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eNewsletter 25 February 02 |
Chi Rho Connection ************************* Contents:
1. More Changes on the Web Site! -------------------------------------------------- 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
ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoo.com. 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. -------------------------------------------------- 1.
More Changes on the Web Site! -------------------------------------------------- 2. Presbyterians Defeat Amendment A -------------------------------------------------- 3. Featured Book: 'Come Home!' -------------------------------------------------- 4. We are Seeking Guardian Angels -------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------
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 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. Copyright 2002, Chi Rho Press, Inc. ****************************************** SUBSCRIBE: ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com R. Adam DeBaugh, Director, Adam@ChiRhoPress.com. Visit the Chi Rho Press Website http://www.ChiRhoPress.com
Vol. III, No. 4
25 February 02
2. Presbyterians Defeat Amendment A
3. Featured Book: 'Come Home!'
4. We are Seeking Guardian Angels
5. FYI: Changing Technology
6. Adam's Last Word:
Please visit our Web site at http://www.chirhopress.com to see our entire lines of books, handouts, tchochkas, and stained glass.
All of our current books and other products are on the web site now, with pictures of the book cover or item. New additions include the book 'Positively Gay: New Approaches to Gay and Lesbian Life,' edited by Betty Berzon, and the video, 'Family Stories: Journeys of Spirit in Mixed Orientation Families,' produced by John Davis and featuring our own Roberta Kreider. Now you can order these two important items on our Web site, and pay using your creditcard.
We have also added biographies of our Board of Directors and staff.
The previous editions of the Chi Rho Connection is now up on the e-news page in an easier-to-read archive format. We expect to be putting the Connection up soon after it is published in the future.
There is a much more user-friendly sponsors and contributors page, where you can make contributions to the ministry of Chi Rho Press and become a Guardian Angel on line, using your credit card.
We have added some new links to our links page and will be adding more links and continuing to organize them as time goes on.
Of course, the new Alphabetical List of Products is up as well as our Products by Category.
We will be adding some authors' biographies and book reviews soon. Keep watching! Please check out the new look and easier navigation of our Web page. And buy a book or two while you are at it!
This means that, for at least one more year, that officers of the Presbyterian Church (USA) will continue to be required to practice 'fidelity within the covenant ofmarriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness.' Presbyterian officers include deacons and elders, elected and ordained lay leadership positions, and clergy.
Amendment 01-A, which would have deleted section G-6.0106b from the church's Book of Order, which states: 'Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historicconfessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament.'
As the Chi Rho Press book 'Called OUT!' eloquently attests,there are many LGBT Presbyterians whom God has called to ministry in their church. We believe that Presbyterians need to read 'Called OUT! The Voices and Gifts of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Presbyterians' now more than ever.
The anthology 'Called OUT!' was compiled by the Rev. Jane Adams Spahr, Kathryn Poethig, Selisse Berry, and Melinda McLain. In it 39 LGBT Presbyterians tell their stories about their lives in, and out of the Presbyterian Church. People from both the old northern and southern churches, and the reunited Presbyterian Church (USA), from all over the United States, tell their stories here with candor, wit, and faith. An important book for all who either are Lesbian or Gay or would seek to understand Gay people of faith, regardless of their religion.
Now in its second printing, 'Called OUT!' has been calledan incredibly valuable book. Former Stated Clerk William P. Thompson said 'Presbyterians should read 'Called OUT' within the year.
'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. . . . Glaser stands inside his own humanity as a gay male and hears the word of God through the Bible. Christians, gay and straight, needthis 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.
The Rev. Carter Heyward called 'Come Home!' 'an enthusiastic compelling testimony to the power of faith in the lives of many gay and lesbian Christians.'
Virginia Ramey Mollenkott said, 'If courage, honesty, and insight are beautiful, then this is one beautiful book. . . . I rejoice that in this book all the gay men and lesbian women who have been robbed of their spirituality are issued an urgent invitation: Come home!'
'Come Home!' by Chris Glaser offers a vision of faith, hope, and affirmation inviting gay men and lesbians to come home to their spirituality through Christian faith and community. Order your copy today!
Our Guardian Angel Individual Sponsors program starts with a minimum gift of $150 a year and our Guardian Angels receive discounts on Press publications, free gifts during the year, and special other perks.
You may contribute on line, paying with your credit card or send your check or money order to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864, Gaithersburg, MD 20898.
Thanks for your support!
Now, of course, the vast majority of our lay out work is done on the computer and printed out directly. No typesetting, no wax, no fuss nor muss. Back in 1990 we didn't even have a computer! Things have changed dramatically.
And the World Wide Web changed things even more. In the past sending a newsletter out to more than 850 people would take a long time. Not just writing it, but laying it out, printing, folding, preparing envelopes, stuffing the newsletter, sealing the envelopes, and preparing them for the arduous bulk mail requirements of the U.S. Post Office, all can take days! Now most of the time we spend on the Chi Rho Connection is in the writing. Distribution is instantaneous through our opt-in subscription at YahooGroups.com.
But that is not without its difficulties and mistakes. For most of the existence of our weekly meditation supplements, the Chi Rho Reflection, we had the unsubscription address incorrect. Our loyal readers know that the Chi Rho Reflection is a selection from that week's meditations found in 'The Road to Emmaus,' which we send out at the beginning of each week. Well, we made a mistake when we first entered the information about how to subscribe and unsubscribe, leaving off the final s in Yahoogroups.com in the unsubscribe address. A frustrated reader who needed to unsubscribe wrote asking for help and we discovered the error. Our apologies to all!
Of course, we hope you do not unsubscribe but rather stay with us. We are going through some major changes on the Web page. 'Positively Gay' and the 'Family Stories' video are now on the Web site, along with a new, easier to work with sponsors/contributors page, and a new look to the Newsletter page and our archives. New changes are being added weekly. Board and staff bios went up this weekend. Soon we will have author's bios, blurbs, and reviews for many books. Other exciting changes are in the works. Please visit us at http://www.ChiRhoPress.com, see our changes and buy some books, handouts, stained glass, or other goodies!
As we continue to explore the brave new world of computer technology, we hope to find ways to serve you better. Maybe publishing e-books? A place for you to write your own reviews of our books? It is an exciting process and thrilling to be a part of it!
Just For Your Information!
Thanks for being a part of this ministry and thanks for your support!
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.
Customers outside the U.S. and especially our Canadian friends can order using credit cards on our Web page or through our Canadian distributor, MAP Enterprises, Mary Ann Pearson, at her new Web page, http://www.christiangays.com.
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Kevin Stone Fries, Editor/Office Manager, Kevin@ChiRhoPress.com