be with Jesus
Pastor Nancy is making steady
adjustments to eyesight in just one eye!
Dee is slowly but surely recovering from
her injuries
Deb Hardy who has AIDS
Our House
Rev. Eleanor Nealy as she arrives in the
South Central District
Suki's 84 yr. old mom who
has been in the hospital
(she is out of the hospital at present)
Datha as she seeks God's
wisdom on her job situation
District Conference elected Rev. Eleanor
Nealy as our new District Coordinator!
Liz as she recovers from a car accident
Colorado Supreme Court's overturn
of Amendment 2 issues!
Debbie E. and family in the death
of her 21 year old cousin
The Ryan White Care Act got all
of its money back plus some extra!
Rosemary who had a
cerebral hemorrhage
Tommy (AIDS Activist) who
has gone to South Africa
Bryan got a job he likes!
Stephanie and Amie were joined
together in Holy Union on June 8th!
POT
LUCK
DINNER
1ST SUNDAY EACH MONTH
Joe D. relief from constant headaches
A man ("family") who was hit by
a train in downtown Tulsa and
had his legs amputated.
Todd, who seeks health, happiness,
a job and a "heaven of his own"
Kharma as she seeks God's
guidance in a college interview
Please advise the church of your
new address so you can continue
to receive the newsletter.
You can reach us at 622-1441.
Christie Hancock as she seeks God
through her health challenges
Amie and Stephanie as they begin their
new life together!
0
0
(Rainbow Flag....Continued)
TREASURER'S
REPORT
RAIN
MAY, 1996
BEGINNING BALANCE
3213.56
TOTAL INCOME
3959.11
TOTAL EXPENSES
4841.52
BALANCE
2331.15
DESIGNATED FUND BALANCES
as of 06-11-96
BUILDING FUND
1450.00
CONFERENCE FUND
1252.53
MUSIC (CHOIR) FUND
807.00
INTERNET
43.78
CHRISTIAN ED
440.00
TITHES: BUDGET vs. ACTUAL
BUDGET
3956.04
ACTUAL
3959.11
ANNOUNCEMENTS
HOUSING NEEDED
A Seattle MCC member will be attending
OSU this Fall and seeks housing near
Okmulgee. He has no transportation so
will need to be near a bus line or living
close to campus. If you can assist, please
contact the church office at622-1441!
INTERFAITH AIDS MINISTRIES PRESENTS "HIV/AIDS AND SPIRITUALITY"
This is an 8 week therapeutic group for
persons living with HIV/AIDS to explore
and share concepts of their spirituality
and the relationship to living with HIV and
AIDS.
The group will meet at Cherry Street
Psychotherapy Assoc. 1515 South Lewis
on Monday nights, 7:00-9:00; June 17,
24, July 1,8,15,22,29, August 5. Contact
Chaplain Diane Zike for more information:
438-2437.
MCC OF GREATER TULSA PRESENTS
"GOSPEL EXPLOSION '96
On June 28, 29 and 30th the Rev. Joan
Wakeford will be bringing special speakers with her and offering Gospel
Explosion '96. Services will begin at 7:00
on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Sunday morning at 10:45 Joan will
preach, followed by a Pot-luck dinner. In
the afternoon she will be dedicating children and baptizing those who wish to be
baptized (by immersion). If you would like
to be baptized at Gospel Explosion '96,
please notify the church in advance.
MCC of Greater Tulsa is located at 1623
North Maplewood Ave. For more information, or to sign up, in advance to be
baptized, please call 838-1715.
Our Regional Aids Interfaith
Network (RAIN) Team client, Ella,
passed away May 14th at 2:00 pm.
Our team is currently relieved of all
duties to allow a healing time before
taking on another client. Our RAIN
Team at this time has only four
members and we really need a minimum of fourteen members to enable
us to serve our clients properly.
There will be another RAIN
Training series the first part of
August (the 5th, 6th and sth).
If
you are interested in joining our
RAIN team or just have questions,
call the RAIN Office at 749-4195
and ask Stephen or Kathy to send
you an application to register for this
class. The cost is $25.00 and some
scholarships are available.
---Suki, T.
~~.[~t~~t~~~~
being elected to a two year term on
the Board of Ordained Ministry! We
also congratulate you on receiving a
plaque of appreciation from the
South Central District for "distinguished service as a member of the
District Committee'!
For Young Adults
18 - 30
JULY 5
~ ~rn - Midnight
C11II622-1441 fot info.
The first Rainbow Flag was designed in
I 978 by Gilbert Baker, a San Francisco
artist. who created the flag in response to
a local activist's call for the need of a
community symbol (This was before the
pink triangle was popularly used as a
symbol of pride.) Using the five-striped
"Flag of the Race" as his inspiration.
Baker designed a flag with eight stripes:
pink. red, orange, yellow, green. blue,
indigo, and violet According to Baker,
those colors represented, respectivdy:
sexuality, life, healing. sun, nature, art,
harmony, and spirit Baker dyed and
sewed the material for the fust flag himsdf - in the true spirit of Betsy Ross.
Baker soon approached San Francisco's
Paramount Flag Company about mass
producing and selling his "gay flag".
Unfortunatdy, Baker had hand-dyed all
the colors, and since the color "hot pink"
was not commerciallyavailable,mass production of his eight-striped version
became impossible. The flag was thus
reduced to seven stripes.
In November I 978, San Francisco's gay
community was stunned when the city's
first openly gay supervisor, Harvey Milk,
was assassinated,WIShingto demonstrate
the gay community's strength and solidarity in the aftermath of this tragedy,
the I 979 Pride Parade Committee decided to use Baker's flag. The committee
eliminated the indigo stripe so they could
divide the colors evenly along the parade
route - three colors on one side of the
street and three on the other. Soon the six
colors were incorporated into a sixstriped version that became popularized
and that. today, is recognized by the
International Congress of Flag Makers.
Although the Rainbow Flag was initially used as a symbol of pride only in San
Francisco, it hasreceived increased visibility in recent years. Today, it is a frequent sight in a number of other cities as
well - New York, West Hollywood, and
Amsterdam, among them. Even in the
Twin Cities, the flag seems to he gaining
in popularity. Indeed, the Rainbow Flag
reminds us that ours is a diverse conmrunity - composed of people with a variety
of individual tastes of which we should
all beproud.
printed in GAZE Magazine,28 May 1993
'FAMILYOF FAITI-IMCC
1 2
Caregiver's Team
7:00 pm
7
8
9:15 - Christian Ed,
11:OOam11\brship
Potluck Dinner
following Yw>rship
3
Praise & Prayer
6:30pm
Choir Rehearsal
7:30pm
4
5
6
Safe Haven
8pm - Midnight
9 10 11 12 13
NEVVSLETTER
ARTICLES DUE
Praise & Prayer
6:30pm
Choir Rehearsal
7:30pm
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
9:15 • Christian Ed,
11:00 am Yw>rship
Board Meeting
Fundraising Team
1:00 pm
7:00 pm
Newsletter
Mailing 5:30
Praise & Prayer
6:30pm
Choir - 7:30 pm
10:00 am Mop&Glow
Christmas
Decorating Party
6pm
Carols, Food, Fun
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
9:15 - Christian Ed,
11:00 am Yw>rship
Christmas in July
1-3:30 pm
Assimilation Team
Membership Class
7:00 pm
Praise & Prayer
6:30pm
Choir Rehearsal
7:30 pm
28 29 30 31
9:15 - Christian Ed,
11:00 am Yw>rship
1-3:30 pm
Membership Class
Council of
Ministries
7:00 pm
Praise & Prayer
6:30pm
Choir Rehearsal
7:30 pm
~
'AMILY OF FAITH
..
MCC
NON-PROFIT
ORGANIZATION
POSTAGE PAID
PERMIT NO. 145
JENKS.OK
.0. Box 382
_ENKS, 0
K 74037-0382
Herlandof OKC
Pat Reeves
2312NW
39thStreet
OKLAHOMA
CITY,OK73112
~
ADDRESS
CORRECTION
REQUESTED
~