Blogs
LGBTQ
Greater PNW Pride: Godly Resistance!
7/3/2019
Godly Resistance! At last month’s Annual Conference gathering of the Oregon-Idaho United Methodist Church Conference in Eugene, Oregon, there were people wearing t-shirts—including the Bishop—that quoted part of the baptismal covenant used within the UMC. The words that stand out on this shirt, in various rainbow colors, are “Resisting evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.” The people wearing the shirts are saying that they are resisting evil, such as ...
Greater NW Pride: My Blood Is Wanted
6/27/2019
My Blood is Wanted: The Red Cross, Giving Blood, HIV, and Being Gay My blood is wanted. To be more exact, in the last few days, a lesbian friend reminded me on Facebook about an opportunity to give blood to the Red Cross. She spoke about giving blood as one of the more noble causes and activities in her life. Giving blood is for a good purpose, namely saving the lives of others in need of blood. Giving blood is one of the ways we can fulfill what Jesus is calling us to do in loving one ...
Greater NW Pride: So Much Love!
6/21/2019
“So Much Love!” Last Saturday, June 15, 2019, I had an educational experience of being in two very different cultural contexts, both located on Interstate 5 in Oregon. In the morning, I participated and observed the last day of Annual Conference of the Oregon-Idaho United Methodist Church (UMC) Conference in Eugene, Oregon. That afternoon, I drove north to Portland, OR to the festival area that was part of the Portland LGBTQ+ Pride festivities, participating in the parade the next day (June...
Greater NW Pride: Building a Better World, for God's Sake
6/14/2019
Building a Better World, for God’s Sake I write this blog post in the middle of the third day of the Annual Conference of the Oregon-Idaho United Methodist Church Conference (OR-ID UMC AC) in Eugene, Oregon. It has been exciting to listen and watch to the changes afoot in this Conference as more out-LGBTQ+ people and people of color and allies are voicing their concerns while celebrating life. People are wearing their self-identity with rainbow buttons and t-shirts, “He/Him/His,” “...
Greater NW Pride: Happy Pride and Happy Pentecost!
6/4/2019
Happy Pride and Happy Pentecost! This coming Sunday is Pentecost, the day the Church celebrates the descending of the Spirit upon the earth. This was no ordinary event, by any stretch of the imagination! With Jesus having ascended into the heavens, there came not a quiet breeze, but the sound like the “rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where (the disciples_ were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them ...
Greater NW Pride: Preferred Gender Pronouns and LGBTQ+ People in the Church
5/30/2019
Preferred Gender Pronouns and LGBTQ+ People in the Church When growing up in modern American society, I remember as a young adult—who was identifying as white, cisgender, straight, male at the time—I would get letters addressed and sent to me as “Mr. Brett Mitchell.” The young woman I was engaged to at the time would get letters addressed to her with “Miss.” When we got married in 1978, soon letters were sent and addressed to us as “Mr. and Mrs. Brett Mitchell.” As she pointed out to me that...
Greater NW Pride: Pride Parades and Your Church
5/22/2019
Pride Parades and Your Church This last weekend I was blessed and happy to be working with the great folks at First United Methodist Church, Ashland. On Sunday morning, as I was entering the church to preach, I spied a beautiful, big rainbow flag fluttering in the breeze attached to their front sign! The flag reminded me that the time is coming up for LGBTQ+ Pride Parades, often held in June, which is LGBTQ+ Pride Month in the USA. And if you and your individual United Methodist Church want...
Children’s Literature, LGBTQ+, and Church
5/14/2019
Children’s Literature, LGBTQ+, and Church I am preparing for a trip to visit my granddaughter on the east coast in the coming weeks and started to shop around and see what I might bring with me in my new role as the grandfather who spoils his grandchildren. On one of the websites I scan daily, mombian.com, there was a new book that made me smile: A Plan for Pops! by Heather Smith and Brooke Kerrigan. It is one of the first gay grandparent books that I’ve seen publicized, and also...
Greater NW Pride: Schism
5/9/2019
Schism The word, “schism,” means “division or disunion, especially into mutually opposed parties” (dictionary.com). Schism is a theological or “church” term, used to describe those groups that break away with a church and establish a rival church. According to Britannica.com, the term originally referred to those divisions that were caused by disagreement over something other than basic doctrine. “thus, the schismatic group was not necessarily heretical. Eventually, however, the distinctions...
Greater NW Pride: From Toxicity to Grace
5/3/2019
From Toxicity to Grace The contrast couldn’t be greater when looking and reading the two groups of stories on Facebook this morning. The first set of stories reflected the current toxicity within The United Methodist Church, in which many out-LGBTQ+ and allied clergy are facing charges for simply being out and LGBTQ+ or supporting LGBTQ+ members of their respective churches. The first story in the Tampa Bay Timescovered the Rev. Andy Oliver of Allendale United Methodist Church, ...