Articles tagged with: Christianity
James Steven “Steve” Reese (1968–2011)
We were saddened to learn last week of the death of PFLAG Juneau volunteer Steve Reese. Our condolences to his children, family and friends, and all who knew him. We excerpt one of his letters to the editor, on Christian attitudes towards LGBT people: “If your Bible tells you to hate or to do hateful things, then you are reading your Bible wrong.”
Lesbian couple saved 40 from rightwing Norwegian terrorist
Hege Dalen and Toril Hansen — a lesbian couple — put their own lives at risk to save about 40 youth from the July 22 massacre in Norway. A total of 250 to 300 youth were rescued by Hege, Toril, and others camped near them that day. We salute their heroism.
Alaska Presbyterians react to LGBT ordination vote
Last week the Presbyterian Church (USA) ratified a historic change permitting the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy. How have Alaska Presbyterians reacted?
Will Alaska get gay Presbyterian ministers?
The Presbyterian Church (USA) becomes the fourth mainline Christian denomination to permit the ordination of LGBT ministers and lay leaders. Celebrating Immanuel Presbyterian Church (Anchorage) and other More Light churches which worked for decades to bring about this change.
Believe Out Loud: A Million Christians for LGBT Equality
This Mother’s Day, Believe Out Loud is inviting mothers and children everywhere to break the silence.
Determined to give voice to the millions of Christians who believe in equal rights for all, including the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) community, Believe Out Loud is launching a campaign to get one million Christians to break the silence and join the burgeoning chorus for full LGBT equality in the church.
Progressive Christians across numerous denominations believe that Jesus’ message of justice, compassion and love compels them to be fully welcoming of all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Now is the time to speak up and remind the world that it is possible to be Christian AND believe in LGBT inclusion.
Simply believing that LGBT individuals ought to be welcomed into our church communities is not enough. The time has come to break the silence. Believe Out Loud. Express your compassion by welcoming and supporting the gay and lesbian members of our communities. Join us, and raise Christian voices around LGBT issues.
How can you make your beliefs real? Be active. It can be as simple as starting a conversation. Lending a hand. Offering a seat. Kind gestures are the first step down the road to inclusion.
Watch their new video and be inspired to break the silence around LGBT equality in your church:
Alaskan minister preached against homosexuality, now an ally
Murray Richmond, a Presbyterian minister for 17 years (the last 10 years in Alaska) and a hospital chaplain for 3 years, writes about how he changes his mind about homosexuality and marriage equality.
We answer to a higher calling….
A. Caleb Pritt writes on the relationship between Christian faith and the GLBT community.
Christian Gay & Trans Resources
The Christmas season is a good time to highlight resources for LGBT Christians and people with Christian friends and family members. The Gay Christian Network, SoulForce and the Parents Reconciling Network are a few of the online resources that were recently recommended by Alaskans.
“I wish that you guys could post a link to The Gay Christian Network. [They have] amazing YouTube videos on helping people who are gay come to terms with their spirituality,” wrote Mark Allred of Alaska Native Lutheran Church in Anchorage.
Mark encourages watching all 7 videos, but he thinks the one embedded below is the most useful. Watch Gay Christian Answers, episode 4: “Aren’t we designed for heterosexuality?”
MCC Anchorage
Matthew Moak at Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) of Anchorage also recommends The Gay Christian Network, along with several other resources. Of course, MCC itself is a great resource.
- What the Bible Says – and Doesn’t Say – about Homosexuality (pdf) is an important resource from SoulForce, a group that “works to end the religious and political oppression of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning people.”
- Homosexuality And The Bible is a list of articles and websites by Christian Gays, a group that provides “the resources for any who wish to understand the ACCURATE interpretation of the Original Scriptures with regard to homosexuality.”
- SisterFriends Together “is an outreach ministry of Grace Unfolding Ministries, and we exist to provide a safe and welcoming online faith community for lesbian, bisexual, questioning and transgender women.” They can also be found at ChristianLesbians, their previous name.
- The Gay Christian Network is “a nonprofit ministry serving Christians who happen to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, and those who care about them.”
- Coming Out as a Transgender Person is a workbook created by MCC Transgender Ministries, which “provides opportunities for spiritual development for transgender people and their families and friends.”
PRN is an organization of United Methodist parents of GLBT children. Rev. Johnathan of Church Life Alaska mentioned a new transgender resource from PRN in last week’s Alaska GLBT News. The information came from Sara Boesser, who compiles the weekly LGBT News Roundup posted here on Bent Alaska.
New Resource: Our Transgender And Intersex Children
What causes a person’s sexual orientation is unknown. Causes for people being transgender or intersex are not fully understood. A huge variety of factors are at work in making each individual the person that they are and there is no one reason that causes people to be transgender. It has nothing to do with anything you did or did not do, nor anything your child did or did not do.
Families love their children and want what is best for them. You cannot change your child. However, you can change your response to your child. Your specific response can improve your child’s health and happiness. Your consistent parenting and unconditional love does have a central and enduring influence on your child’s life. Here are some parenting guidelines, shown by research, to improve the physical and mental health of LGBT children.
LGBT-friendly church groups
Most denominations have an LGBT or LGBT-friendly wing, and many of these movements have web sites with resource pages. A good list of national LGBT-friendly church groups can be found HERE. This does not imply that the local Alaska congregations are LGBT-friendly, unfortunately, but the online resources can be useful.
The Resource page on the Open and Affirming (ONA) site of the United Church of Christ (UCC) was suggested by a reader named Matt. He belonged to an ONA church before moving to Alaska, although he is not involved with the UCC in Alaska. None of the Alaska UCC’s are listed as Open and Affirming on the Coalition’s site, and I don’t know if the local congregations are LGBT-friendly or not. But the national ONA site includes resources for gay and trans Christians.
A list of Alaska’s LGBT-friendly churches and religious groups is posted HERE.
Do you know a good online LGBT-positive Christian resource that we didn’t mention? Please leave the name and link in a comment below this list.
Lisa snubs Pride Conference, honors Prevo instead
While U.S. Senate candidate Scott McAdams was impressing us and our allies at the Alaska Pride Conference last weekend, write-in incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski ignored the invitation to speak to LGBT Alaskans and instead was at Anchorage Baptist Temple kissing up to Rev. Jerry Prevo, a man who brags that his personal legacy has been to prevent gay Alaskans from getting equal rights.
Watch Lisa thank Jerry for the love and guidance he has shown “our community,” by which she means the homo-haters of Anchorage, apparently:
The video of Lisa and Jerry is courtesy of Alaska Commons, and the transcript was posted on Mudflats (the highlighting is mine):
Pastor Prevo, Mrs. Prevo, it is such an honor and a real delight to be with so many here today to celebrate this pastoral anniversary. Think about where you were in 1971. What was going on in your life. Well, here in Alaska… Everyone’s now starting to talk… think about what was going on in 1971… We just passed the Alaska Land Claims Settlement Act that led to the development of our Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Think about how our state has transformed with the advent of that line and what oil has brought to our country, our state.
That was the same time that Pastor Prevo and Mrs. Prevo came to Anchorage and began to build this community – 135,000 people in Anchorage at that time, and think about the changes that we have seen within our community, within our state. And so much of what we’ve seen that has been good and strong has been built right here at the Anchorage Baptist Temple by Reverend Prevo. Think about the ministries. We saw the children’s ministry here today and the delight in the children’s faces. The ministries for the men, the women’s connection, the recovery ministries – so many of the good things – the Anchorage Christian Schools, so much that has been developed under the leadership of this man, with the love and support of Carol Prevo. This leadership is demonstrated on a daily basis and we benefit from it.
And Pastor, I want to thank you from a very personal note for what you did to celebrate the life of a great Alaskan. It was here in this church that Alaskans and people around the country paid tribute to a great Alaskan, Ted Stevens. And what you did, and your guidance and how we showed our final respects was a tribute to all of Alaska. That leadership doesn’t come without the greatness of a man. We thank you for what you have given our community – the guidance you have shown, and the love for so many. Continue it for another 39. Thank you.
WTF? Here is one example of Prevo’s love for us. It’s part 2 of his sermon against last summer’s equal rights ordinance (in case you missed it) and includes a long list of insults for LGBT Alaskans:
Can’t you feel the love? Prevo’s only legacy is peddling fear and hate of LGBT people and preventing Anchorage from becoming a city of equality and fairness.
What is Lisa thinking?
Prevo calls gay Christians "deadly" as Ray Boltz sings of love
The Ray Boltz concert in Anchorage was a hit with LGBT fans and mainstream Christians – but not with Jerry Prevo, who warned his flock to avoid the free concert and wrote a column attacking gay Christians, calling Boltz an “ex-Christian” with “deadly secrets.” Boltz took the high road and answered the hate with a new song about love:
“I will choose to love,
though they shake their fists at me.
And I will be myself with you,
living authenticity.
Though they wrap their hatred
in a message from above,
I will choose to love.”
Amen to that.
In June, Bent reported that Ray Boltz was coming to Anchorage and posted his hit song “Don’t Tell Me Who to Love”, featured in a video for marriage equality. Meanwhile, Prevo warned his followers about the concert in a special all-caps “BEWARE” message, and explained in the ABT bulletin why Christians should not attend the concert of one of their favorite Christian singers:
“Many of us are familiar with such Christian songs as “Thank You” and “Watch the Lamb” written by Ray Boltz. For years, Mr. Boltz performed before numerous crowds and churches, singing and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He sold over 4.5 million records before retiring from Christian music. Why did he retire?”
Prevo is very familiar with the song “Thank You” — in fact, his congregation chose the Boltz song as their special tribute to Prevo when they celebrated his 38 years of spreading fear and hate against gays. Oops! Boltz had already come out, but ABTers are notoriously behind the times.
“In December of 2004, Boltz revealed to Carol, his wife of 30 years, and his four children that he was a homosexual. Since that time, he has divorced his wife in lieu of his settling into his new-found lifestyle.”
Carol writes a blog in support of gay Christians, and gives advice to their former spouses. She also manages Ray’s website, and weeds out the hate mail from people like Prevo. Boltz lives with his male partner, as an honest gay man whose family loves and accepts him. He performs at gay-friendly churches around the country, and the tickets are often free.
“How does this happen? Paul gives us a look into this phenomenon. “For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Tim 3:2-5). These are the religious people; these are the ones who exist in the community of believers; these are the ones who exhibit a “form of godliness.”
Do you think he has a special grudge against gay Christians? Blasphemers, traitors, brutal – he aims that whole list of sins at gay people of faith, just because they tell the truth about how God created them and continue to believe that God loves them. Prevo hates that truth.
“How hopeless can it be to know the truth and deny the power of that truth? How can we go through the motions day after day, coming to church, and even involved in ministry, yet “denying the sovereign Lord who bought us?” (2 Peter 2:1) “They profess to know God, but in works deny Him” (Titus 1:16). Jude wrote “They have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah” (v.11).”
Actually, these quotes apply perfectly to preachers who sell hate-for-profit disguised as religion. Just sayin’.
“Only an individual and God can know what deadly secrets he/she keeps. Don’t let them have power over you like Cain’s hatred for Abel (Gen. 4:7). Having a clear understanding of doctrine, attending church, and working in the ministry are vital to the Christian life, but they can also be counterfeited to fit a religious form. Jesus did not say the good branch sits faithfully in pews; He said, “It abides.” This is revealed in a continual desire to draw near to God, the expression of obedience, and a hatred for sin. Nothing would be more tragic than to say those hopeless words, “Did we not prophecy in your Name?” to the Lord who never knew you.”
Being gay is a “deadly” secret? Yes, says Prevo, a secret that will lead to the murder of good Christian Abels who are taken in by the “counterfeit” gay Christians.
THAT is HATE.
Hate laced with the threat of violence. Don’t let them have power over you like Cain… don’t let them murder you with their deadly secrets… defend yourself and your family… kill them first.
Crazy dangerous hate.
Why does Prevo hate Ray Boltz so violently? He should be happy that Boltz continues to believe and has not abandoned the church.
Prevo hates Boltz because he knows that when Christians hear a believer they respect singing heartfelt songs about being gay and knowing God’s love, they will forget to be afraid of him and will be touched by the truth and humanity of his music.
And when they stop fearing gays, they won’t pay Prevo to protect them from a non-existent threat.
Try it for yourself. Watch the video below and the other videos from the local concert, and see if his songs move you. “Who Would Jesus Love” from the new album True is especially appropriate for Anchorage in the aftermath of the ordinance.
“Would He only love the ones
who look the same as me?
Would He only offer hope
when He saw similarity?
Would he leave the others waitin
like a stranger at the gate?
Would He discriminate?
Tell me, who would Jesus love?”
The following video opens with photos of his Alaska visit set to “Don’t Tell Me Who to Love”, then switches to the concert. Boltz tells about coming out to his supportive family, and sings the new song “I Will Choose to Love.” (The song starts around 4:20 and it’s worth waiting for.)
The haters in Anchorage need to hear this message, even more than the gays and allies do. I hope a few disobeyed Prevo and went to this incredible concert. Perhaps they will also choose love.
