Broadway United Methodist Church: Pride Month 2010

PRIDE MONTH 2010

Building the Beloved Community: On the Road to Justice

Pride month has long played an important role in our justice ministry at Broadway. Through the years, this month has provided a time for celebration of the pride we take in each one of our journeys and the pride we share in our community’s wide welcome. It has also been a time for reflecting and holding ourselves accountable to the mission we seek to live out and the authentic lives God wants for us.

Having recently celebrated the naming of our common passions, we are excited about the coming month of continued growth and transformation at Broadway. Justice ministry (including LGBTQAI equality and anti-racism) was by far the most common passion shared on our recent survey. This month, we invite you to join us in growing further into our vision of inclusion, radical hospitality and shared leadership led by the Creator’s Spirit.

Whether you are a long-time justice seeker or taking your first steps on the road to justice, your participation is not only welcome but absolutely needed in our month of celebration, worship, education and action. Make connection, praise God, renew your commitment, boldly forge new paths for ministry, and share God’s good news for all people: this is the season to take action on God’s call for you, God’s beloved.

_____________________________________________

On the Road to Justice Discussion Group

Sundays: June 6, 13, 20 at 10:00 am in the pillow room

Each Sunday, we rejoice in connection and community as our pastors acknowledge and celebrate the beautiful diversity of our community: our ages, our races, our gender identities, our sexual orientations, our abilities, our economic statuses, and our stages on the faith journey. Connect with others on the road to justice as we examine both the distinct features and the intersections of our individual justice journeys.

Date	Topic	Facilitators
6.06.2010	Sexism	Becky Szuls, Tim Gaumer
6.13.2010	Racism	Vincent Wiggins, Peter Godard
6.20.2010	Perception & Reality: Confronting Our Assumptions	Tricia Nowacki, Erica Chu, Tim Barnes, John Donaldson

_____________________________________________

Writing Your Story, Writing Broadway’s Story: Workshop and Publication

Sunday, June 13 at 2:00 pm in the Wesley Room

What’s your story? What has your faith journey been like as a LGBTQAI person or ally? What challenges have you faced, what challenges are still present for LGBTQAI folks and allies in the world and in Christian communities? What has your experience been in being a part of Broadway?

In celebrating Pride month, we want you to share your story as an LGBTQAI person or ally! Your story can be an invaluable source of education and community-building. Our congregation’s stories will be compiled in a publication that will be distributed on Pride Sunday, June 27.

We’ll hold an editing workshop on Sunday, June 13th at 2:00pm in the Wesley room. At the workshop, we’ll share our work and do some editing. But wherever you are in the writing process, we’ll help you out, and you can help out others!

During the June 23rd Wednesday evening service, you’ll have the opportunity to share your testimony.

Your narrative should be no more than 1500 words, but there is no minimum.

Please send your typed submissions to Tricia Nowacki at by Sunday, June 20th. If you can’t type your story, please let Tricia know by Sunday, June 13th.

_____________________________________________

Pride Picnic and Parade

Sunday, June 27 after the 10:00 am service

Directly following our single 10:00am worship service on pride Sunday, join in our annual Pride Picnic on the parsonage lawn. We’ll provide the hamburgers and hot dogs. Please bring a dish to share. Then stick around to share in the celebration of the Chicago Pride Parade.

Or, join in with fellow Broadway members and friends as they march in the parade!

Volunteers needed for picnic set up, picnic clean up, and marching!

· Picnic. Contact Craig Fitzgerald.

· Parade. Contact Richard Holley.

_____________________________________________

Sunday Worship Services

Sundays: June 6, 13, 20 at 8:45 am and 11:00 am in the sanctuary.

Sunday, June 27 at 10:00 am only in the sanctuary.

June 20. Guest Preacher: Rev. Ermalou Roller

Rev. Ermalou Roller retired eight years ago from active ministry in the Northern Illinois Conference of The United Methodist Church where she served for 25 years as pastor of three churches and superintendent of the Elgin District.

Since retiring, she teaches classes on a variety of subjects including An Introduction to the Enneagram (a spiritual growth tool), is a chaplain for the Straight Spouse Network and volunteers at workshops helping immigrants prepare for U.S. citizenship. She earned a B.S. in Education from Florida State University and an M. Div. from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary where she was awarded the Cuba (IL) Preaching Prize by the faculty. Golden Tree Publishing has recently published her first book, On Thundering Wings: Homosexuality, Love and the Church on Trial.

Roller recently returned from a pre-publication book tour in New Jersey and Colorado where she served for two weeks as Theologian-in-Residence at First UMC, Boulder. She will be the featured speaker at a Reconciling Ministries breakfast during the South Carolina Annual Conference.

Roller is the widow of Rev. Dr. Charles H. Ellzey and the mother of three children.

June 27. Guest Preacher: Sue Laurie

Sue Laurie is United Methodist. She is called to ordained ministry and received an MDiv from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in 1995. She has been turned down for ordination three times so far, but has found ways to continue to minister with and to the larger UMC. This has brought many adventures including the 2000 General Conference arrest with several Broadway UMC members, and eight years as the National Outreach Coordinator of Reconciling Ministries Network, an organization of United Methodists working for the full inclusion of LGBT people.

She met her partner Julie Bruno in Bible Study at a UMC in Pennsylvania in 1982. The couple was wedded in a ceremony at the United Methodist General Conference in Fort Worth, TX in 2008. At the time, Laurie indicated that the ceremony was, “less about upsetting people and more about letting people who are isolated know that these ceremonies are going on regardless of the church’s position on homosexual marriage."

Sue Laurie recently joined the staff at First United Methodist Church in Arlington Heights as part-time Pastor of Outreach and leader of Rainbow Circle: For God.... For ALL People... For a Change... a gathering that provides a safe place for LGBT Christians to explore their faith.

_____________________________________________

Trans/Queer Movie Festival &

Community Screening of For the Bible Tells Me So

Every Friday in June: June 4, 11, 18, 25 at 7:00 pm, free popcorn!

On Friday, June 25, we will show For the Bible Tells Me So, a 2007 documentary about five families facing the often difficult confrontation of LGB identities and Christian faith communities. This is a great opportunity to invite people to Broadway from around Lakeview and the surrounding communities, so plan on inviting your friends and helping us get the word out about this event!

The first three Fridays in June (the 4th, 11th, and 18th) will be dedicated to films that can help educate the Broadway community about trans and queer issues and identities. These documentaries will provide a variety of voices and stories from folks who live beyond and/or between the traditional categories of female and male, gay and straight. Be on the lookout for more information about this exciting series.

_____________________________________________

Wednesday Pride Worship Services

Wednesdays in June: June 2, 9, 15, 23 at 7:00 pm in the sanctuary.

Join us for a special series of services to celebrate pride month. Each service will have a different style: healing, contemplative, celebratory. Our service on June 23rd will feature the personal narratives of those who participate in the "Writing Your Story, Writing Broadway’s Story" Workshop.

_____________________________________________

Acting for Justice: Service and Action Opportunities

· Shelter dinners. June 7 & June 21. Contact Craig Fitzgerald.

· Gardening at Broadway. Anytime. Contact MJ Grimshaw.

· Lakeview Action Coalition Assembly. June 22 at 7:00pm. Temple Sholom @ 3480 N Lakeshore Drive. (Call 773.549.1947 to RSVP)

_____________________________________________

We will work with each other. We will work side by side. We’ll guard each one’s dignity and save each one’s pride, and they’ll know we are Christians by our love.