Reconciling Ministries Network in Chicago, Illinois, United States for Friday, 2 March 2018
Reconciling Ministries Network, with the support of local Reconciling movement leaders and congregations, is hosting "Reconciling Conversations on a Way Forward" to share information on current conversations in our denomination to truly open the doors to LGBTQ persons.
Our guest speaker is Dave Nuckols, a member of the Commission on a Way Forward (see his bio below). Participants will also have an opportunity to hear ways to support our movement for change in The UMC. This event is free and all are welcome.
There are multiple locations, dates, and times in northern and southern California for these events. Please RSVP to the one or more you plan to attend.
March 16, Friday, 7PM - Los Altos UMC
March 17, Saturday, 10AM - St. Mark’s UMC
2391 St Mark's Way, Sacramento, CA 95864
March 17, Saturday, 4PM - Lake Merritt UMC
March 23, Friday, 7PM - Claremont UMC
March 24, Saturday, 10AM - First UMC
March 24, Saturday, 3PM - Hollywood UMC
If you have any questions, please contact:Rev. Dr. Israel Alvaran
izzy@rmnetwork.org
510-717-4894
Click here to RSVP
Download flyer
Dave Nuckols is one of 32 members of The UMC's Commission on a Way Forward where he brings passion for and experience with unity, inclusion, evangelism, global mission and financial sustainability. He is Co-Lay Leader of the Minnesota Annual Conference and Treasurer of our global denomination's Connectional Table. He is a member of fast-growing Reconciling Minnetonka UMC and a two-time member of Minnesota's delegation to General Conference.
He serves on the board of Reconciling Ministries Network. Dave has been building bridges between progressives and conservatives in our church for 6 years at the highest level of inter-caucus dialog and has taught numerous workshops. Dave is a lifelong United Methodist raised in Virginia and living in Minnesota since 1995. He and wife Karin have been happily married for 30 years and they have two adult daughters -- one of whom is queer and the other is straight -- and they hope both will want to be married in The United Methodist Church.
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"RMN Western Jurisdiction - February Update" Reconciliation Ministry Network in Chicago, Illinois, United States with Rev. Dr. Israel Alvaran for Wednesday, 21 February 2018
Before I joined RMN's staff, I served as national organizer for economic justice with the General Board of Church and Society, and prior to that I was a community organizer for UNITE HERE Local 2, the hotel and food service workers union in San Francisco for 5 years. My work in extension ministries has mostly been grassroots organizing and I believe there is no substitute to it if we want genuine social transformation rooted in justice.Seeking change in our denomination is no different. Your participation in local organizing is the most important part of attaining our goal of full inclusion of LGBTQ persons in the life of The UMC. Every effort counts: whether you are signing up church members to be Reconciling United Methodists, sharing your story as an ally, or helping congregations become Reconciling Communities. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. sums up my point: "Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed." This requires the hard work or grassroots organizing.
#BeTheWayForward. Organize, organize, organize!
Rev. Dr. Israel I. Alvaran
Western Jurisdiction Organizer
Phone: 510-717-4894
izzy@rmnetwork.org
New Reconciling Communities in 2017
Last year, as a result of your support and grassroots organizing efforts, we added 20 new Reconciling Communities in our movement for LGBTQ justice in the Western Jurisdiction. We congratulate and welcome the following faith communities to our Reconciling family:
- Battle Ground Community UMC - Battle Ground, WA
- Belong Church (UMC) - Denver, CO
- Central UMC - Phoenix, AZ
- Concord UMC - Concord, CA
- Evanston Center for Spiritual Wholeness and Healing - Denver, CO
- Fairwood UMC - Renton, WA
- First UMC - Bend, OR
- First UMC - Lafayette, CO
- First UMC - Olympia, WA
- First UMC - Oregon City, OR
- First UMC - Santa Barbara, CA
- Oak Grove UMC - Oak Grove, OR
- Ojai UMC - Ojai, CA
- The Journey at First UMC - Loveland, CO
- The Water's Edge Congregation of First UMC - San Diego, CA
- Tigard UMC - Tigard, OR
- Trinity UMC - Eugene, OR
- Walnut Avenue UMC - Walnut Creek, CA
- West Los Angeles UMC - Los Angeles CA
- Woodside Road UMC - Redwood City, CA
1. With the upcoming called General Conference drawing near, now is the time to recommit ourselves to the work of LGBTQ justice and equality in The UMC. Sign the letter "Hope and Action for a Just and Inclusive United Methodist Church" and share with others. We're all in this together.
2. Throughout the years, RMN has been empowered to work alongside our LGBTQ community in calling The UMC to accountability around inclusion and justice. We are able to do this only through your generous support. Will you be a regular sustainer of our Reconciling movement? We need your help!
Sign the letter here!
Support RMN today!
Get organized - join us for a training
WHAT: This training will empower Reconciling United Methodists to shepherd churches/communities through the Reconciling process.
WHEN: 9AM – 5PM (lunch/snacks will be provided)
WHERE: We currently have the following locations -
- March 24, 2018 - First UMC, Salem OR
- April 28, 2018 - Trinity UMC, Las Vegas NV
- May 12, 2018 - Park Hill UMC, Denver CO
- September 8, 2018 - Tehachapi Valley UMC, Tehachapi CA
- Register for the March 24th BIC in Salem, OR
- Register for the April 28th BIC Las Vegas, NV
- Register for the May 12th BIC in Denver, CO
- Register for the September 8th BIC in Tehachapi, CA
- Host a BIC Workshop
Grace UMC
c/o Rev. Sarah Beck
1935 Avenue B Billings MT 59102
National Convocation - July 26-29, 2018
For Everyone Born – The 2018 Convocation of the Love Your Neighbor Coalition by Reconciling Ministries Network
In just a few months, you’re invited to join hundreds of United Methodists from across the country as we gather for movement building, community, and worship of the One who sustains us. At this year’s convocation, we’ll be dreaming together of a church committed to justice, love, and a place at the table “For Everyone Born.” No exceptions.In 2017, we shared that the location for this gathering would be in Miami, FL. Unfortunately, our planned venue has suffered extensive damage due to an electrical fire, and we have just learned that the repairs may not be complete by July.
Because your schedules are important to us, the dates for Convocation will remain the same (July 26-29), but due to these damages it will now be held in a new city and venue. We are close to signing an agreement with a new facility and are eager to share more information with you shortly.
We hope this doesn’t cause any inconvenience, but as anyone who has attended Convocations in the past can attest, wherever the movement gathers, the Sacred is always among us.
Our multi-organizational planning committee could not be more excited for the direction this event is heading and all that will transpire.
We look forward to unfolding more details and registration very soon.
Connect with your local Reconciling team
- Alaska: Art Carpenter / Tia Hollowood
- Desert Southwest: Rev. Kimberly Scott
- California-Nevada: Beth Snyder
- California-Pacific: Jason Takagi
- Pacific Northwest: Rev. Sharon Moe / Rev. Terri Stewart
- Oregon-Idaho: Deborah Maria / Rev. Karen Nelson / Rev. Bonnie Parr Philipson
- Rocky Mountain: Pastor Jaime Nieves
- Yellowstone: Mary Maheras
- Hawai'i: Darlene Rodrigues
- California-Nevada Conference Committee on Reconciliation
- Pacific Northwest - Reconciling Ministries Network
- California-Pacific Conference Reconciling Ministries Network
- Rocky Mountain Reconciling Ministries Network
- Alaska Reconciling Ministries Network
- Yellowstone Conference Voices of Reconciling Ministries
- Desert Southwest Reconciling Ministries
- Oregon-Idaho Reconciling United Methodists
- Hawai'i Reconciling Ministries
- Filipino Reconciling United Methodists
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"Convocation Update, Support Grace UMC, and Ash Wednesday"
Reconciling Ministries Network in Chicago, Illinois, United States
In just a few months, you're invited to join hundreds of United Methodists from across the country as we gather for movement building, community, and worship of the One who sustains us. At this year's convocation, we'll be dreaming together of a church committed to justice, love, and a place at the table "For Everyone Born." No exceptions.
In 2017, we shared that the location for this gathering would be in Miami, FL. Unfortunately, our planned venue has suffered extensive damage due to an electrical fire, and we have just learned that the repairs may not be complete by July.
Because your schedules are important to us, the dates for Convocation will remain the same (July 26-29), but due to these damages it will now be held in a new city and venue. We are close to signing an agreement with a new facility and are eager to share more information with you shortly.
We hope this doesn't cause any inconvenience, but as anyone who has attended Convocations in the past can attest, wherever the movement gathers, the Sacred is always among us.
Our multi-organizational planning committee could not be more excited for the direction this event is heading and all that will transpire.
We look forward to unfolding more details and registration very soon.
Send your love and support to Grace UMC
Billings church gets hit again with swastika, anti-gay graffiti
PHOEBE TOLLEFSON ptollefson@billingsgazette.com
The flag hanging in the window of the Grace United Methodist Church was taken down after it was found vandalized with a swastika.TAILYR IRVINE, Gazette Staff
A week after someone left a stack of anti-gay pamphlets at a gay-friendly church in Billings, more messages appeared in and around the building, including swastikas and a hastily scrawled “No gays” on the sign board outside.
Grace United Methodist Church has been a vocal advocate of LGBT issues and rights, organizing support for the city's ultimately unsuccessful nondiscrimination ordinance and hosting gatherings.
Pastor Sarah Beck called the recent acts “unacceptable,” and said the congregation had been concerned, not just for the church but also for the people responsible.
“That is a sign of some seriously dark stuff,” she said. “We’re going to pray for those people.”
On Sunday, the church hosted a public forum to speak out the against anti-gay literature placed inside the church Jan. 25. The event also addressed last week’s graffiti spree that left swastikas, penises and profanity spray-painted on the outside of Lewis and Clark Middle School, Senior High School and homes and cars on the 10 block of Burlington Avenue.
BUY NOW
Pamphlets found at the Grace United Methodist Church in Billings.TAILYR IRVINE, Gazette Staff
Roughly 150 Billings residents gathered for the event.
Then on Thursday, as volunteers were tidying rooms, a volunteer discovered a swastika painted on the choir room door and more anti-gay literature pinned to a bulletin board inside the room.
Outside on a church sign that reads, “Open doors, open hearts,” someone had scribbled, “No gays,” said Angie Buckley, the church council president.
BUY NOW
The Rev. Sarah Beck is pastor of Grace United Methodist Church.HANNAH POTES, Gazette Staff
Beck, the pastor, said the timing of the second incident was discouraging.
“It’s certainly an attempt at intimidation,” she said. “But it’s not going to work. We’re not going to shrink away from being who we are in the community, as a congregation.”
The incident has been reported to the Billings Police Department and the FBI.
Beck has been pastor at the church for three and a half years and said in that time nothing like this has happened at Grace United.
BUY NOW
A door found vandalized at the Grace United Methodist Church in Billings.TAILYR IRVINE Gazette Staff
Beck said that as a high school student in Illinois she had heard about Not In Our Town, a response by Billings residents after a rash of hate crimes in 1993. The movement gained national attention.
Billings is a place that knows how to react to hate messages, Beck said.
“We are determined to continue doing what we believe in and what God’s called us to do,” she said.
MORE INFORMATION
In an ongoing effort to determine who vandalized homes, vehicles and school property with spray-painted graffiti last week, the Billings Polic…
In response to these acts, we'd like to join others in showing our love and support for Grace UMC! We invite you to send them words of support on colored paper hearts or donations to:
Grace UMC
c/o Rev. Sarah Beck
1935 Avenue B
Billings, MT 59102
From the ashes - an Ash Wednesday blog by Brett Ray
You've likely heard those words a few times in your life, and you're likely to hear them at least once today.
"Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
They've been a staple in my life, a yearly ritual reminding me from where I have come. It's an intimate time--that moment when the lights are dim, music is playing lightly in the background, and someone you know and love rubs that gritty ash into your skin, reminding you that we have all come from the same dust. Or, downtown in the square, when a stranger offers that moment of vulnerability, of grace, of peace in the two strokes of their ash-covered finger.
Read the rest of the post here!
From the ashes by Brett Ray
“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”You’ve likely heard those words a few times in your life, and you’re likely to hear them at least once today.
“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
They’ve been a staple in my life, a yearly ritual reminding me from where I have come. It’s an intimate time–that moment when the lights are dim, music is playing lightly in the background, and someone you know and love rubs that gritty ash into your skin, reminding you that we have all come from the same dust. Or, downtown in the square, when a stranger offers that moment of vulnerability, of grace, of peace in the two strokes of their ash-covered finger.
Of course, I haven’t always received the ashes in this way.
As a queer person in The United Methodist Church, it’s easy to hear about “dust” and assume it is simply affirming what we are told many days of the year–that our mere existence is sinful or somehow less-than.
For years, I didn’t think Ash Wednesday told me anything new; it wasn’t a sacred time. It was just an opportunity for me to hear what I had heard so many times before: in the church, I and other queer people, were worth nothing more than dust. Why would I need that reminder? Why would any marginalized person in the church need that reminder?
But this year, I’m experiencing the Spirit in these words. I’m hearing them differently.
I wonder if Ash Wednesday is less a statement about who we are and more about who God is. Perhaps less about how “inadequate” we are and more about God’s overwhelming desire to be with us. Less about how we have failed and more about the blessedness of our being.
“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Dust: we’re told it’s the essence of our being. Each and every one of us. Not because of what we’ve done or who we are; not in spite of what we’ve done or who we are. But simply by virtue of being human.
What’s more, we’re told that God wanted and wants to play in the dust. To create life from dust. To participate in our growing from dust into the people God has created us to be. To be in loving, familial relationship with each and every one of us.
Ash Wednesday is a reminder that God has sought us even before we were able to seek God. Even as we head into wilderness days, God is still seeking, still creating.
As queer people and allies in the church, this Ash Wednesday I beg of you: be gentle with yourselves. Shut out the murmurs of condemnation that so often reside within these Ash Wednesday words.
“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Hear these words as a reminder that God has chosen you, that God seeks relationship with you, that God has met us even in our dust to form us beautifully diverse, that God calls us good. Welcome dust as the basis of our being, the matter God has chosen to reach into, the matter into which God breathes life, the matter–the people–that God has chosen to love.
Accept the ashes, let them sink into your skin, and remember that God has loved you, shaped you, given you life–and will do so from dust to dust. Let them be a reminder that any voice that says otherwise is not the voice of God.
“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Let these words give you life, peace, and remind you of God’s everlasting love. Refuse to let anyone’s words–this day or any day–take that away.
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Brett Ray
Brett Ray is a transmasculine person, writer, poet, arm-chair theologian, and coffee enthusiast. You can find them pursuing the best cup of coffee in town, wooing their wife with sappy love songs, or watching Iowa State athletics.
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