Chi Rho Connection
Vol. III, No. 9
15 May 2003
1. "The Journey is Our Home:" Sharing Our Faith
Journeys, by Bert Thompson
2. A New Printing of "My Memory Book"
3. Calling All Writers!
4. Web Site News
5. Link of the Month
6. Sanctoral Cycle
7. Adam's Last Word
--------------------------------------------------
This Issue's Quote:
"Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?"
on a bumper sticker noticed by columnist Craig Wilson,
USA Today, 26 March 2003, in his Final Word Column
*****
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@yahoogroups.com.
To remove yourself from this list send an e-mail to
mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Please visit our Web site at http://www.chirhopress.com
to see our entire lines of books, handouts, videos, tapes,
tchochkas, and stained glass.
Direct all other e-mail to Adam@ChiRhoPress.com.
--------------------------------------------------
1. "The Journey is Our Home:" Sharing Our Faith
Journeys, by Bert Thompson
The Chi Rho Connection is pleased to continue its
series in which people tell about their faith journeys.
To continue "The Journey is Our Home" series, we have
called upon Bert Thompson of Chicago, Illinois.
Here is Bert's story of faith. We hope you are blessed
by this part of his spiritual journey.
+ + +
I was raised in a very religious Southern Baptist home
in Nashville, Tennessee. My entire family went to
church every Sunday morning and evening and Wednesday
evening (I have a lifetime church attendance surplus).
Despite this my parents, both well-educated employees
of church institutions, were emotionally and physically
abusive.
At age 8 I chose to give myself to Jesus Christ as
Savior and Lord and follow him in Christian discipleship,
a genuine experience which has never left me. At 13,
influenced by the deeper life and lay renewal movements,
I rededicated my life to Christ. At the same time, I
became increasingly aware of my sexual attraction to
other boys. This was a lonely and isolating experience.
I knew no other gay people and had no sexual experience.
Imagine my surprise and bitterness when I learned later
that most adolescent boys experiment with each other
sexually.
I had a multi-year faith crisis, provoked by the
church's teachings and also by my own reading of the
homophobic, mistranslated RSV and Living Bible.
Convinced that I was afflicted by the seriously sinful
homosexual desires, I prayed sincerely EVERY day for
SIX YEARS that God would take away my sexual feelings
and make me a heterosexual.
Nothing happened.
I was a serious Christian in high school, often
carrying a Bible to class. In my senior year I made
public my call to preach the gospel. I was licensed
to the ministry and served as a youth pastor. An
excellent student, I was Valedictorian, President of
the National Honor Society, National Merit Scholar,
and voted Most Academic. I attended a Baptist
college to prepare for "full time Christian service."
At Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, I joined
the Ministerial Association, sometimes preaching in
rural churches, but I met other gay people for the
first time. I finally came out in December 1977. My
initial admission to friends was followed by a winter
of depression and grief. I cried myself to sleep each
night for weeks, mourning the loss of the person I
thought I had been, and afraid for what the future
might hold. I had no support from sympathetic or
knowledgeable adults, no affirming literature, no
media role models, and no organizational contacts.
All I had, besides a few confused and naive friends,
was my own religious experience as an anchor.
I finally decided that God had had enough time to
change me and obviously didn't want to. I began to
come out of my shell and go out dancing with friends.
(The first time I went to a gay bar was the first time
I had been to ANY bar, and I was a little dismayed
that all these people were drinking alcohol without
being struck by lightning.) Soon I had both my first
sexual experience and my first gay bashing. I was
beaten up with a tire tool, suffering back and facial
injuries.
Other residents of my dorm, all from good Baptist
families, made my life a living hell. Their campaign
of terror included stealing, moving, and urinating on
my possessions, shouting insults, throwing cold water
on me, and generally making me feel unsafe everywhere
on campus and afraid to go back to my room. It
climaxed one night when I was grabbed from behind,
a blanket put over my head, carried outside, and
swung out off a second-floor balcony. A resident
assistant from the other side of the building saved
me at the last minute. I complained to the university
administration but was told I had brought it on
myself. My only source of help, sympathy, and a
safe place to stay came not from the church, but
from friends in the gay community.
Over the years, I have been mugged or gay-bashed
three times, with beatings and lasting injuries.
These experiences and other accidents mean that I
can't dance anymore, and some days I can barely walk.
After college graduation (summa cum laude with two
majors, despite everything) I chose not to attend a
Baptist seminary. Instead I moved to the University
of Chicago for graduate school, where I earned a
master's degree in history and another master's in
librarianship. I am a professional librarian today.
My 20s and early 30s, which should have been a period
of partying, dating, and settling down with a partner,
were instead a time of many lingering illnesses and
grief. I lost my best friend to AIDS in 1985, (when
it already seemed like the epidemic had gone on for
too many years!) and after that many other friends,
peers, and potential partners.
For years I sought a theologically acceptable
explanation for the crisis. I now understand that
evil, such as HIV, exists because the world is
incomplete and still in the process of being created.
We are called to be co-creators with God and to help
in moving the world toward God's purposes of health,
love, and justice.
In 1984 I visited Good Shepherd Parish MCC and soon
afterwards joined. I found much that was strange and
unfamiliar. It's a good thing I started in summer
when the clergy didn't vest, because if I'd seen the
clergy robed at first, I might not have come back.
For the first few months, I sat in a pew and cried,
overwhelmed with the reawakening of painful memories
of prayer and worship that had been aimed at wounding
and smothering my true self. I joined the choir and
then the Board of Directors. I served as Treasurer,
Vice-Moderator, and Clerk of the board, as Delegate,
as Great Lakes District West Area Treasurer, and then
as an ordained Deacon, frequently preaching and
celebrating communion. In that church I spent eleven
difficult years as we struggled financially, changed
pastors several times, went through a painful split,
and lost dozens of members, both old and new, to death
from AIDS. I worked on my own issues of recovery from
abuse, codependence, and dysfunction as I poured energy
into trying to keep the church open, healthy, and
relevant in a community much in need of our ministry.
In the mid-90s I became one of the four founders of a
new church, MCC of the Incarnation, now New Spirit MCC,
in suburban Oak Park. I volunteered as worship leader,
made coffee and set up chairs, served on the Board, and
wrote all of the Bible study curriculum for our small
group program as we built our membership from a handful
to several dozen, mainly new to MCC. Simultaneously,
for six years I studied part-time at Chicago Theological
Seminary, where I finally earned my Masters of Divinity
degree in 2000. Nevertheless, despite all of my church
involvement and a fourteen-year career with the Chicago
Public Library, I still have found neither a place of
service nor a job that truly fits my personality and
motivated abilities. Also, in my 25th year out of the
closet, I am still looking for my first boyfriend.
I understand fundamentalism from the inside (been
there, done that). It is a heresy, built on the
erroneous belief that the Bible is the Word of God.
No, it isn't, Jesus is, as the Bible itself clearly
explains. True Christianity is not faith in a book,
but in a person. Christianity is not about following
the law about sexuality or any other laws; it's about
love. And despite what is currently promoted in the
media and many churches, there are NO 1950s-style
nuclear family role models in the Bible. Instead,
Jesus explicitly condemned "family values." I long
for the church to uphold the genuine gospel or biblical
values of concern for rescuing people who are lost in
life, economic justice, and world peace.
+ + +
--------------------------------------------------
2. A New Printing of "My Memory Book"
We are very pleased to announce to the young and the
young-at-heart a third printing of "My Memory Book: A
Journal for Grieving Children, Second Edition" by
Gretchen Gaines-Lane, LCSW-C. Please visit
http://www.chirhopress.com/products/socialaction.html#SocialMemory
to read about the book and to order your copy.
Though created for children by a children's grief and
bereavement specialist, many adults are using "My Memory
Book" to create memorials for loved ones who have died.
Like a panel in the AIDS quilt, a copy of "My Memory Book"
can become an important part of the grief process after
losing a beloved friend or relative.
"I love this workbook for children of all ages," says
Patricia Kelly, co-author of "Final Gifts" and a
consultant in the Washington, D.C. area. "This is a
book to treasure."
Space is available throughout the book for the grieving
person to write or draw. Directions for over 20
exercises are given on the left-hand side page, and
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 the user cares
to employ.
Dr. Phyllis Silverman, one of the most renowned experts
in the bereavement field, writes, "This is one of the
best workbooks I have seen to help . . .understand the
nature of grief. It legitimates . . . ties to the
deceased and helps find ways to talk about these
connections."
The unique genius of this book is that it is wonderful
for anyone to use, regardless of age. "My Memory Book"
provides enough exercises for readers of any age to
return to it again and again to celebrate the life of
one recently lost and of their life together. The book
also includes a special section in the back for readers
to design their own exercises.
Though many buy this book for family members, many
counselors in the professional community have also
recognized the therapeutic benefits of "My Memory
Book" and use the book with their clients. "This
workbook is a wonderful tool to assist therapists
and counselors in their work with bereaved children,"
says Nancy Boyd Webb, DSW, BCD, Professor, Fordham
University Graduate School of Social Service.
An Illinois hospice and hospital ordered another 100
copies of "My Memory Book" for their on-going use. We
are proud of their recommendation of this important
book as a bereavement tool for people of all ages.
"My Memory Book" is available from Chi Rho Press for
$10.95 each, $8.95 each for six or more copies, plus
shipping and handling.
--------------------------------------------------
3. Calling All Writers!
WRITERS! I know you are out there! I need your
500-word faith stories. Please contribute to our
series of faith stories, 'The Journey is Our Home:'
Sharing Our Faith Journeys. Our readers would like
to read about your experiences of faith. Won't you
please write up even a small part of your journey
of faith and submit it to us? Just send your faith
story to Adam@ChiRhoPress.com. You will be blessed
by the exercise, just as you are a blessing to others.
Thank you!
--------------------------------------------------
4. Web Site News
Don't forget that Chi Rho Press offers free shipping
for orders of $100 or more!
*****
Our Remainder Table continues to be a very popular way
for our customers to obtain copies of five of our most
popular books are greatly reduced savings.
Find it at http://www.chirhopress.com/products/remainders.html.
"Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse," by Dr. Rembert
Truluck, is remaindered at $14.95. That's a saving of
$10.00 off the list price!
"The Bible and Homosexuality," by the Rev. Michael
England, is remaindered at $6.60. That's a saving of
$4.35 off the list price!
"From Wounded Hearts: Faiths Stories of Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered People and Those
Who Love Them," compiled and edited by Roberta
Showalter Kreider. This first edition is no longer
in print, but we have just a few remaindered copies
left at $11.95. That's a saving of $8.00 off the
original list price!
"Come Home! Reclaiming Spirituality and Community
as Gay Men and Lesbians," by Chris Glaser, is remaindered
at $11.95. That's a saving of $8.00 off the list
price!
"Called OUT! The Voices and Gifts of Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, and Transgendered Presbyterians," compiled
and edited by the Rev. Jane Adams Spahr, Kathryn
Poethig, Selisse Berry, and Melinda V. McLain,
is remaindered at $10.75. That's a savings of $7.20
off the list price!
*****
Did you know that all the past issues of the Chi Rho
Connection are archived on the Web site? You can read
old copies, and even print them out to save. Going all
the way back to 1999, back issues of the Chi Rho
Connection can be found at
http://www.chirhopress.com/newsletter_archive/prev_newsletters.html
*****
Reviews for many of our books are also found on the
Web site. Read what other people are saying about our
books.
*****
You can also become one of our Guardian Angels, right
on the Web site. Just go to
http://www.chirhopress.com/sponsor.html and select at
least the $150 contribution option to become a Guardian
Angel Individual Sponsor. There is a link at that page
to learn more about the Guardian Angel program.
Remember, all contributions to Chi Rho Press are fully
tax deductible.
--------------------------------------------------
5. Link of the Month
I strongly recommend my friend Teddy Durgin's on-line
movie review service, FlickVille.com's Hollywood Reviews.
I enjoy Teddy's reviews a great deal, even though we
disagree once in a while, and his reviews are insightful,
fun to read, and refreshingly informal. He must be
doing something right with over a million subscribers!
To subscribe, send a message to hollywoodreviews-subscribe@topica.com.
You might also want to check out Teddy's supplemental
Web site, www.flickville.com. Or go to
www.flickville.com/booksale.html and purchased his
e-book, "Teddy's 20 Favorite Movies."
--------------------------------------------------
6. Sanctoral Cycle
As a regular feature in the Chi Rho Connection, we
are offering up traditional and modern saints and various
holy days and holidays listed in the 2003 Liturgical Calendar
and Lectionary from today until our next scheduled
electronic newsletter.
Saturday, May 17, St. Josephine Bakhita (1869-1947).
Ex-slave and nun. Born in the African nation of Sudan,
at the age of nine Bakhita was kidnapped and sold into
slavery. Eventually she was bought by a family who
took her back to Italy. Upon hearing the gospel she
understood that God meant for her to be free. She went
to court to gain her freedom, and then discovered that
slavery was illegal in Italy! She was then baptized
and took religious vows as a nun. She spent her life
serving others, and became famous for her quiet faith.
Monday, May 19, Victoria Day (Canada)
Thursday, May 22, Rabbi Baal Shem Tov (1700-1760).
Founder of Hasidism. The Besht (as his name is shortened)
was born in the Ukraine at a time when Jews were being
murdered by the thousands and many messianic and mystical
movements were rising. The Besht wandered from village
to village telling stories and performing wonders. He
proclaimed a mysticism of the everyday. In each task
and moment there is a spark of the divine holiness of
God. The spirit in which one lives is more important
than following a set of laws. Although most were
murdered by the Nazis, vibrant Hasidic communities
thrive today in Israel and the U.S.
Friday, May 23, Declaration of the Bab (Baha'i).
Statement in 1844 by Ali Muhammed that he is the
anticipated "Coming One" of all religions. No work
is done on this day.
Monday, May 26 Wednesday, May 28. Rogation Days.
Days in the Anglican tradition for the blessing of
farms, gardens, and those who work and care for the
earth. Features outdoor processions and blessings.
May be held at another more convenient or appropriate
time.
Monday, May 26, Memorial Day (USA). Federal holiday.
Tuesday, May 27, John Calvin (d. 1564). Founder of
Reformed movement. Calvin was trained at the University
of Paris in theology, law, and humanism. Fleeing
religious persecution he moved to Switzerland, where
he converted to Protestantism. He instituted
religious and political reforms that were copied
across Europe. Known as a scholar and preacher,
he emphasized the absolute sovereignty and grace
of God.
Thursday, May 29, The Ascension of Jesus.
Acts 1:1-11 (the ascension of Jesus, you will be my
witnesses in all the world); Psalm 47 (God has gone
up with a shout); Psalm 93 (majesty of God's rule,
everlasting throne [RCL alternate to Psalm 47]);
Ephesians 1:15-23 (God has exalted Christ above all
things, made head of church); Luke 24:44-53 (Jesus
commissions and blesses disciples, you are my
witnesses, Jesus ascends to heaven).
*****
Order the full 2003 Liturgical Calendar and Lectionary,
complete with the entire year's Sanctoral Cycle, at,
http://www.chirhopress.com/products/devotionals.html#Park.
-------------------------------------------------
7. Adam's Last Word:
Hypocrisy. I am so over it!
Why does it seem that the more prominent a leader you
are, the more hypocritical your life ends up being?
Jimmy Swaggart preached against sexual immorality and
made a fortune. That is until he got caught in a motel
room with a prostitute.
Now we have Mr. Virtue, Bill Bennett, who wrote such
works as "The Book of Virtues," "The Death of Outrage,"
"Moral Compass: Stories for a Life's Journey," and my
personal favorite title, "The Broken Hearth: Reversing
the Moral Collapse of the American Family." Bennett
is the former Secretary of Education under Ronald
Reagan and later US Drug Czar who has made a fortune
as a moral blowhard, holding himself out to us as a
paragon of the many virtues he champions. To add
that he is a conservative Republican seems almost redundant.
Now celebrity moralist Bill Bennett has been outed as a
gambler, and not just a church bingo once a month type
charity gambler, but a habitue of Las Vegas and Atlantic
City who has lost up to eight million dollars over the
past ten years.
Does that seem hypocritical to you? Somewhere in Mr.
Bennett's moral compass he has managed to find a place
for a gambling habit for many years. Of course, now
that he has been outed as a gambler he swears he is
going to quit. Basically he says he has done nothing
wrong and he won't do it again. OK, but if gambling
isn't wrong, why does he now say he won't do it again?
Maybe some vices are only virtues until you get caught.
What seems so hypocritical to me is that Bennett has
been one of the most prominent people to pile on when
someone else in the public eye (usually a Democrat of
course) gets caught in some peccadillo or other. This
is what we get when we allow anyone to set themselves
up as an avatar of virtue, allowing them to preach AT
us, rather than walk WITH us. In the broader scheme
of things, I suppose gambling may be one of the more
minor sins, though I wonder what his church's teaching
on the subject is. And Bill Bennett apparently did
not let his family suffer as a result of his gambling
habit. He didn't gamble away the milk money, he said.
But can you imagine what good might have been done
with eight million dollars? The hungry who might have
been fed, the homeless housed, the sick healed. Eight
million dollars might have speeded up the search for a
cure for cancer, or even AIDS. Eight million dollars
might even have saved a lot of lives lost to drug
addiction through education and treatment. Instead,
Mr. Bennett's eight million dollars went to the casino
owners in Vegas. Oh well.
Is anyone else disturbed by this?
*****
Last weekend I spent some wonderful time with an old
and dear friend. Craig Arnold and I have been friends
for some 23 years, first meeting at MCC DC when he was
a student at the University of Maryland. He is still
at UM, but now as a coordinator and advisor at the
School of Music. Craig treated me to two wonderful
concerts at Maryland's Clarice Smith Performing Arts
Center, a magnificent facility in the heart of the
College Park campus. Saturday evening was the concert
band and the symphonic wind ensemble. The ensemble
had a lively program which culminated with the 1812
Overture, complete with bells and taped cannon's roar.
Craig joined me at church at Holy Redeemer MCC in
College Park on Sunday and we had brunch with our new
pastor the Rev. David North and his partner David York.
Then we went back to the Performing Arts Center for a
performance of Carmina Burana by Carl Orff by the
Maryland Chorus. There are a lot of wonderfully
talented young people and Maryland's Music Department
is a real joy.
By the way, Craig is the cover artist for "My Memory
Book: A Journal for Grieving Children," by Gretchen
Gaines-Lane. A third printing of the second edition
of this very popular workbook is at the printers now
and we expect to take delivery on it early next week
(see article number 2 in this issue of the Chi Rho
Connection). You can view Craig's charming cover art
for "My Memory Book" at
http://www.chirhopress.com/products/socialaction.html#SocialMemory.
Craig is working on cover art for "Living as the
Beloved: One Day at a Time," by the Rev. Dr. Sandy
Bochonok, our next book of daily devotions.
*****
R. Adam DeBaugh, Director, Adam@ChiRhoPress.com.
******************************************
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.
If you've received the Chi Rho Connection as a result of
someone passing it along to you and would like to receive
it directly from us, please follow these directions:
To SUBSCRIBE send blank e-mail to:
ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To UNSUBSCRIBE send blank e-mail to:
ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit http://www.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. Please always include your e-mail address,
mailing address, and telephone number.
For all e-mail 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 Web page, http://www.christiangays.com.
Copyright 2003, Chi Rho Press, Inc.
******************************************
