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Greetings from The Center for Lesbian
and Gay
Studies in Religion and Ministry!
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| "A Gay, Male, Christian, Sexual Ethic" |
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In 1983 John Boswell published his
path-breaking and agenda-setting work,
"Christianity, Social Tolerance, and
Homosexuality." Twenty-five years later CLGS
hosted a conference on the PSR campus to mark
that important work and to chart the future
of this important scholarship. On that
occasion CLGS was pleased to establish the
John E. Boswell Lectureship Fund, which will
support excellence in LGBTQ religious
scholarship by bringing pioneering scholars
to the PSR campus to share their latest
research. CLGS is pleased to announce that
the inaugural Boswell Lecture will be
delivered by Dale Martin, the Woolsey
Professor of Religious Studies at Yale
University. Professor Martin is the author
of, among other books, "The Corinthian Body,"
"Inventing Superstition: from the
Hippocratics to the Christians," and most
recently, "Sex and the Single Savior: Gender
and Sexuality in Biblical Interpretation."
The lecture will be offered on Wednesday
evening, April 30. For more information on
the Boswell Lectureship Fund, go to http://www.clgs.org/8/boswell_fund.html.
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| Creating LGBT-Affirming Asian Pacific Islander Ministries |
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The CLGS Racial/Ethnic Roundtable Project
together with the PANA Institute's Civil
Liberty and Faith Project will coordinate a
training retreat for LGBT Asian/Pacific
Islanders and supporters from Friday, May 30
through Sunday, June 1 at the Mercy Center in
Burlingame, California (near the San
Francisco airport). This retreat grew out of
the felt need to deepen community and
strengthen regional connections among those
doing LGBT related work in API faith
communities, to strategize and offer training
on issues ranging from the Bible to cultural
differences. Topics considered during this
retreat include: understanding Evangelicals;
how different API communities view
homosexuality; transgender issues; and
queering the Bible. For more information,
contact Rev. Elizabeth Leung (eleung@clgs.org).
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| Summer Session Courses for the CSR |
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--Available on a course-by-course basis!
--Fulfills requirements for the PSR
Certificate in Sexuality and Religion
A new line-up of courses is available this
summer that will fulfill requirements in
PSR's Certificate in Sexuality and Religion
program. These courses are available on a
course-by-course basis and students do not
need to be enrolled in the Certificate
program to take these courses. Each of the
following courses is worth 1.5 credit hours
and is offered over one week. More
information on these courses and registration
procedures can be found online at http://www.summer.psr.edu.
The Week of July 14-18
1. Queer Religious Activists
Bernard Schlager, 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
The Week of July 21-25
2. Queering the Use of the Bible
Timothy Koch, 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
The Week of July 28-August 1
3. LGBT Religious Issues in Postcolonial
Perspectives
Elizabeth Leung, 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
4. Sexuality in Sacred Art
Justin Tanis, 1:00-5:00 pm
http://www.summer.psr.edu
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| Regional Events and Gatherings |
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Next Steps: Developing Catholic
Lesbian/Gay Ministry
Part retreat and part workshop, this weekend
of prayer and planning is designed to assist
those working for the inclusion of lesbian
and gay people in their home parishes,
schools or other ministerial settings.
Francis Debernardo, executive director, and
Matthew Myers, staff associate at New Ways
Ministry will facilitate this event May 30 -
June 1 at the Mariandale Spirituality Center
in Ossining, New York; registration and fee
required. For more information, go to www.newwaysministry.org.
Regional Training Institutes for Jewish
Educators
Keshet (a grassroots organization dedicated
to creating fully inclusive Jewish
communities for GLBT people, will host two
regional training institutes for Jewish
Educators. Rabbi Steven Greenberg (author of
"Wrestling with God and Men: Homosexuality in
the Jewish Tradition") will facilitate
session at both institutes. The first
institute will be in Atlanta, May 18-20 and
the second in Cleveland, July 13-15. The
training will help participants design and
facilitate workshops on GLBT inclusion in
Jewish educational institutions, how to
combat homophobia in Jewish youth culture and
how to use a variety of curricular materials
for GLBT inclusion. For more information, go
to www.keshetonline.org.
Hearts on Fire: Lutherans Concerned
Conference
The biennial gathering of Lutherans Concerned
will meet in San Francisco over the July 4th
holiday weekend under the banner "Hearts on
Fire." This is an opportunity for worship,
workshops, training, networking and
socializing, as well as making decisions
about the future of Lutherans Concerned.
Bishop Gene Robinson is among the keynote
speakers. Reconciling in Christ (RIC)
congregations as well as prospective RIC
congregations and members are welcome! The
conference happens right after San Francisco
Pride week - so come for Pride and stay for
Hearts on Fire! For more information, go to
www.lcna.org.
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The work of CLGS depends on the
generosity of
individual donors. You can make a gift in
honor or in memory of friends or family,
which we'll include
on the Center's website "Honor Roll"! Click
here
to Donate Today!
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How to Address the Pope |
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It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke.
But how do we address the Pope? LGBT Roman
Catholics have been struggling with this for
some time and four of them, of rather high
profile, will be making their own attempt to
communicate just prior to the first papal
visit to the United States by Benedict XVI.
On Thursday, April 10, Teresa DeCrescenzo
(Executive Director of Gay Lesbian Adolescent
Social Services in Los Angeles),Gregory
Maguire (best-selling novelist of "Wicked"),
Heather Mizeur (representative in the
Maryland House of Delegates), and Richard
Rodriguez (social commentator, author and
contributor to PBS' "The News Hour with Jim
Lehrer") will each present a five-minute
"open statement" to the Pope at a press
conference in Washington, D.C. describing
their lives and hopes for the church. Members
of the press will then have an opportunity to
ask them questions. (For more information on
this press conference, contact New Ways
Ministry at 301-277-5674.)
The hope, of course, is that the Pope will
hear these statements even though he will not
be in attendance at the event. Personally,
I'm not optimistic that he will hear them,
but I do remain hopeful. I have to, because
time and again one of the most powerful tools
of institutional change is telling the
stories of flesh-and-blood LGBT people. (See
for example the book by Jack Rogers, former
moderator of the Presbyterian Church USA,
"Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality: Explode
the Myths, Heal the Church," and the one by
Gray Temple, an evangelical Episcopal priest,
"Gay Unions in Light of Scripture Tradition
and Reason." Both Rogers and Temple came to
support LGBT people in large measure because
of the LGBT people they actually knew
personally.) To be sure, sound biblical
scholarship and rigorous theological
arguments are crucial in these efforts; just
as important are the stories of LGBT people
and our families, stories of love and of faith.
At CLGS we're working hard on all of these
fronts - on scholarship and education for
bold religious leadership and making the
lives of LGBT people more visible, and
especially our lives of faith and ministry.
All of these aspects of our work come
together in each of our programs, from our
racial/ethnic roundtables to our OutFront
conferences, from the Bay Area Coalition for
Welcoming Congregations to the PSR
Certificate in Sexuality and Religion, to
name just a few. In all these areas CLGS
makes a profound difference in the lives of
so many people - not just those who are able
to be "out" and visible, but perhaps
especially for those who cannot be out yet
for any number of reasons. Please consider
helping us in the work of LGBT visibility by
making a financial gift to CLGS today. Your
support ensures that CLGS will continue to
change lives and transform institutions.
The Rev. Jay E. Johnson, PhD
Senior Director, Academic Research & Resources
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