2008 was the year christianlesbians.com morphed into SisterFriends-Together. Currently we’re averaging between 320-550 hits per day in additional to nearly 100 readers who are following along by email subscription. Not bad as far as beginnings go.
For those of you who are new to SisterFriends, welcome girlfriend! If you haven’t already explored the place, peeked in the cupboards and rooted through the medicine cabinet, by all means, please do. You’ll find some basic information located across the top of the page on the navigational bar. Without question the tab that gets clicked the most is The Bible and Homosexuality that will take you to my posts on the six scripture passages most commonly abused misused to condemn homosexuality. Go ahead. Click it. You know you wanna. And then be sure to check out the posts under the categories section to your right. Gifted by Otherness, Sexual Ethics, and Coming Out have been the ones that have attracted the most readership.
Though I’ve been doing this whole internet thang for a number of years, I’m still an amateur on a slow learning curve when it comes to blogging. There are some massively successful bloggers out there busting out posts every day with readership stats in the thousands. Kudos to them! While the whispered longings of my fragile ego would love to have a ginormous following hanging on each and every word I pounded out on my 14-inch Macbook keyboard I’m more than content to have the small but faithful following of which it would be great to have you join. I don’t know what you’ll take away from reading this blog but my desire would be you’d catch a little bit of God’s love and grace in this place and find a community of queer and queer-friendly folk to accompany you on the journey of faith with a twist of gay on the side. And fun. I hope you have fun here too because goodness knows we all can use a little nonsense now and again. Just be warned. When we have contests with prizes here, the competitive beast comes out among the regular posse. Watch your back!
I’ll be putting up a new post tomorrow but in the meantime here are my regular Weekend Links on Monday. Better late than…
I’m not wearing mine yet but only because I have fabricstorephobia, a hideous condition that started with I was given a C+ on my eighth grade sewing project. Despite the lousy grade I was looking fine in my white and blue tie-dyed denim vest.
As long as we’re talking fashion here’s one final shout out to give your support to Bead For Life. I’m typing to the clicking sound of a half dozen bangles around my wrist at this very moment.
I’ve just started following My Heart Goes Out by Carol Boltz, former wife of evangelical Christian musician and song writer Ray “Surprise! I’m gay too!” Boltz
Check out Missiongathering where they have a rich archive of audio sermons. The next time I make a trek to San Diego, that’s where this girl will be worshipping!
In honor of the start of my liquid fast this Wednesday, please go here, here, and here and then join with me in a moment of silence.
I want to give everyone a head’s up that Adam over at Pomomusing is beginning an online look through Jack Roger’s book, “Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality: Explode the Myth, Heal the Church.” The series began this weekend with an overview and he follows up today by exploring Chapter One. I recommend both the book and the guy doing the blogging on the book so it’s a win-win!
The comments Adam’s posts will generate will no doubt be interesting for those in the mood for verbal slap downs and “cut and paste” galore from Leviticus and Romans.
I use to attend a special New Year’s Eve church service every year when I was a kid. Beginning at 8:00 p.m. we had four hours of singing, sermons, and testimonies (hallelujah!) that concluded at midnight with the congregation on their knees praying in the new year. Dropping to your knees in church at midnight is a bit like the evangelical version of the dropping of the ball in Times Square only with less noise-makers and confetti. Four hours of church could be exhausting and as you can well imagine not all that spine-tingling. Forty years later and now if I’m still awake at midnight it’s only because the ringing of the new year happened to coincide with a post-bedtime excursion to the bathroom.
In the days of those four hour church-a-thons, a key element was the writing of New Year’s Resolutions. Once written they were sealed in a self-addressed stamped envelope that was then mailed to your home six months later so you could be reminded in your own handwriting of your unaccomplished promises to yourself. I grew weary of the annual mid-year ego smack-down so I stopped setting myself up with New Year’s Resolutions years ago.
Until now. I guess I’m becoming a bit of a mid-life risk-taker. Party on Anita.
So here they are; only a few in number but ambitious in scale.
I resolve to lose 50 pounds in 2009. Let’s not be vague here. I have a plan already in place. A radical plan. On January 7 I begin a 4-5 month medical-supervised liquid fast. Expect some very cranky posts over the next few weeks as I adjust to life without chewing.
I resolve that 2009 will be the year of “the book.” I have a box full of note cards, a head full of ideas and a heart full of desire. Now is the year to bring it all together.
I resolve to know the God of Jesus more intimately by directing all my Scripture reading, meditation, and study in 2009 on the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) exclusively, with the exception of occasional forays into the Psalms because there are days when a girl just needs a Psalm to carry her through. No Pentateuch, Prophets, or Paul. Just Jesus. All year long.
I resolve that in the coming year I’ll be more bold, passionate, and relentless in proclaiming the love and grace of God.
I resolve to clean the cat box everyday. Added at the urging of my beloved. Sigh.
I’m hoping I have one more chance before the end of the day to to post a more New Year’s Evey post but this one has been in the hopper so long it’s either post or delete so I’m going with post it.
Since President-Elect Obama selected Warren to give the invocation prayer at the Inauguration, Warren’s been picked apart like a 10 pound holiday turkey at a family gathering of 300 kinfolk. Like you I’ve read a slew of commentaries, blogs, and op-eds from the most compassionate to the most snarky and in the end I stand shoulder to shoulder with Bishop Gene Robinson:
I’m all for Rick Warren being at the table, but we’re not talking about a discussion, we’re talking about putting someone up front and center at what will be the most watched inauguration in history, and asking his blessing on the nation. And the God that he’s praying to is not the God that I know.
I don’t have much more to say beyond what Robinson has said about Warren’s participation in the Inauguration. I’m disappointed by Obama’s choice but I’m over it. Life goes on and I’m not going to allow Warren’s presence or prayer rob me of the hope for change that lies before us in a new year and a new presidency.
But looking beyond the invocation debate, I continue to watch Warren as a pastor and Christian and as I do I’m coming to a renewed commitment of how it is that I want to live out my own life in the world as I watch his life play out under the media spotlight. Admittedly the teachable moments have been centered around what I consider to be Warren’s mistakes rather than his strengths but to be fair I have a library annex of life lessons gleaned from my own mistakes, and with the reality of my failings laid out before me I’m more earnest than snide when I say Rick Warren is teaching me.
In the days prior to Christmas Rick Warren had several highly publicized encounters with queer folk. On December 21 Warren had a 30 minute phone conversation and then a face to face meeting with Melissa Etheridge. Melissa recounts her time with Warren in an Open Letter to The Huffington Post, as does her wife, Tammy Lynn Michael, on her blog at Hollywood Farm Girl. On that same evening during a gathering of the Muslim Public Affairs Council Warren referred to his earlier encounter with Etheridge by saying he was a long time fan of hers and that he “loved gays.”
On the following day Warren visited Out of the Closet, a West Hollywood thrift store that helps fund programs offered by AIDS Heathcare Foundation. He browsed through the store, purchasing ten books including copies of two of his own, stopped to talk with the openly gay store manager, Erol Sarabi, and pose for a photo with his arm draped around Sarabi’s shoulder. The story was originally released on the TMZ blog.
There’s nothing in either of these two highly publicized encounters to suggest Warren was anything but warm, friendly, and genuine in his demeanor and conversations. Clearly he wooed Melissa and that’s all fine and good. The problem for me was that when I heard of these events I was propelled back to a story I’d read only days earlier by Jeff Lutes in a post contributed to The Bilerico Project entitled “That Weird Hug from Rick Warren.” If you’re too tired from the holidays to follow the link, here’s an abbreviated summary of Jeff’s story. As abbreviated as is within my verbosity to provide that is.
Jeff Lutes first began making arrangements in December 2007 to meet Rick Warren on Father’s Day in June, 2008. According to Jeff, the Executive Director of Soulforce, it was agreed in a series of phone conversations with Warren’s chief of staff that Warren and his wife, along with several other members of his staff and their families would join in a meal after worship that day to talk together about how they might find ways to move beyond differences and look to what they shared in common as parents and people of faith. This was to be part of a series of conversations with evangelical leaders as part of Soulforce’s American Family Outing 2008 project.
Months passed. One week prior to the meeting an article appears in Newsweek mentioning the upcoming meeting between Soul Force families and Rick Warren. In the end Warren’s people informed Jeff that Warren would be unable to meet with them while at the same time Warren himself posted a comment on Get Religion:
(You) were correct in assuming Newsweek quoted a Soul Force press release headline that was 100% false. We did not invite this group and I will not be meeting with them. They invited themselves to draw attention to their cross country publicity stunt.
My staff has already told them that neither my wife nor I will meet with them for any discussion or debate. This weekend, both Kay and I are receiving awards from two different universities so we’ll be out of town! Also, it’s Father’s Day and I’m spending the holiday with my children and grandchildren, as are all my staff.
In the end Warren preached on Father’s Day at a satellite church to Saddleback and agreed to sit down and meet for 10-15 minutes after worship with Jeff Lutes and his family. Following the conclusion of the worship service, Jeff, along with his family stood in the church waiting for their meeting with Warren. According to Jeff the meeting went something like this:
Eventually, I heard Warren call out my name. As I turned to greet him, he hugged me, my partner, and our three children . . . and then walked away. No conversation. Minimal eye contact. Just an awkward hug and he was gone.
I can’t help but hold these three separate encounters with Warren side by side. Whether or not Warren originally agreed to meet with Jeff Lutes and the folks from Soulforce and then reneged on the arrangements or the accuracy of Warren’s statements in his comment on Get Religion is a secondary concern to me. What caught my attention is that in his own words Warren refused to meet with the group from Soulforce because it was a meeting intended as nothing more than a publicity stunt. I’m familiar with the work of Soulforce and just as I believe their intention was to create an opportunity for a genuine dialogue between gay and straight families of faith, I would imagine they were also hoping to gain a certain amount of media mileage and there’s nothing wrong with that. Media attention is critical to any non-profit organization yet Warren mentions it in such a way as to suggest their motives were less than genuine and that they only intended to use him for their own purpose.
In his meeting with Melissa Etheridge and then browsing through a thrift store in queer WeHo how was Warren doing anything different than what he accused Soulforce of attempting to do to him? Both occasions, however genuine Warren may or may not have been in participating in them, were used by Warren for his benefit. He didn’t hesitate to mention his conversation with Melissa at a large public event or to pose for a photograph with his arm draped around the gay manager of the thrift shop. These events and people were used for his own purpose and so the very thing he accused of Soulforce he in turn seems to have done to others.
And what of the difference in the quality of meetings between Melissa Etheridge, Erol Sarabi, and Jeff Lutes? Melissa and Erol had warm and engaging conversations with Warren. We know this because they were reported on publicly by the media and the participants to the events. Jeff had nothing more than a hug given in haste. We only know this from Lutes own telling of what happened since there were no cameras in church on that day to record it and no queer icons present to draw media attention to it.
I can’t let go of this one thing; before Warren is a best-selling author or a public personality, he is a pastor, and as a pastor committed to caring for all people and for a man who repeatedly proclaims his love and commitment to gay people, why could he not have met for a few minutes with one gay couple? On that day, for the sake of a family who traveled all the way to meet with him there could have surely been time set aside and a church staff office provided where Warren could have met privately with Jeff, his spouse, and their children for a pastoral and compassionate conversation.
I don’t have any idea why things played out as they did but that doesn’t stop me from wondering about it all, and even as I wonder about things I may never know and have no power to change, I’m compelled to turn my attention away from Warren, Etheridge, Sarabi and Lutes and look deeply within my own life. Do I treat all people with love and compassion whether enemy or friend? Do the words I speak and the actions I take reflect integrity and consistency regardless whether they’re disclosed in public or concealed in private?
Authentic. Real. Consistent. Genuine. These are words we often hear and though they might have become trite sounding in our culture they aren’t meaningless or empty aspirations; not for anyone and even more particularly for people of faith committed to living out their lives in a way that reflects well on the Gospel message. Like you, I want the love of God to flow through me and the life of Christ to be reflected in me. Neither will happen unless I live my life authentically in a way that’s consistent with what I believe concerning God and God’s relationship with the world. In my transparency I risk, no, I guarantee, the failings of my humanity will be seen by all but in the end, that’s the very place where God’s grace will most shine, for in spite of my weaknesses and failings, my sin and my selfishness, God’s grace might not only be evident but flow from one such as I into the world.
I don’t know if this makes a whole lot of sense to anyone but me but it’s something that’s occupied my thoughts and prayers over these past days. Take it for what it’s worth, if it be worth anything at all to you.
The winners for yesterday’s Gingerbread House Scavenger Hunt Giveaway were Salt and Catherine who were the ones with correct submissions by the time I crawled off to bed. Congratulations to you both! Send me your color choice and mailing addresses in email!
If you haven’t noticed, it’s Christmas Day and since most of us, including me, are busy with church and family and presents presents presents (not that I’m excited or anything!) let’s keep this short, sweet, and simple!
The first five people (previous winners can play!) who email me at anita@sisterfriends-together.org with their color choice and mailing address will receive a single strand bangle bracelet. That’s right. FIVE of you! It’s Christmas after all!
There is a time to be born and a time to die.
And this is a time to be born.
So we turn to you, God of our life, ….….….….….….…...God of all our years, …….….….….….…....God of our beginning. ….Our times are in your hand.
Hear us as we pray: ….For those of us too much into obedience, ….….birth us to the freedom of the gospel. ….For those of us too much into self-indulgence, ….….birth us to discipleship in your ministry. ….For those too much into cynicism, ….….birth us to the innocence of the Christ child. ….For those of us too much into cowardice, ….….birth us to the courage to stand before ….….….principalities and powers. ….For those of us too much into guilt, ….….birth us into forgiveness worked in your generosity. ….For those of us too much into despair, ….….birth us into the promises you make to your people. ….For those of su too much into control, ….….birth us into the vulnerability of the cross. ….For those of us too much into victimization, ….….birth us into the power of Easter. ….For those of us too much into fatigue, ….….birth us into the energy of Pentecost.
We dare pray that you will do for us and among us and through us what is needful for newness.
Give us the power to be receptive, ..…...to take the newness you give, ..…...to move from womb warmth to real life.
We make this prayer not only for ourselves, but ….….for our [community] at the brink of birth, ….….for the church at the edge of life, ….….for our [nation] waiting for newness, ….….for your whole creation, with which we yearn in eager longing.
There is a time to be born, and it is now. ….We sense the pangs and groans of your newness. ….….Come here now in the name of Jesus. Amen.
I had NO idea this little guy was going to be so hard for everyone to find! Where was he hiding? Look over in the far right column where it reads “SisterFriends Together is an outreach project of Grace Unfolding Ministries in spiritual partnership with Peace Lutheran Church.” Click on “tries” in “ministries.” Go ahead. I’ll wait.
Uh-uh. He was there all the time. Hopefully this hasn’t spiraled any of you into major issues with elf resentments. If so, seek therapeutic help.
If you followed yesterday’s comment section you’re aware that out of pity and a hearty dose of Christmas spirit I changed the giveaway so that everyone (up to five people) who found the elf before 9:00 p.m. Pacific Coast Time would win the necklace. Amy found Little Elfie Green Pants within the first couple hours and with an hour to spare Cristi sailed in with a winning entry. I’m not sure how many others of you were out there playing but Stephanie and et2c were scurrying all over the site searching without luck and for no reason other than shear determination and the entertainment value of watching them spend their evening searching, Stephanie and et2c will each be receiving their consolation necklace. Wear them with your chins held high Women! Amy, Cristi, Stephanie, and et2c, drop me an email with your mailing address and your choice of necklace color so I can get your well-earned Christmas Giveaways off in the mail! Congratulations! And once again, thank you et2c for one of the most enjoyable December 23 evenings of my life.
To reward everyone for yesterday’s elf fiasco, today’s giveaway is a bit of a scavenger hunt through Gingerbread Valley. Report back to the comment section with your the scavenger hunt answers so you can have a chance at winning a gorgeous, and I do mean gorgeous triple strand bracelet from Bead For Life in the color of your choice. Click here to view a larger image.
Remember the recent gingerbread party I held for the children at my church? In a recent post I included photos from the event. Find the post and scroll down to the photos. Looking through the photos answer the following questions:
How many pounds of butter did it take to make the houses? Hint: Not cubes of butter. Pounds of butter.
How many chocolate peppermint patties does it take to make a gingerbread chimney?
What did I use to hold the drying roof shingles in place?
List ten different candies used in construction.
Find the misspelled word on one of the photo captions. What is the word?
Once you have all the answers post them in this post’s comment section. The winner’s will be the first and fifth correct entries submitted. One entry per person. Previous Christmas Giveaway winners are exempt. Be sure to include your email in the provided space in the comment form so I can contact you if you win. And as before, entries submitted by email will not be counted.
There you go kids. Have fun and have a wonderful and truly blessed Christmas Eve!
[Anita's note: I was fortunate to become acquainted with Christopher while we were in seminary and when I read the essay below he'd posted on his Facebook page, I was moved not only by the eloquence of his words but in his framing of considerations that are vital to us as people of faith as we engage in conversations around not only this occasion with Rev. Rick Warren but in other times as well. Christopher was gracious in granting me permission to share his writing with you.]
As I listened to the radio while preparing dinner Saturday evening, the reporter noted that in Richmond, the city where I live, a woman was gang raped repeatedly. Her attackers made it known to her they did this because of their perception of her being lesbian. Such attacks are not a new thing. Ever since I came out and began hearing stories within the LGBT community, I have known of stories of women, and sometimes men, raped on the perception of being lesbian/gay. In many parts of the world, rape is used as a means to control, humiliate, and “convert” sexual and gender minorities.
No, the Rev. Warren’s words to describe us cannot be directly traced to this horrendous violation of a fellow human being. But his dehumanizing and objectifying words and the words of others, having stirred up the basest imaginations and emotions, give permission to others with less restraint to violate us with impunity–for centuries. His use of comparison terms like “incest” and “pedophilia” in describing same-sex affection across the gamut from random sexual encounters to committed partnerships is more than a specious way to argue ethically and morally. His use of these terms in connection to Holy Writ is more than a misuse of Scripture to tell a tale other than God’s love for all in Christ Jesus. The use of these terms to describe an entire set of affections and the behaviors that go with those affections, from promiscuity to partnership—the same range found among heterosexuals, mind you, has the moral equivalence of shouting “fire!” in a crowded theater, or calling Christians “baby eaters” during sporadic third-century Roman persecutions, or calling the Jews “baby eaters” and “child killers” during a Holy Week procession in the Middle Ages. Such use of words instigates fear and panic, giving permission for violation to stop the offense, and immediately, and by whatever means if necessary. And his use of those terms have along and sordid histoy among Christians to attack sexual and gender minorities.
Some in the press and in religious organizations are accusing LGBT people of being intolerant for objecting to the Rev. Warren at all. I think they confuse tolerance with lack of boundaries. To say “no” to such a use of language and to the actions to which they give permission is to have integrity and a right sense of God’s love for us in the way of a lot of fallen words and actions toward us. Being a follower of Jesus does not mean being a doormat for Jesus. Sometimes being a follower means saying “no” and being prepared to take the consequences for doing so.
It is one thing for the Rev. Warren to disagree with legalization of marriage for same-sex couples, and to do so with cogent arguments. And to live in a society where we can disagree using other cogent arguments. That is tolerance. It is quite another to stir up the basest emotions of fellow human beings to win his argument and then act as if his words have no effect beyond him. He has chosen to do the latter, and it is the responsibility of others, and not just lgbt persons, to say “no”. In truth, it is the use of language in this way, and not disagreement about the marriage of same-sex couples, that is intolerant, because it is willing to use words to stir up destruction of one’s opponents without admitting that that is the intent. And destruction of one’s opponent is precisely the opposite of a tolerant society wherein we can civilly disagree. Tolerance does have limits. But the boundaries of tolerance cannot be guarded by meeting kind with kind. Rather what is required are better words, more loving words, better actions, more loving actions, and a willingness to say “no” without meeting kind with kind, no matter the consequences. Tolerance itself is not a virtue, but tolerance requires virtues to thrive.
It was so fun to read everyone’s entry on their favorite Christmas present; from Bon’s gift of being encouraged and supported to come out by a friend to the tender story of GW’s ginormous bear to Pam’s shiny new bike that took her through a ride into the azaleas. I loved the variety of stories. Poignant. Funny. Sweet. Inspiring. Each one added to the Christmas spirit around my house and I hope they did in yours too.
While everyone would pick a different story as their favorite because each story tops the list for all different kinds of reasons, based solely on the simple Christmas delight I felt when imagining her story, the winner for Day One’s Giveaway is Nicole:
The best christmas present was when i was a child and i really wanted this special edition barbie house…and all i got was a small doll chair and i was sad, but my parents were like it is to go in your barbie dream house!
Congratulations Nicole and thanks to everyone for sharing your stories. I truly did love each one of them. They provided a few chuckles along with a lump or two in the throat. Aly, the story of the quilt made by your grandma was priceless, as I’m sure the quilt is to you. And Joni, what an incredible gift your father gave you without ever knowing all his gift would fully mean in all the years that followed. What a reminder to all of us to not hesitate to do the things we feel led to do and to give of ourselves to those we love at each and every opportunity.
And now for today’s giveaway! The winners for today will receive a single strand necklace from Bead for Life in the color of their choice. I have this necklace in blue and love it! Click here to view a larger image.
“Wait!” you say. “Anita! There’s got to be a typo in your post because you wrote winners instead of winner!”
No girls and boys with a keen eye for fashion accessories and proof-reading, you read it right! Two people who send me an entry with the correct answer to today’s Giveaway Contest will each win a necklace of their own, which when you think about it is a whole lot easier than trying to share one, don’t you think?
Somewhere on the page you’re looking at is a hidden link to a Christmas picture. Find the link, view the image, and then hurry like a Christmas elf to the comments section of this post and submit a brief but specific description of the image. If it’s a picture of Santa a specific description would not be “he has a white beard, big belly and is dressed in a red suit.” Don’t forget to include your email in the space provided on the comment form so I can contact you by email if you win.
Two winners. The first winner is the one who submits the correct answer first. The second winner is the one who submits the correct answer second tenth. The reason for having the second winner be the tenth correct entry is to provide more of an opportunity for those in a different time zone to have a fair chance and no!, you cannot submit your answer multiple times in an attempt to win! One entry per person you prize-winning schemers!
Last Friday was the final day of The Twelve Days of Giveaway on the Ellen Degeneres Show and can that girl ever give presents! I’m talking Wii Entertainment Systems, Sony Blu-Ray Players, and weekend get-aways. Oh, to be on her Christmas shopping list!
But where Ellen left off Anita picks up by giving away one awesome gift a day for the next four days and yes, that includes Christmas Day! Every morning at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Coast Time I’ll add a post telling you how you can win that day’s giveaway and just how you can win will be different every day so keep coming back to join in the fun.
While Ellen had big money giveaways, the giveaways here will make a difference in the world, at least in one little corner of it, since all the prizes will be coming from Bead for Life, a non-profit organization committed to eradicating poverty in Uganda.
Bead for Life is a socially responsible global organization, working with HIV-positive mothers and refugees from a brutal civil war in Northern Uganda, all of whom were living on less than $1 a day in extreme poverty. Based in North America and Uganda, Bead for Life has partnered with industrious women who make vivid beaded jewelry out of recycled paper.
Bead for Life is doing an incredible work and the beauty and quality of the items made by the women is stunning! To kick off our big 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways Minus 8 Days extravaganza, today one of you will be winning the triple strand swirl necklace to the right in the color selection you choose! Go here to view a larger image.
To participate in today’s gift giveaway answer the following question in a few sentences: What was the best Christmas gift you’ve ever received and why? That would be the best Christmas present after the Christ Child that is! I’m thinking more in the category of mittens and EasyBake Ovens!
T0 play:
All entries must be submitted to the comment section of this post. Be sure to include your email address in the comment form! No email submissions will be considered.
Entries must be submitted by this evening at midnight, Pacific Coast Time.
I’ll announce today’s winner at the beginning of tomorrow’s post. I’ll also notify the winner via email, along with requesting their bead color choice and postal mailing information be sent to me in a return email.
Now let’s begin the fun! Good luck!
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E-MAIL SUBSCRIBERS: If you would like to participate in the four days of giveaways you will need to come to the blog at http://www.sisterfriends-together.org each day to submit your entry in the comment section of the post. Do not submit your entry in email. Since the emails are often sent several hours to an entire day after the post has gone up on the blog, don’t wait for your email to arrive before coming to SisterFriends to see how to play each day’s giveaway!
January 5, 2009 
Though I’ve been doing this whole internet thang for a number of years, I’m still an amateur on a slow learning curve when it comes to blogging. There are some massively successful bloggers out there busting out posts every day with readership stats in the thousands. Kudos to them! While the whispered longings of my fragile ego would love to have a ginormous following hanging on each and every word I pounded out on my 14-inch Macbook keyboard I’m more than content to have the small but faithful following of which it would be great to have you join. I don’t know what you’ll take away from reading this blog but my desire would be you’d catch a little bit of God’s love and grace in this place and find a community of queer and queer-friendly folk to accompany you on the journey of faith with a twist of gay on the side. And fun. I hope you have fun here too because goodness knows we all can use a little nonsense now and again. Just be warned. When we have contests with prizes here, the competitive beast comes out among the regular posse. Watch your back!
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I want to give everyone a head’s up that Adam over at Pomomusing is beginning an online look through Jack Roger’s book, “
I use to attend a special New Year’s Eve church service every year when I was a kid. Beginning at 8:00 p.m. we had four hours of singing, sermons, and testimonies (hallelujah!) that concluded at midnight with the congregation on their knees praying in the new year. Dropping to your knees in church at midnight is a bit like the evangelical version of the dropping of the ball in Times Square only with less noise-makers and confetti. Four hours of church could be exhausting and as you can well imagine not all that spine-tingling. Forty years later and now if I’m still awake at midnight it’s only because the ringing of the new year happened to coincide with a post-bedtime excursion to the bathroom.
The winners for yesterday’s Gingerbread House Scavenger Hunt Giveaway were Salt and Catherine who were the ones with correct submissions by the time I crawled off to bed. Congratulations to you both! Send me your color choice and mailing addresses in email!
I had NO idea this little guy was going to be so hard for everyone to find! Where was he hiding? Look over in the far right column where it reads “SisterFriends Together is an outreach project of Grace Unfolding Ministries in spiritual partnership with Peace Lutheran Church.” Click on “tries” in “ministries.” Go ahead. I’ll wait.
Remember the recent gingerbread party I held for the children at my church? In a recent post I included photos from the event. Find the post and scroll down to the photos. Looking through the photos answer the following questions:
And now for today’s giveaway! The winners for today will receive a single strand necklace from 
Last Friday was the final day of 
Bead for Life is doing an incredible work and the beauty and quality of the items made by the women is stunning! To kick off our big 
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