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21 Aug 00
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Chi Rho Press eNewsletter
Volume 22 (8/21/00)
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. Blade Article on Dr. Rembert Truluck
2. Truluck Tour Report
3. "The Other Side" Review of "Steps"
4. Great Changes on the Web Page!
5. Hymns for Special People
6. Adam's Last Word
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1. Blade Article on Dr. Rembert Truluck
The Washington Blade, DC's
weekly newspaper for the LGBT community,
published an excellent article on August 11, 2000, during Dr. Rembert
Truluck's book tour in the area (see next story). You can access Rhonda
Smith's article on
http://www.washblade.com/meta/religion/a.htm.
We also reprint it here with
permission:
The Rev. Dr. Rembert S. Truluck
has been visiting various local
congregations and faith-based groups recently to discuss "Steps to
Recovery from Bible Abuse," a 551-page tome that took him 11 years
to write.
The openly Gay minister only
devotes one chapter (31 pages) in the book to a
discussion about biblical scripture used to condemn homosexuality. The
other 17 chapters generally focus on how to examine one's faith, deal
with anger,
study the Gospels, and take time to heal and recover.
"My battle scars have
been inflicted more by myself and by my friends than
by outsiders," said Truluck, 66. "I have been deceived, betrayed,
abandoned,
and demonized by people I love. The enemy truly is within."
Truluck's own painful past
and a doctorate in sacred theology that he earned
from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., lend
credibility to the lessons he outlines in Steps to Recovery. Some of this
information also can be accessed at www.truluck.com.
Truluck said he was attracted
to other boys as a child, and experienced
God's call to the ministry during the summer of 1952. Seven years later,
however, he married a woman and began to build a home and family, which
included having three children. (He devotes the book to his openly Lesbian
daughter, Susan.)
From 1952 to 1968, Truluck
said he "wrestled quietly with my own sexual
orientation without any counseling or helpful reading material."
He said three psychiatrists
he visited and told about his sexual orientation
told Truluck psychiatry could not change sexual orientation. So he remained
married and continued working as a Southern Baptist preacher at churches
in
Mississippi and South Carolina.
From 1973 to 1981, he worked
at a Baptist college in Charleston as a
religion professor and developed a program of recruitment, church placement,
and field supervision for ministry students there. On March 3, 1981, he
said the
president of the college asked him to resign because someone had told
the
school's trustees that he was Gay.
Truluck resigned for "personal
reasons" and later that year moved alone to
Atlanta to live with his sister and create a new life.
But for almost a decade, he
said he wasted a lot of time visiting Gay bars
and abusing alcohol.
"When you lose everything,
it makes you angry and depressed," he said. "I
couldn't get a job, so I had a paper route, and then worked at a courier
service."
Truluck said the sudden and
total end to his ministry, family, career, and
income sent him into a shock and alcoholic fog that lasted about seven
years.
In the late 1980s, however,
he joined Alcoholics Anonymous and quit drinking
for good on Aug. 8, 1989. Around that time, Truluck also became more
active in the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches.
And by the time he retired as a minister in 1996, he had served at MCC
churches in Atlanta, San Francisco, and Nashville.
A central goal of writing
Steps to Recovery, Truluck said, was to help Gay
Christians prosper.
"My aim was to help Gay
people feel good about themselves," he said, "and to
stop hurting themselves and others."
The Rev. Rembert Truluck is
scheduled to speak at a "Steps to Recovery From
Bible Abuse" workshop at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, at MCC-Baltimore.
He is scheduled to preach
at 11 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 13, at Holy Redeemer MCC
in College Park, Md., and to lead a workshop discussion about the book
at 1
p.m. that day. The church is at 4907 Niagara Road, Suite 102. For information,
call (301) 982-5775.
-- Rhonda Smith
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Chi Rho Press hosted Dr. Rembert
S. Truluck for a book tour in the
Washington area for two weeks beginning July 28 and ending August 14.
The tour was a smashing success! Many thanks to all who helped and to
all of you who came out to hear him and buy books.
Dr. Truluck preached and signed
books at MCC Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and
was at Lambda Rising, in Rehoboth Beach, for a book signing.
We had dinner with the board of directors and staff of Chi Rho Press.
He spoke at a workshop and pot luck supper at New Light MCC, Hagerstown, MD.
We attended worship, another
pot luck, and Dr. Truluck spoke at a meeting of
Integrity Northern Virginia, at the Episcopal Church of St. Clement in
Alexandria, VA.
On Sunday, Aug. 6, he preached and led a workshop at MCC Richmond, VA.
Dr. Truluck led a Christian Education class at MCC of Washington DC.
He spoke at Foundry United
Methodist Church, Washington DC (where President
and Mrs. Clinton often worship).
He led a workshop at MCC Baltimore,
MD, and he preached and led a workshop
to kick off an on-going Bible study, using his book at Holy Redeemer MCC,
College Park, MD.
The tour was a great success,
touching many lives. We give special thanks
to our hosts along the way, to the pastors of the churches we visited,
and the
leaders of the groups at which Truluck spoke, and especially to all the
people who came to hear him, buy his book, and learn from this eloquent
teacher.
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The Other Side, a wonderful
magazine of social justice for people of faith,
now carries "Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse" in their mail
order catalog and web site. Here is what they say about this book:
"This book combines biblical
scholarship with personal stories of pathos and
power about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people who have
been
hurt but ultimately healed by Christianity. Taking a fresh look at the
Bible as
'the friend of lesbians and gays,' Truluck provides the information needed
to respond to the wounding ignorance that damages the spirit. A strong
advocate of small-group study, Truluck offers questions for reflection
and discussion throughout the book, as well as additional resources (551
pp, paperback)."
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4. Great Changes on Chi Rho Press' Web Page
We have made it even easier
to order from Chi Rho Press through our web
page. Dotti Berry and her excellent team at of D3 Marketing Innovations
in
Lexington, Kentucky, has added a shopping cart to the web page at
www.ChiRhoPress.com. Now you can click on "add to cart" at any
item in our catalog and it will be put in your personal shopping cart,
adding up the amounts and shipping and handling. You can order as many
things as you want.
Then you can pay by major credit card! Yes! We have finally entered the
credit card age! You may pay by credit card (Visa, Mastercard, American
Express, Discover/Novus). And if you prefer, you can still pay by check
or
money order. We are very pleased with the work Dotti and her team has
done and hope you will test out our new shopping cart and credit card
availability. By all means, please go to the web site and order something!
<G>
You can view samples of Dotti's
excellent work at her businesses,
www.e-globaltech.com, www.EmpoweringDiversity.com,
www.4phoenixcommunications.com,
and www.diversitypromotions.com.
The Board
and Staff of Chi Rho Press welcome Dotti to our community of faith and
ministry
and we look forward to working with her and with all the folks at D3 Marketing
Innovations (www.D3Marketing.com)
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I received this from one of
the list serves we are on, and couldn't resist
passing it on.
The Dentist's Hymn:.........Crown
Him With Many Crowns
The Weatherman's Hymn.......There shall be showers of Blessing
The Contractor's Hymn.......The Church's One Foundation
The Tailor's Hymn...........Holy, Holy, Holy
The Golfer's Hymn...........There is A Green Hill Far Away
The Politician's Hymn.......Standing on the Promises
The Optometrist's Hymn..... Open My Eyes That I might See
The IRS Agent's Hymn........I Surrender All
The Gossip's Hymn...........Pass It On
The Electrician's Hymn......Send the Light
The Shopper's Hymn..........Sweet By and By
Now, for those who speed on the highway - a few hymns for you:
45 mph.......................God
Will Take Care of You
55 mph.......................Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
65 mph.......................Nearer My God to Thee
75 mph.......................Nearer Still Nearer
85 mph.......................This World Is Not My Home
95 mph.......................Lord, I'm Coming Home
+100 mph...................Precious Memories
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Well, it was an exciting (and
exhausting) two and a half weeks with Dr.
Rembert Truluck. I was constantly amazed by his ability to capture an
audience with his humor, his honesty, his willingness to be vulnerable,
and his immense
scholarship. This is a man who really knows his Bible, and he knows his
God! More than ever, I can recommend his book, "Steps to Recovery
from Bible
Abuse" without hesitation, having witnessed first hand the lives
Rembert Truluck's ministry has touched.
We had an excellent board
of directors meeting on Aug. 19. Among the
actions of the board was to approve the promotion of Kevin Stone Fries
from
Assistant Editor to Editor of Chi Rho Press. This is a reflection of how
Kevin and I are dividing responsibilities here at the Press, with him
really taking the
lead in the editing of manuscripts we have accepted for publication.
Congratulations and many thanks to Kevin!
Credit card sales on our web
site are increasing, which is very gratifying.
Thanks to you all for your support!
Summer is winding down in
fact the last few days have been very cool and
autumn-like here in the Washington, DC area. As summer ends, I hope you
have had time to rest, be refreshed, and relax. Whether you like to spend
days
at the beach, by a pool, near a river or lake, or in the mountains I trust
that
you took time to appreciate the goodness of the earth, the beauty of God's
creation, and the benefits of our lives. And if like me, you haven't had
time or a vacation yet, I hope you will be able to have some good quality
relaxing time over the long Labor Day weekend in two weeks.
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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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Copyright 2000, Chi Rho Press, Inc.
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R. Adam DeBaugh,
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