"Religion becomes abusive and oppressive as soon as people begin to use religion to control other people in the name of God." Rembert Truluck
Welcome once again to the Chi Rho Connection, the electronic newsletter of Chi Rho Press. Thank you for passing this Chi Rho Connection 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.
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Contents:
1. Kreider/Wallner Video Available
2. Building Bridges Conference
3. New Meditation Mailings
4. Become a Guardian Angel!
5. Call for Submissions
6. Adam's Last Word: Angels, Prayers for Ron DeVrou, Stained
Glass Class
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We now have a new video in stock featuring Roberta Kreider and Mary Lou Wallner, with an introduction by the Rev. Peter J. Gomes. "Family Stories: Journeys of Spirit in Mixed Orientation Families" was produced by John Davis and is available for $29.95 which includes shipping and handling.
'Family Stories' presents the journeys of two women whose lives have changed dramatically in working through issues of sexuality and religion. The untimely deaths of family members (one a gay brother, the other a lesbian daughter) lead them to confront their feelings of confusion and hypocrisy. They provide hope for families, as well as religious and social organizations, by clearly demonstrating how minds can and do change.
Roberta Kreider compiled and edited the book "From Wounded Hearts: Faith Stories of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered People and Those Who Love Them." She is a 74 year old, heterosexual Mennonite woman living in rural Pennsylvania with her husband Harold, a retired minister in the Mennonite church.
Mary Lou Wallner is an active member of Soulforce, and a frequent speaker across the country. Mary Lou resides in suburban Chicago with her husband Bob, and is completing a book of coping tools for Christians who learn of a gay or lesbian loved one in their family. She is also an R.N. and runs a free HIV clinic.
The Rev. Peter J. Gomes is the author of "The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart." He has served as Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard University and minister in The Memorial Church since 1974.
"Family Stories" is in VHS format, color, and 35 minutes, and sells for $29.95, shipping and handling included. It is only available through the mails please send your check or money order for $29.95 to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864, Gaithersburg, MD 20898.
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2. Building Bridges Conference by Kevin Stone Fries
Chi Rho Press is beginning to expand its marketing reach by participating in community based events and conferences while continuing to take its Traveling Bookstore on the road. A new non-profit organization, the Institute for the Twenty-First Century Relationships (ITCR) will help distribute Chi Rho Press catalogs at its first conference this week. The new Herndon, Virginia-based group aims to support non-traditional relationships.
The ITCR conference will be held August 24-26 at the Doubletree Hotel in Tyson’s Corner, VA. Attendees of the "Building Bridges’ conference will explore the integration of spirituality and sexuality, according to a spokesperson for the organization.
Chi Rho Press continues to explore new marketing strategies and ways to exhibit its resources at regional conferences such as the one organized by ITCR.
"We are very pleased to have ITCR’s help,’ says Chi Rho Press Director R. Adam DeBaugh. "We wish them the very best for a successful conference.’
For more information about ITCR, visit its Web site at http://www.lovethatworks.org.
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We started a new weekly mailing on July 30 as a gift to you from Chi Rho Press. Each Sunday night or Monday we will send our Chi Rho Connection subscribers a selection from 'The Road to Emmaus.'
One of our most popular and successful books, 'The Road to Emmaus,' a collection of daily meditations, was published in 1989 by Emmaus Press. Chi Rho Press director Adam DeBaugh was on the board of directors of Emmaus House of Prayer and Emmaus Press. When Emmaus Press went out of business, Chi Rho Press became the exclusive distributor of 'The Road to Emmaus.'
This excellent volume contains a Gospel reading and a meditation based on it for every day of the year. The meditations were written by LGBT Christians and supporters from a wide variety of backgrounds and traditions. Authors include the late Rev. Larry Uhrig, Fr. Bob Nugent, Sister Jeannine Gramick, Dr. Joseph Houle, Rev. Kathy Baker, Adam DeBaugh, Dr. Louis F. Kavar, Jack Pantaleo, Rev. Dusty Pruitt, Rev. Andy Sidden, Virginia Miles, and Sarah Fershee. 'The Road to Emmaus' has been discounted for sale at http://www.ChiRhoPress.com to $9.95 each, six or more copies for $7.50 each, plus shipping and handling.
>We hope you are nurtured and blessed by these weekly reflections and will feel moved to pass them on to your friends and family.
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Chi Rho Press is looking for Guardian Angels: individuals, couples, or families who will become sponsors of the Press and more involved as partners in this ministry.
This program is part of our vision of ecumenical, grass roots ministry enabling individuals, couples, and families to become part of Chi Rho Press. The goal of the Guardian Angel Individual Sponsor Program is to raise enough in sponsorships to move our Editor/Office Manager to full time and to enable us to publish additional books each year.
We are inviting you to become a Guardian Angel of Chi Rho Press. A few Guardian Angels have already taken Chi Rho Press under their wings. Please help us today. And pass this on to your friends and family and ask for their help as well!
Guardian Angels will
1. Receive a 'welcome gift' of a Stained Glass Cross as a thank you for your support.
2. Be eligible for a 7.5% discount on all purchases from Chi Rho Press that you make.
3. Be listed as a Guardian Angel Sponsor in Chi Rho Press publications, press releases, eNewsletters, and on the Web page.
4. Get a subscription to a new Newsletter just for Sponsors.
5. Receive an annual report prepared just for Sponsors.
6. Be informed about advance sales of publications from Chi Rho Press.
7. And of course, you will remain in our prayers!
And what do we ask from our Guardian Angels in return? Only three things,
1. Please keep the ministry of Chi Rho Press in your prayers.
2. A gift of at least $150 a year to Chi Rho Press from individuals, couples, or families.
3. Keep your friends, family, co-workers, and churches informed about the resources available from Chi Rho Press, our Web page, and our eNewsletter.
>That's it. For just $150 a year, you can become a Guardian Angel Sponsor of this growing publishing house, serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and seeking community of faith. Chi Rho Press is reaching people with resources that are not available anywhere else, resources that are made especially for our LGBT community.
'Even though we have managed to keep the costs of this special ministry very low, we need your support to grow and to expand our outreach. Won't you help?' asks Board member Steve Barchers.
Simply send your check for at least $150 to Chi Rho Press, ATTN: Guardian Angel Program, P.O. Box 7864, Gaithersburg, MD 20898. If you have specific questions about the Guardian Angel Program, you may e-mail us at Angels@ChiRhoPress.com, or telephone us at 301/926-1208.
Thank you for your support!
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Stacy Bias is soliciting lesbian nonfiction stories for "Love at First Site: True Stories of Lesbian Internet Romance,’ to be published by Alyson Publications in Autumn 2002.
TechnoDyke.com founder and publisher Stacy Bias is seeking romantic real-life stories about women hooking up on the Net. Have you had a unique romantic experience with another woman you met online? Did you travel cross-country to meet the babe of your dreams? Are you still together after all this time? If so, Alyson Publications wants to hear about it! Writers will be paid and receive 2 copies of the anthology upon publication. As you write, please try to answer some or all of the following questions:
1) Who was your partner? How did you meet her? In a chat room? Through an online personals ad? Via some other online method?
2) How long did you correspond before meeting each other in real life?
3) Was this your first lesbian experience/attraction? Was it hers?
4) How did she match up to your expectations once you met in person? Did you match up to her expectations?
5) Did you become intimate with each other? Did it develop into a relationship?
6) Are you still together now? If not, do you still continue to meet women on the Internet?
Submission Deadline: October 15, 2001
Write Stacy Bias at firstsite@technodyke.com for submission guidelines and other information.
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We hope you will take part of the tax refund being sent to you this summer and become a Guardian Angel Sponsor of Chi Rho Press. We have heard from our first Guardian Angels and hope you prayerfully consider joining them. We need your help to continue this ministry!
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Please keep Press Board member Ronald DeVrou in your prayers. Ronald fell and broke his collarbone last week. He is recuperating at home. Ronald has been an important
and valuable member of our Board of Directors for many years.
Though he had to miss our Board meeting Saturday, we were able to have dinner Saturday night (Chinese take-away in Ronald’s apartment!) and have a good visit. Please remember Ronald in your prayers for a speedy recovery.
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I will be teaching a beginners stained glass class at Holy Redeemer MCC, College Park, MD, on Saturday, 15 September at 10 am. Each participant will have the opportunity to make a small piece of stained glass, a sun catcher like a cross or other design. Another larger work in progress will be there on the site for people to see and even work on. The cost will be $5.00 to cover the cost of materials. If you are in the Maryland or DC area and would like to sign up, please write me at Adam@ChiRhoPress.com.
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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
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If you've received our Chi Rho Connection 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 Connection 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 Connection@ChiRhoPress.com. To learn about our Guardian Angel Individual Sponsor Program, please write Angels@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.
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.
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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