 |
29 June 01
|
Chi Rho Press eNewsletter
Vol. II, No. 14
29 June 2001
Welcome once again
to the Chi Rho Press eNewsletter.
Thank you for passing this eNewsletter on to others.
To join our list,
send an e-mail message to
mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoo.com.
Please
visit our Web site at http://www.chirhopress.com
to see
our entire lines of books, handouts, tchochkas, and
stained glass.
Direct all other
e-mail to Adam@ChiRhoPress.com.
See
the end of this eNewsletter for a complete list of
e-mail addresses at ChiRhoPress.com.
--------------------------------------------------
Contents:
1. Name
This eNewsletter!
2. New Review of 'Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse'
3. Chi Rho Press Combined Travel Schedule
4. Presbyterian Victory!
5. Dr. Truluck and the Southern Baptists
6. Adam's Last Word
--------------------------------------------------
OK, this is our last
request. Help us name this
eNewsletter!
The first volume
of Chi Rho Press' eNewsletter began
on May 1, 1999 and ran for 34 issues, through the end of
2000. The second volume (2001) has had 14 issues now. We
have decided that it's about time to name the eNewsletter!
So we turn to you,
our faithful readers, for suggestions.
We would like something catchy, descriptive, and appropriate.
Please send your ideas to eNews@ChiRhoPress.com.
The Board of Directors
will make the final judgement from all
of your ideas. The suggestion the Board chooses will win
your choice of any one item from our catalog (see
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com).
Send in your suggestions today!
--------------------------------------------------
Our new friend, Toni
Pizanie, wrote an excellent article
in her column 'Sappho's Psalm' about Chi Rho Press author
Dr. Rembert Truluck, entitled 'Bible Abuse.' Toni's
column appeared in the New Orleans LGBT newspaper Ambush,
Vol. 19, Issue 12, June 8-21, 2001. It is reprinted here
with Toni's gracious permission.
Sappho's Psalm Column, by Toni J. P. Pizanie, 'Bible Abuse'
'For thousands of
GLBT individuals, the Bible has been a
source of painful condemnation rather than support or
inspiration. Dr. Rembert Truluck has written one of the
most stimulating accounts of this abuse set upon us by
'right wing' Christians. His book, 'Steps to Recovery
>From Bible Abuse,' is an uplifting educational experience
that all Christian believers should study and enjoy.
'I was made a gift
of this book by Dr. Truluck when he was
invited to Faubourg Marigny Books, 600 Frenchman St., for
a signing that will take place on Fri., June 8, 6pm till
8pm. Dr. Truluck will be on hand not only to sign his book
but to answer questions of importance to GLBT people and
their families. Please come and join with us that evening.
'Like many, Truluck
was raised in a small Southern town
where the church was the center of one's social, and
spiritual, life. He began as a young man preaching and
working in the Southern Baptist faith. Truluck attended
seminary and brought honor to himself through scholastic
excellence. Although he questioned his sexuality at a
young age, he did what was expected of him as a good man
of God. He married, fathered three children and led his
church flock in the path of righteousness.
'Truluck pursued
his higher education with vigor which
resulted in his becoming a seminary professor in 1971
at The Baptist College in Charleston, SC. Here Truluck
developed a program of recruitment, church placement and
supervised ministry students until 1981.
'This was all to
end suddenly when a long-time friend,
who was also Gay, outed Truluck to the college. Truluck
was told to resign after a secret meeting of the college
trustees where no written records were made. Two days
later, he moved to Atlanta to be with his sister. His
family had been lost to him. It would be five long years
before he would see his children again.
'In Atlanta, depression
and alcohol claimed Truluck. He
is understanding of what low self-esteem can do to destroy
our lives. With love and understanding from his parents
and a Gay AA group, Truluck fought back against the system
that rejected him. He used his superior intelligence to
study the Bible more closely and to dispel the ignorance
of 'sick religion.' In 1988, he was ready once again to
face his calling in church ministry. Dr. Truluck has
continued his Bible research, preaching and teaching at
First MCC Atlanta, Golden Gate MCC San Francisco, MCC
Nashville and other congregations to the present.
'His is the Christian
success story that we can all share.
His research and the written works that have been born of
this endeavor are available for our needs. His words can
calm our fears and renew our faith. I personally found
this book so inspirational that I asked my mother to read
it as well. I have known for some time that her acceptance
of my lifestyle was tainted by sick religious teachings.
Today, we both enjoy a renewed bond in our Christian
beliefs and understanding.
'I encourage you
to purchase a copy of these lessons to
overcome Bible abuse for your friends and family that have
allowed unsubstantiated right wing teachings to destroy
your relationship both with them and your God. The book
is a comfortable read and the 52 lessons presents an
opportunity to feed our souls and clear our minds. It
gives us firm ground on which to rebuild relationships
harmed by sick religious teachings. In Sept., 1997,
Truluck debuted his Web site (www.truluck.com)
and had
over two million hits in the first two years. This site
has become a source of power and information about
Christianity and the GLBT community. Presently, Truluck
is living in the San Francisco Bay area where he continues
to write and teach.
'Dr. Truluck's reasons
for being in New Orleans in June
are not to promote this worthwhile book. He is supporting
and joining with Soul Force Christians and Jews who will
peacefully take a stand against the 'sick religion'
practiced and taught by the Southern Baptist Conference.
Dr. Truluck will also join with Dr. Mel White and Pastor
Dexter Brecht at the MCC service on Sun., June 10 at St.
Mark's Community Center on N. Rampart St.'
Toni can be reached
at Psalmwrite@aol.com and the
newspaper is at http://www.ambushmag.com/.
Order Dr.
Rembert Truluck's book, 'Steps to Recovery from Bible
Abuse,' ($24.95 plus shipping and handling) at
http://www.chirhopress.com/.
--------------------------------------------------
3. Chi Rho Press Travel Schedule
July 21 and 22 we
are going to New Life MCC in Norfolk,
VA with our traveling bookstore. The Rev. Marty Luna and
the Rev. Maria Wolfe are our hosts. The church meets at
10:30 am at 4035 East Ocean View Ave., Norfolk, VA.
http://www.newlifemcc.org/.
Sept. 23, MCC Richmond, VA tentatively planned.
Nov. 25, Imago Dei MCC, Media, PA tentatively planned.
More information
about up-coming visits will be in
future editions of the eNewsletter.
--------------------------------------------------
The Presbyterian
General Assembly has given preliminary
approval for overturning a provision that has effectively
prohibited the ordination of non-celibate LGBT clergy.
The General Assembly
of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
voted 317 to 208 to delete the passage in its Book of
Order (its church constitution) that says elders, deacons,
and ministers must 'live either in fidelity within the
covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity
in singleness.' That ordination standard was inserted
into the Book of Order in 1997.
'The church has taken
a step toward justice for God's
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people,' the
Rev. Janie Spahr was quoted as saying. Rev. Spahr
is one of the editors of 'Called OUT: The Voices and
Gifts of LGBT Presbyterians,' published by Chi Rho
Press. She is director of That All May Freely Serve,
an organization that involves LGBT people in outreach and
minstry.
The change would
also overturn the 'definitive guidance'
passed by the General Assembly in 1978 that 'practicing,
self-affirming homosexuals' cannot serve as ordained clergy.
Final approval of
the General Assembly's June 15 vote to
amend its Book of Order must come from a majority of the
church's 173 local presbyteries over the next year.
--------------------------------------------------
5. Dr. Truluck and the Southern Baptists
Dr. Rembert Truluck
joined with the Rev's. Mel White,
Jimmy Creech, and others of Soulforce to confront the
Southern Baptist Convention earlier this month. Dr.
Truluck was one of the 34 people arrested in New Orleans.
Here is part of Dr. Truluck's report:
'When you want to
exterminate vermin, you find a way to
make them self-destruct. Religion in America has found
a way to exterminate GLBT people, not by killing them,
but by teaching and convincing them that they are an
abomination to God and that they are evil and have no
right to live. You don't have to kill people you hate
if you can make them kill and destroy themselves.
'Genocide is 'the
deliberate and systematic destruction of
a racial, political, or cultural group.' (Webster's
Dictionary) You cannot protest genocide too much.
'Racial, political, or cultural group' includes gays,
lesbians, bisexuals, and transsexuals. I have been
basically a writer and teacher. I have always supported
whatever protests my LGBT community has used to try to
challenge and change the fear and violence of homophobia
that is killing us by the thousands.
'In New Orleans I
had the great privilege and opportunity
to join an act of open protest and civil disobedience
with others in Soulforce and experience the increasingly
harsh reality of closed minded and arrogant religion in
my former religious affiliation of Southern Baptists.
I have great respect and admiration for . . . all of the
others [in Soulforce] who led in many ways.'
'Did Baptists hear
us? I think that many of them did.
There is much unrest and a great disturbance in the force
in the Southern Baptist Convention. A number of anti-gay
resolutions were offered at this convention, but none of
them were passed. I have had conversations recently with
many past Southern Baptist leaders who feel as I do that
the denomination that we love and once served and honored
is now dead. God can raise the dead, and there is hope
for Southern Baptists, whom I still love and pray for that
they will enter into a new age of hope and love for all
people.
'The Spirit of God
that was so evident to me in Soulforce
people and actions is also in many Southern Baptists. The
Spirit moves among and within us and brings us into
understanding and awakening. Nothing is impossible with
God. Even the most obstinately anti-gay religious group
in America can change: one by one. The Holy Spirit is
still working in all of us long after the convention and
the demonstrations and the speeches are over. All that we
can do is to testify to and demonstrate our truth in
confidence and love. Then leave the results to God.'
Dr. Truluck can be
reached at rembert@truluck.com. See his
web site at http://www.truluck.com
and look for his book,
'Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse,' on the Chi Rho Press
web site, http://www.ChiRhoPress.com. Soulforce
can be
reached at http://www.soulforce.org.
--------------------------------------------------
It has been rare
of late that we have had good news from
a mainline denomination as regards LGBT rights in the
church. So the vote of the Presbyterian General Assembly
to overturn its ordination standard that effectively
blocked LGBT people from exercising their ministries was
a welcome and surprising piece of news. Congratulations
to the Presbyterian Church (USA)!
Lots of credit goes
to the many, many Presbyterian LGBT
people and faithful non-gay supporters! Our authors Janie
Spahr and Chris Glaser, our friends Jim Anderson, Lawrence
Reh (also contributors to our book 'Called OUT'), Michael
Adee, oh, and dozens and dozens of grace-filled, lovely,
and powerful Presbyterians we have come to know and
cherish over the years all deserve praise and thanks
for this victory.
We make bold to claim
a little credit as well, thinking
and hoping that our books made a difference. Chi Rho
Press published two major works by Presbyterians, 'Called
OUT,' edited by Janie Spahr and her team of what I called
'Lesbyterians;' and 'Come Home!' by Chris Glaser. Please
find them (and order them!) on our web page at
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com.
Of course, there
is still a lot of work to do in the
Presbyterian Church. The repeal of the odious 'fidelity
in marriage, chastity in singleness' language still has to
pass in at least 87 presbyteries. We at Chi Rho Press offer
any help we can to our Presbyterian sisters and brothers in
getting this important legislation passed through the
presbyteries.
Perhaps copies of
'Called OUT' can be purchased for people,
pastors, and churches in your presbytery! What a wonderful
gift!
*********
Summer is upon us
here in the Washington DC area.
Unfortunately, the Press office is on the third floor of
my house and it does get rather hot. The air conditioning
doesn't seem to want to rise to the third floor! Poor
Kevin is being a real saint, but I think we may need to
get a window air conditioner to keep him from melting away!
The Press office
will be closed this Wednesday, the Fourth
of July. Kevin will be working his usual hours of 10 am
to 7 pm Thursday and Friday this week.
*********
Please keep the UFMCC
in your prayers this week as they
gather in Toronto, Ontario, for their General Conference.
Thanks for your support!
--------------------------------------------------
We are glad
you are partners in ministry 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
---------------------------
If you've received our eNewsletter as a result of the good offices of
someone passing it along to you (which we certainly encourage) and would
like to
receive it directly from us, please follow the directions at the end of
our
eNewsletter to subscribe.
For
orders, please write to us: Orders@ChiRhoPress.com.
If you have
questions, please write to Question@ChiRhoPress.com.
For comments and
suggestions about this eNewsletter, please write eNews@ChiRhoPress.com.
For all other correspondence, please write Adam@ChiRhoPress.com.
Our snail mail address is:
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 2001, Chi Rho Press, Inc.
******************************************
SUBSCRIBE: ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
UNSUBSCRIBE: ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
R. Adam DeBaugh,
Director, Adam@ChiRhoPress.com.
Kevin Stone Fries, Editor/Office Manager, Kevin@ChiRhoPress.com
Visit the Chi Rho Press Website http://www.ChiRhoPress.com