Chi Rho Press eNewsletter
Volume 18 (5/2/00)

Welcome once again to the Chi Rho Press eNewsletter. Please pass this eNewsletter on to your friends and colleagues.

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Contents:

1. New Price on "The Road to Emmaus"
2. New Canadian Distributor for Selected Chi Rho Press Books
3. New $500 Promissory Notes Are Now Available
4. Travel Plans
5. A New Feature: "I Wish We Had Published That!"
6. "Gay Dating" Workshops from Board Member Ron DeVrou
7. Two Opportunities to Tithe on Your Time to Chi Rho Press
8. Hot Selling Books that You Won't Want to Miss!
9. Adam's Last Word

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1. New Price on "The Road to Emmaus"

The UFMCC Mid-Atlantic District and Chi Rho Press have agreed to lower the price of "The Road to Emmaus," one of the most popular and successful daily devotionals ever published. The District, which owns the rights to the book, and the Press, which is its sole distributor, have agreed to lower the retail price of "The Road to Emmaus" from $12.95 to $9.95, an almost 25% decrease.

"The Road to Emmaus: Daily Encounters with the Risen Christ," was edited by Joseph Houle and published by Emmaus House of Prayer. When Emmaus House closed its doors a few years ago, Chi Rho Press as assigned to distribute the book by the Mid-Atlantic District, the successor agency for Emmaus House.

"The Road to Emmaus" is inclusive in tone, language, and content, and contains a Gospel reading for every day of the year and a meditation written by LGBT Christians based on the reading. "The Road to Emmaus" is a valuable resource for recollection and spiritual refreshment. Its underlying message is that the Gospel is good news for all people a message that is reinforced with devotions for every day of the year.

You may order "The Road to Emmaus" by e-mail at Orders@ChiRhoPress.com. The new price is $9.95 plus shipping and handling.

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2. New Canadian Distributor for Selected Chi Rho Press Books

Our Canadian friends can now order through our new Canadian distributor, Mary Ann Pearson at MAP Enterprises. Mary Ann is starting a new business, and will be distributing tapes and CDs by popular lesbian Christian vocalist Marsha Stevens (who wrote the now-familiar hymn "For Those Tears I Died" and who sang at the March on Washington) and selected books from Chi Rho Press.

Out of country sales are difficult for small businesses like Chi Rho Press. Shipping is often prohibitive, especially when customs duties are factored in, and many US banks now charge exorbitant fees for checks drawn on non-US banks and on non-US money orders, even when the checks and money orders are US currency. The fees are so high that they are more than some small orders we have received! Having a Canadian distributor enables us to make large shipments to her and to process larger checks on a quarterly basis, helping to minimize customs and bank fees.

Mary Ann currently has seven titles in stock: "Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse," "The Bible and Homosexuality," "Called OUT," "Come Home!," "From Wounded Hearts," "What a Fellowship," and "The Road to Emmaus."

We encourage our Canadian friends to contact Mary Ann directly to place orders for these popular Chi Rho Press books! Our Canadian distributor can be reached at MAP Enterprises, Mary Ann Pearson, Box 340, 54 Centre St., Odessa, ONT.,Canada, K0H 2H0; e-mail: mapenterprises@home.com; phone or fax: 1-613-386-5711; or toll free (leave a message) 1-877-245-9569.

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3. New $500 Promissory Notes Are Now Available

The Board of Directors has decided to offer $500 Promissory Notes to supporters who wish to invest in Chi Rho Press. Like our $1,000 Promissory Notes, the $500 Notes are repaid at 8% simple interest over a two-year period, with payments being made every three months. For more details, e-mail Adam@ChiRhoPress.com.

Promissory Notes in both $500 and $1,000 denominations are available now. Income from these investments will be used to complete debt consolidation and retirement and as capital for the production of new books and for new printings of existing inventory.

We are especially looking for people to invest in the reprint of two of our popular "Handouts," called "What do We Believe" and "Welcome to MCC." Please invest in YOUR LGBT Christian publishing house now and get a good return on your money!

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4. Travel Plans

The Gulf Lower Atlantic District Conference in Knoxville, Tennessee, May 19 through 21, at the Hilton Knoxville, 501 West Church Ave., SW, Knoxville, TN. The guest speakers at this district conference will be evangelist and singer the Rev. Delores Berry and Southwest District Coordinator and author, the Rev. Donald Pederson. Our own Dr. Rembert Truluck will be there also to lead a workshop and sign our book! GLAD District Coordinator, the Rev. Jay Neely, is an old friend and colleague and his conferences are always a real blessing.

The Great Lakes District Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 2 through 4, will be at the Holiday Inn Select North at the Pyramids, I-465 at Michigan Road, Indianapolis, IN. Special guests at District Coordinator Judy Dale's conference will be the Rev. Elder Jeri Ann Harvey, a UFMCC evangelist, and the Rev. Elder Hong Tan from London, England.

Both of these conferences promise to be a lot of fun, with inspirational speakers, workshops, and worship experiences. Adam DeBaugh will be setting up a Chi Rho Press bookstore at each of these District Conferences. If you are near Knoxville or Indianapolis, please stop by and visit! E-mail Adam at Adam@ChiRhoPress.com for more information about these conferences, which promise to be excellent events!

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5. A New Feature: "I Wish We Had Published That!"

From time to time, we come across a book that moves and inspires us. Often Adam can be heard to say, "I wish we had published that!" as he reads a new book. The rumor that Adam only reads books published by Chi Rho Press is NOT true, though he wishes it were true for more people!

Assistant Editor Kevin Stone Fries recently turned Adam on to a book called "Joshua" by Joseph F. Girzone, 1983 and 1987 by Scribner Paperback Fiction, published by Simon & Schuster. "Joshua" tells the story of a mysterious stranger who moves to a small town and proceeds to turn the established religious and social order upside down. A simple, humble man, Joshua is a poor wood carver and carpenter. He is quiet and strong, but very friendly, attracting men, women, small children, and even animals to his magnetic presence. And his quiet religious teachings are revolutionary in their simple, yet eloquent faith. Finally, local religious leaders confront Joshua and the story moves to its dramatic, yet strangely familiar end. We recommend this easy-to-read, yet powerful book.

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6. "Gay Dating" Workshops from Board Member Ronald DeVrou

Chi Rho Press board member, Ronald DeVrou, is a therapist and life coach in private practice in Washington, DC. He has some exciting workshops coming up that we think might benefit you. First of all on Thursday May 4th at 9 pm Eastern there will be a free telephone workshop called GayDating2000. This workshop will be exploring "Dating Traps & Solutions," "Requirements/Needs/Wants," and places to attract a Life Partner.

This will be an interactive workshop using some of the Life Partner Quest material. The only cost will be your long distance expense for the hour-long workshop.

Secondly the slots are filling up for an eight-week "Life Partner Quest: Relationship Success Training For Singles Workshop" which will begin Monday, May 8th at 9 pm Eastern time. Ronald will be sending out the 47 page workbooks next week and begin assigning Buddy Coach's also. The fee for this eight-week workshop is only $195 and credit cards are accepted.

For more information, e-mail Ronald DeVrou at Ronald@GayCoach.com or call the toll free number (888/569-4673) to Washington office. I'm confident you'll benefit from either or both of these programs.

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7. Two Opportunities to Tithe on Your Time to Chi Rho Press

We are looking for two dedicated people to fill two new volunteer positions at Chi Rho Press.

First, we are looking for a volunteer bookkeeper or accountant to assist us with reports and taxes. The person should have experience or at least knowledge of Federal and Maryland State taxes and reporting, or at least the ability to get the required Maryland State information.

Second, we are looking for a volunteer Bookstore Liaison, someone who will assist us in being in touch with LGBT bookstores, religious bookstores, bookstore chains, and other outlets for our books, alerting them to our titles and discounts, and selling books to them. This person would also explore distribution houses as well.

Both these positions are volunteer staff (at least for now) and neither of them has to be near our offices. Your expenses will be paid, of course.

Please contact Adam DeBaugh at Adam@ChiRhoPress.com if you are interested in either of these positions. Thank you!

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8. Hot Selling Books that You Won't Want to Miss!

These are the Chi Rho Press books that are our best sellers this spring:

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"Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse," by Dr. Rembert Truluck. Over 550 pages of information and encouragement to equip gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people and all others who have been abused and oppressed by religion to learn the truth and to rejoice and grow in their God-given worth as individuals.

The first five chapters contain introductory material, including essays on "Why this Book is Here," "My Story" by Dr. Truluck, "Jesus Heals Sick Religion," "Guidelines for Small Groups," and "How to Use this Book."

The next 13 chapters are the Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse. Each of the 13 Steps contains four Bible Study Lessons, suitable for personal study or small group use. As a result there are 52 Lessons, one for each week of the year. The 13 Steps are organized into five parts, "Jesus and Spiritual Freedom," "Eliminate the Negative," "Accentuate the Positive," "Reach Out," and "Beyond Recovery."

In addition, there are six special studies in the book's appendix: "How I Lead Workshops and Small Groups," "Homosexuality and the Bible," "Challenging the Ex-Gay Industry," "The Dynamics of Religious Abuse," "A Gay Christian's Response to the Southern Baptists," and "How Do You Name God?"

"Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse" is available for $24.95 each, six or more copies for $18.75 each, plus shipping and handling.

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"Come Home! Reclaiming Spirituality and Community as Gay Men and Lesbians," second edition, by Chris Glaser. First published in 1990 by HarperCollins, the second edition was published in 1998 by Chi Rho Press with the addition of five new chapters to the original 20. "Come Home!" is perhaps Chris Glaser's best book. It is divided into five sections, each with five chapters. The five sections are entitled, "Welcoming God's Acceptance," "Receiving Our Inheritance," "Discerning Our Call," "Making Our Witness," and "Declaring Our Vision."

Bishop John Shelby Spong called "Come Home!" "powerful, sensitive, and provocative. . . . Christians, gay and straight, need this book if we are to be the body of Christ." This is a brilliant and important book by perhaps the best-known Gay Christian writer in the U.S. today.

"Come Home!" is available for $19.95 each, $14.95 each for six or more copies, plus shipping and handling.

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"From Wounded Hearts: Faith Stories of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered People and Those Who Love Them," compiled and edited by Roberta Showalter Kreider. In this wonderful anthology 49 people of faith write their very personal stories, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people, and their non-gay family members and friends. The 49 people whose stories are in "From Wounded Hearts" comprise a cross section of spiritual life in North America. They are from the United States and Canada. They come from many different religious backgrounds. Many are from the Anabaptist tradition (Mennonites, Brethren, and Brethren in Christ), but there are also folks from the American Baptist, Assemblies of God, Eastern Orthodox, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Methodist, Metropolitan Community Churches, Nazarene, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Quaker, Southern Baptist, and United Church of Christ traditions, as well as a lesbian Jewish rabbi.

Roberta Kreider writes, in her Introduction to "From Wounded Hearts," "It is easy to judge and condemn someone whom we do not know. It is especially easy to judge a group of people whom we think does not measure up to our interpretation of what the Bible says. However, when we take time to learn to know gay people as individuals, our perception of them changes. This is why it is so important to tell our faith stories to one another. As the issue of homosexuality is debated in our churches we seldom ask the people we are calling sinners to tell us about their own personal experience of relationship with God. My own life and attitude has been profoundly changed by listening to the stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people and their families."

"From Wounded Hearts" is available for $19.95 each, $14.95 each for six or more copies, plus shipping and handling.

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"The Bible and Homosexuality," fifth edition, by the Rev. Michael England. Many thousands of this book are in circulation and it is Chi Rho Press' all-time bestseller! Now in its fifth edition, this standard text is even more valuable and timely. This is an essential book for the library of every person of faith. Now in perfect binding with a new color cover featuring a photograph by Colin Winterbottom of the Washington National Cathedral, the fifth edition updates this excellent study. Included are chapters on our understanding of inspiration; critical interpretation; textual, historical, source, and form criticism; detailed discussion about scripture verses used to condemn homosexuality; the contra naturam (against nature) argument; heterosexual marriage as the only Biblical model; adultery and fornication; and a Bibliography.

"The Bible and Homosexuality" is available for $10.95 each, $8.95 each for six or more copies, plus shipping and handling.

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"My Memory Book! A Journal for Grieving Children," second edition, by Gretchen Gaines Lane. Designed for a child, ages 6 to 12 years (but being used by children and adults of all ages) who has experienced the death of someone close to them, "My Memory Book" has space available throughout its pages for the grieving person to write or draw. Directions for over 20 exercises are given on the left hand side page; the right hand side page is devoted to the grieving person's creative use. The reader uses "My Memory Book" to create a book of memories about the loved one who died that is uniquely his or her own. "My Memory Book" encourages written exercises, collage, journaling, and drawings in any medium you wish to use. Though created by a children's grief and bereavement specialist, many adults are using "My Memory Book" to create memorials to loved ones they have lost. "This workbook is a wonderful tool to assist therapists and counselors in their work with bereaved children," said Nancy Boyd Webb, DWS, BCD, Professor, Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service.

"My Memory Book" is available for $10.95 each, $8.95 each for six or more copies, plus shipping and handling.

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Chi Rho Press' shipping and handling charges are $2.50 for orders up to $19.99, $3.50 for orders of $20 to $39.99, $4.50 for orders of $40 to $59.99, $5.50 for orders of $60 to $79.99, $6.50 for orders of $80 to $99.99, and 7% of the total for orders of $100 and over.

Send your check or money order, made out to Chi Rho Press, to us at P.O. Box 7864, Gaithersburg, MD 20898. You may also order via e-mail and be invoiced, write to Orders@ChiRhoPress.com with the books you want and your mailing address and phone number.

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9. Adam's Last Word.

Well, the March on Washington was a huge success. I was especially gratified to hear the Gospel Choir from MCC of Washington DC sing, along with the Rev. Delores Berry, and to hear the Rev. Troy Perry's inspiring address. There were lots of PFLAG people represented as well and some amazing and exciting rhetoric.

Dr. Rembert Truluck, author of our very successful "Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse," was in town and we were able to have a couple of meals with him and spend some valuable time talking as well. He is as inspirational in person as he is in print!

Assistant Editor Kevin Stone Fries and I attended the Interfaith Service on Saturday afternoon at the National City Christian Church with Dr. Truluck. What an incredible event that was! The National Religious Leadership Roundtable (sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and Equal Partners in Faith) did a wonderful job putting the service together.

I really believe that the LGBT spiritual community can and should be the center of an effective, vibrant, and powerful movement for justice and equality for all of God's sexual minority children. LGBT religious/spiritual organizations are the largest, more effective, and most prevalent organizations in the movement. Our people hunger and thirst for spiritual nourishment and refreshment. Our enemies most often base their attacks on LGBT people on their twisted, bigoted, and hate-filled religious beliefs. Who better to counter the wave of homophobia and religious bigotry than the LGBT religious community?

I hope you are all inspired by the events surrounding the Millennium March on Washington to redouble your efforts in your churches, meeting houses, temples, and synagogues. Speak out your spiritual truth. Confront those who would deny God's love for God's sexual minority people. Affirm the glorious diversity of God's good creation. And come out to someone today!

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We are glad you are partners with us here at Chi Rho Press. We are eager for your comments, your suggestions, your assistance with selling our books, and your own purchases! And of course, we covet your prayers for this ministry.

Grace and peace,

Adam DeBaugh, Director

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Chi Rho Press, Inc.
P.O. Box 7864
Gaithersburg, MD 20898

Our telephone and fax number is 301/926-1208.

You may order any of our books via snail mail, telephone, fax, or e-mail at
Orders@ChiRhoPress.com. You may pay by credit card on our web page or we
will ship your order after receiving your check or money order. Include your
e-mail address, mailing address, and telephone number please.

Visit our web page at http://www.ChiRhoPress.com. We now accept credit
cards on our web page!

Our Canadian friends can order using credit cards on our web page or through
our Canadian distributor, MAP Enterprises, Mary Ann Pearson, Box 340, 54
Centre St., Odessa, ONT., Canada, K0H 2H0; e-mail: mapenterprises@home.com;
phone or fax: 1-613-386-5711; or toll free (leave a message) 1-877-245-9569.

Copyright 2000, Chi Rho Press, Inc.

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