Glide Memorial UMC, a Reconciling Congregation, announced the appointment of Dr. Rev. Karen Oliveto to the San Francisco congregation. Rev. Oliveto also serves on the Reconciling Ministries Network Board of Directors. According to the Press Release on Glide's Web site:
Glide Memorial United Methodist Church today announced that it has expanded its ministry team with the addition of Dr. Rev. Karen Oliveto, a highly celebrated Methodist minister who will share the ministry duties with the Reverend Cecil Williams and Reverend Donald Guest. Oliveto will join Glide’s ministry team, which integrates the spirituality of the church with Glide’s major programs within its foundation including, free and low-cost health services and rehabilitation, counseling, a comprehensive youth and child care center, job training, affordable housing to homeless and the working poor and nearly a million free meals each year. Glide’s ministry team, which leads a sizeable congregation of over 10,000, includes Founding President Janice Mirikitani, Chief Executive Officer Willa Seldon as well as the Revs. Williams and Guest. The public is invited to join the 9am or 11am Celebration at Glide (330 Ellis at Taylor) on Sunday, March 2, Dr. Rev. Oliveto’s official presentation and address to the Glide Community. Receptions in Freedom Hall will follow each service.
Full story:
Glide Expands Ministry Team Click here
Did you know?
According to the San Francisco Chronicle:
The California Supreme Court scheduled a March 4 hearing Wednesday for the long-awaited clash between gay-rights advocates, the state and religious conservatives over the constitutionality of banning same-sex marriage.
The case, to be heard at the court's chambers in San Francisco, is a consolidation of four lawsuits by same-sex couples and the city of San Francisco, challenging the marriage restriction, and two countersuits by private organizations defending the law...
The law was first challenged in February 2004 when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered the city clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Nearly 4,000 marriages were performed in the next month before the state Supreme Court called a halt.
Full story:
Warring sides on same-sex marriages look to March 4 court date Click here
Dr. Rev. Karen Oliveto performed a gay marriage ceremony for one of the 4,000 couples who received a marriage license from the City of San Francisco. A complaint was filed against her and later resolved.
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (UMNS) -- A complaint against a United Methodist pastor for performing a gay marriage ceremony in a church sanctuary has been resolved by Bishop Beverly Shamana of the denomination’s California-Nevada Conference.
The Rev. Karen Oliveto officiated at a Feb. 15 ceremony for Bethany United Methodist Church parishioners Bill Hinson and Dan Johnson after they received a marriage license at San Francisco City Hall. A complaint was filed against her shortly thereafter, and has been in the “supervisory” resolution process in the seven months since.
“It was a challenging process, and I’m glad there is resolution,” Oliveto said. “It was done respectfully, and it was carried out in a prayerful manner that was mindful of the church, The Book of Discipline and the dignity of all persons involved.”
Full story: Same-sex ceremony complaint against Oliveto dismissed Click here
Reconciling Ministries Network Celebrates Black History Month
Black History Month does not end this week. As we continue throughout the year, we need to remember our call to immerse ourselves in the battle against racism. We opened Black History Month celebrating Rev. Gilbert Caldwell's work. Rev. Caldwell issued a challenge for the final days of Black History Month:
In this final week of Black History Month, I broaden my "circle of conversation" by sharing this with you. Suggest that your friends and colleagues "Google" Lynchings in the USA. There they will find pictures of the front covers of two books, "Lynching in Colorado" and "A Lynching in the Heartland" and will be able to access some of the pictures of the lynchings of Black people, often including the crowds of men, women and children who were witnesses.
Why does Gil Caldwell "mess up your day" with this kind of unpleasantness? "They who do not remember their history are likely to repeat it". I find it necessary to remind my friends and colleagues that I am a "Segregation Survivor" as many of them are. As a 74 year old African American, I must resist daily the tendency to "let the past be the past" (Which it never is). I must not desecrate the memories I have of some of my relatives by developing a kind of amnesia about the stories they used to share about the lynchings they saw, some of people that they knew.
There is a Black History relevance to that I am suggesting you do. We have seen how "the use of the noose" has been used in a variety of settings to seek to intimidate Black persons.
Prior coverage:
Flashnet 2/6/2008: Reconciling Ministries Network Celebrates Black History Month Click here
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NAACP declares 'State of Emergency':
The increase in reports of violence and overly aggressive prosecution against African American youth by law enforcement officials symbolized by the boot camp beating death of Martin Lee Anderson, the assault of Shelwanda Riley by a police officer and countless other recent dehumanizing attacks has led the NAACP to declare a ‘State of Emergency’ that requires immediate action by local and state authorities as well as the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Congress.
Full story:
NAACP declares 'State of Emergency' Click here
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As we take Black History Month with us for the remainder of the year, RMN would like to recommend some books for your reading list.
Something Within: Works by Rev. Gilbert H. Caldwell
Rev. Gilbert H. Caldwell
To Order | Recent Review
Their Own Receive Them Not: African American Lesbians & Gays in Black Churches
Horace L. Griffin
To Order
Disruptive Christian Ethics: When Racism and Women's Lives Matter
Traci C. West
To Order
Wounds of the Spirit: Black Women, Violence, and Resistance Ethics
Traci C. West
To Order
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In addition to these books, RMN would like to recommend that you bookmark the following two sites for ongoing visits:
The National Black Justice Coalition is a civil rights organization dedicated to empowering Black same-gender-loving, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people. The Coalition works with our communities and our allies for social justice, equality, and an end to racism and homophobia.
Southerners On New Ground (SONG) was founded in order to advance Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer multi-racial, multi-issued education and organizing capable of combating the Right’s strategies of fragmentation and division.
GC 2008--Marriage: This is Love by Jason & deMarco
Jason and deMarco performed at the Reconciling Ministries Network Convocation in 2005. Viewers of MTV LOGO’s popular video countdown program, The Click List, voted Jason and deMarco’s music video for This Is Love the #1 music video for 2006. According to the press release about This is Love on Jason and deMarco's site:
"This is Love is about finding that special someone and the intense, explosive emotions that follow," explains Jason, from the apartment he shares with deMarco in Los Angeles. He says he felt the emotions the moment he first set eyes on deMarco, his partner of five years. "No matter how the world may judge the love we share, what we have is love and it can't be taken away..."
Jason and deMarco believe that love between same sex couples is different only because of the struggles faced by GLBT people. "Many gays and lesbians fight hard for love and often must overcome hurdles and obstacles, even within themselves. Many of us have sacrificed relationships with our family, our faith, our jobs - simply trying to find our way in a world that mostly looks at our love as dirty, immoral, and unnatural."
"Through our music, and This Is Love in particular, we strive to give hope that it is possible to be gay and spiritual and to a have a loving partner with whom to share your life and dreams."
Here is This Is Love:
Full story:
Jason & deMarco - Press Releases & Quotes Click here
Coalition Petitions to the 2008 General Conference:
Our coalition (RMN, Affirmation, MFSA, the General Board of Church and Society and others) submitted the following petitions regarding marriage and human sexuality to the 2008 General Conference:
Amend Discipline ¶161 C, as follows:
We affirm the sanctity of the marriage covenant or committed union that is expressed in love, mutual support, personal commitment, and shared fidelity between a man and a womantwo adult persons. We believe that God's blessing rests upon such marriage covenants and commitments, whether or not there are children of the union. We reject social norms that assume different standards for women than for men in marriage or committed union. We support laws in civil society that define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Amend Discipline ¶161 G, as follows:
We recognize that sexuality is God's good gift to all persons. We believe persons may be fully human only when that gift is acknowledged and affirmed by themselves, the church, and society. We call all persons to the disciplined, responsible fulfillment of themselves, others, and society in the stewardship of this gift. We also recognize our limited understanding of this complex gift and encourage the medical, theological, and social science disciplines to combine in a determined effort to understand human sexuality more completely. We call the Church to take the leadership role in bringing together these disciplines to address this most complex issue. Further, within the context of our understanding of this gift of God, we recognize that God challenges us to find responsible, committed, and loving forms of expression.
Although all persons are sexual beings whether or not they are marriedin covenant relationships including marriage, we believe sexual relations are only clearly affirmed in the marriage bondbond of marriage or committed union. Sex may become exploitative within as well as outside marriage or committed union. We reject all sexual expressions that damage or destroy the humanity God has given us as birthright, and we affirm only that sexual expression that enhances that same humanity. We believe that sexual relations where one or both partners are exploitative, abusive, or promiscuous are beyond the parameters of acceptable Christian behavior and are ultimately destructive to individuals, families, and the social order.
We deplore all forms of the commercialization and exploitation of sex, with their consequent cheapening and degradation of human personality. We call for strict global enforcement of laws prohibiting the sexual exploitation or use of children by adults and encourage efforts to hold perpetrators legally and financially responsible. We call for the establishment of adequate protective services, guidance, and counseling opportunities for children thus abused. We insist that all persons, regardless of age, gender, marital status, or sexual orientation, are entitled to have their human and civil rights ensured. We encourage civil authorities to enact laws that will ensure full civil and economic rights for persons in civil unions and marriages without regard to the gender of the partners.
We recognize the continuing need for full, positive, age-appropriate and factual sex education opportunities for children, young people, and adults. The Church offers a unique opportunity to give quality guidance and education in this area.
Homosexual persons no less than heterosexual persons are individuals of sacred worth. All persons need the ministry and guidance of the church in their struggles for human fulfillment, as well as the spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship that enables reconciling relationships with God, with others, and with self. The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and consider this practice incompatible with Christian teaching.Weaffirm that God's grace is available to all, and we will seek to live together in Christian community. We implore families and churches not to reject or condemn lesbian and gay members and friends. We commit ourselves to be in ministry for and with all persons.
Amend Discipline ¶162 H, as follows:
Certain basic human rights and civil liberties are due all persons. We are committed to supporting those rights and liberties for homosexualallpersons,regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. We see a clear issue of simple justice in protecting their rightful claims where theytwo people have shared material resources, pensions, guardian relationships, care of children, mutual powers of attorney, and other such lawful claims typically attendant to contractual relationships that involve shared contributions, responsibilities, and liabilities, and equal protection before the law. Moreover, we support efforts to stop violence and other forms of coercion against gays and lesbiansall persons, regardless of their sexual orientation. We also commit ourselves to social witness against the coercion and marginalization of former homosexuals.
Amend Discipline ¶341.6, as follows:
Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches.
Amend Discipline ¶2702 1 b, as follows:
A bishop, clergy member of an annual conference(¶368), local pastor, clergy on honorable or administrative location, or diaconal minister may be tried when charged (subject to the statute of limitations in ¶2702.4)...with one or more of the following offenses: . . .(b) practices declared by The United Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teachings, including but not limited to: being a self-avowed practicing homosexual; or conducting ceremonies which celebrate homosexual unions; or performing same sex wedding ceremonies;
Petition to Expand the Support of People in Committed Unions Including Marriage. Discipline ¶161 C Click here
Petition to Amend ¶161 G of the Discipline to Remove the Incompatibility Clause And To Encourage Civil Authorities to Ensure Rights Of All Persons In Committed Unions, Including Marriage. Discipline ¶161 G Click here
Petition to Expand Civil Rights. Discipline ¶162 H Click here
Petition to Remove Discriminatory Language Around Homosexual Unions. Discipline ¶341.6 Click here
Petition to Remove Chargeable Offenses from The Discipline. Discipline ¶2702 1 b Click here
GC 2008--Marriage: Foundry UMC, Pastoral Letter from Rev. Dean Snyder
Foundry UMC, a Reconciling Congregation in the District of Columbia, appeared in the Washington Post on Friday, February 15 for the institution of a service to recognize and honor gay relationships. According to the Washington Post, "Foundry United Methodist Church, which Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton attended when he was president, decided last month to support its senior pastor's decision to lead services that "recognize and honor" committed gay relationships."
Full Story:
Church Criticized Over Gay Services Plan Click here
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Here is the full Pastoral Letter from Rev. Dean Snyder about these services:
Foundry United Methodist Church
1500 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Rev. Dean Snyder, Senior Minister
November 11, 2007
A Pastoral Letter Concerning the Institution of a Service to
Recognize and Honor Lesbian and Gay Committed Relationships
Dear Friends:
As a loyal United Methodist pastor, it is my desire and commitment to live within the covenant of the United Methodist Church as set forth in our Church’s Constitution, General Rules, and Book of Discipline. It is my desire to be obedient to the covenant and order of the Church even in matters on which I may disagree.
The Book of Discipline states: “Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches.” (Para 341.6)
It is also my strong desire to be a faithful and effective pastor by providing pastoral care and services to the members and constituents of the congregation I am appointed to serve. Foundry United Methodist Church, reflective of its community, includes a significant presence of lesbian and gay people, some of whom are in committed relationships. The failure of their Christian community and their pastor to properly recognize and honor their committed relationships formally denies them, at the very least, an encouragement and spiritual support the Church provides to other couples. At the worst, it undermines and dishonors their commitments by withholding recognition and prayerful support.
I am reminded of this disparity whenever I read the Church’s Constitution, which states, in part:
“The United Methodist Church acknowledges that all persons are of sacred worth. All persons without regard to race, color, national origin, status, or economic condition, shall be eligible to attend its worship services, participate in its programs, receive the sacraments, upon baptism be admitted as baptized members, and upon taking vows declaring the Christian faith, become professing members in any local church in the connection. In the United Methodist Church no conference or other organizational unit of the Church shall be structured so as to exclude any member or any constituent body of the Church because of race, color, national origin, status or economic condition.” (BOD Division 1.4)
I am also reminded of the consequences of failing to recognize and honor some of our congregants’ commitments when I recall the General Rules established by John Wesley:
“It is therefore expected of all who continue [in Methodist societies] that they should continue to evidence their desire for salvation, First, by doing no harm … Secondly, By doing good.”(BOD, Para 103)
Our failure to recognize and honor the committed relationships of our lesbian and gay members does harm to them and to the larger society by failing to provide spiritual and communal support for commitment and stability within gay and lesbian relationships.
The topic of same-sex unions has been discussed formally at Foundry Church for more than three years and informally for a much longer time. I am appreciative for all the leaders and members of this congregation who have studied and shared with each other and with me as we have deliberated about what it means to be a faithful congregation and as I have pondered what it means to be a faithful pastor.
Because of my desire to be to be obedient to the covenant and order of the Church, and at the same time to provide faithful and effective pastoral ministry to our lesbian and gay members and constituents, I am announcing my intention to make myself pastorally available to lead services which recognize and honor lesbian and gay committed relationships. These will not be “ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions,” but will instead be worship services which recognize and honor committed relationships of lesbian and gay members and constituents.
The following principles will guide such gatherings for worship:
1. Such services will be offered for couples who are members or constituents of Foundry Church who have participated in a Pre-Cana weekend or other preparations with the pastor.
2. Couples will make their commitment and vows to each other in a setting other than the service. Ceremonies in which these commitments and vows are made “shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches.” Such a ceremony may be a personal gathering in which the pastor is present but does not conduct the ceremony; it may be a ceremony conducted by a lay person within the congregation trained and authorized to do so; it may be a wedding or civil ceremony in a jurisdiction in which such ceremonies are legal; or it may be any other ceremony which does not violate Para 341.6 of the Book of Discipline.
3. At the request of the couple, I will then lead a service at Foundry Church or at another location. The service will include the worship of God and recognize and honor the commitment which has previously been made. Vows and/or other statements of commitment previously made will be shared with and reported to the gathered congregation.
4. Other details of such worship services will follow the practices and principles established in Foundry Church’s wedding policies so long as they do not violate Para 341.6 of the Book of Discipline.
I would also implore the Foundry congregation and others of good will to continue to work to change the Book of Discipline by removing Para. 341.6 and everything else in the Discipline which discriminates against people because of their sexual orientation. I would encourage us to continue to work to help our beloved Church become a Church in which all people are affirmed, included, valued, honored and loved.
I would like to invite the congregation of Foundry Church to meet in the church sanctuary to discuss this letter on Sunday, December 16 at 12:30 PM. I will also invite additional discussion by Foundry’s Church Council at its meeting on December 18. Other meetings, as appropriate, will be scheduled during January 2008. It is my intention to make myself pastorally available for such services effective February 1, 2008.
Thank you for your prayers, thoughts and feelings. May the Spirit of the Living God fall afresh on us and melt, mold, fill and use us!
In the love of Christ,
Dean Snyder, Senior Pastor
Foundry United Methodist Church
Full story:
A Pastoral Letter Concerning the Institution of a Service to Recognize and Honor Lesbian and Gay Committed Relationships Click here
The Rev. Gregory Dell, a member of the Northern Illinois Annual Conference, performed a union ceremony for two men Sept. 19, 1998, at Broadway United Methodist Church in Chicago and was taken to trial March 25-26, 1999. There he was suspended from his ministerial duties. That suspension was lifted in summer 2000. Dell had been elected a delegate to the church's 2000 General Conference from the Northern Illinois Annual Conference but was not seated because of the suspension [Source: UM Page on Homosexuality].
DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. (UMNS) - Despite impending suspension, the Rev. Greg Dell has declared that signing a pledge to no longer perform same-sex union ceremonies would be a "violation" of his ministry.
The United Methodist pastor's comment came after a 13-member jury of his peers found him guilty of conducting such a ceremony last September and decided that he should be suspended on July 1 until he signed a pledge or until the church no longer prohibited the action. Retired Bishop Jack Tuell, who presided over the trial, later amended the date to July 5 to allow Dell to perform a July 3 wedding ceremony.
The penalty was handed down late on March 26, after two long days of testimony and deliberation in the sanctuary of First United Methodist Church. Dell, who is pastor of Broadway United Methodist Church in Chicago, was convicted of a single charge of "disobedience to the Order and Discipline of the United Methodist Church." He said he will consider an appeal.
Full story:
Dell stands firm on same-sex unions Click here
UMNS Photograph above: The Rev. Gregory Dell worships with supporters outside First United Methodist Church in Downers Grove, Ill., after being found guilty of disobedience to the order and discipline of the denomination in a church trial. Dell performed a service of holy union for two men in his Chicago church last September. The Chicago pastor refused to stop performing such ceremonies.
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After Rev. Greg Dell's suspension was lifted and he returned to Broadway UMC, the church implemented a marriage policy that protected him from losing his ordination while allowing him to minister as faithfully as he could to LGBT people. The Foundry UMC policy is based on Broadway UMC's model.
Full story:
Policy Regarding Legal Weddings and Holy Unions Click here
The Rev. Jimmy Creech, a clergy member of the Nebraska Annual Conference, performed a union ceremony for two women at First United Methodist Church in Omaha Sept. 14, 1997. At the conclusion of a three-day church trial in Nebraska in March 1998, Creech was acquitted of violating the order and discipline of the church. He was again taken to trial in Nebraska in November 1999 after he performed a union ceremony for two men in North Carolina in April 1999. Between the trials, the church's Judicial Council ruled Aug. 11, 1998, that the disciplinary sentence against same-sex unions is law and that clergy who violate the prohibition could be charged with disobeying the order and discipline of the church and could lose their ministerial credentials. That is what happened at Creech's second trial. He is no longer a United Methodist clergyman [Source: UM Page on Homosexuality]. Jimmy Creech attended Rev. Greg Dell's trial in the shadow of his own trial and acquittal.
DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. (UMNS) - Throughout his trial, the Rev. Greg Dell received support from the one man who understood perhaps better than anyone else what the accused pastor was going through.
That man was the Rev. Jimmy Creech, who almost exactly a year before had been acquitted in a similar church trial for doing what Dell had done: performing a holy union service for two people of the same gender. Creech's defense, however, would not have helped Dell; in the 12 months between the two trials, the United Methodist Church's Judicial Council had closed the loophole that led to Creech's acquittal.
Creech sat on the front row of the courtroom throughout most of the two-day Dell trial. Creech said he was there to support his fellow clergy member with his presence. When it was all over, Creech expressed his dismay at the outcome.
"I'm stunned by the decision on the penalty, especially because it's conditioned on Greg's having to sign a pledge," Creech told United Methodist News Service. "It's mean-spirited and punitive."
Full story:
Creech 'stunned' by penalty against Dell Click here
UMNS Photograph above: The Rev. Gregory Dell (right) talks with reporters outside First United Methodist Church in Downers Grove, Ill., after being found guilty of disobedience to the order and discipline of the denomination in a church trial. Dell performed a service of holy union for two men in his Chicago church last September. With Dell are his wife, Jade Dell (left) and the Rev. Jimmy Creech.
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Closing the loophole: Judicial Council Decision No. 833:
The prohibitive statement in ¶ 65.C of the 1996 Discipline: "Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches," has the effect of church law, notwithstanding its placement in ¶ 65.C and, therefore, governs the conduct of the ministerial office. Conduct in violation of this prohibition renders clergy liable to a charge of disobedience to the Order and Discipline of The United Methodist Church under ¶ 2624 of the Discipline.
Full story:
Judicial Council Decision No. 833 Click here
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Jimmy Creech's second trial and the withdrawal of his ordination:
GRAND ISLAND, Neb -- A Nebraska church court unanimously convicted the Rev. Jimmy Creech on Nov. 17 for blatantly disobeying the Order and Discipline of the United Methodist Church and defrocked him of his ordination.
During the dawn to dusk trial at Trinity United Methodist Church in Grand Island, a jury of 13 Nebraska clergy unanimously agreed with the church's prosecution that Creech had disobeyed Bishop Joel N. Martinez (Nebraska Area) by performing on April 24 a same-sex union ceremony in Chapel Hill, N.C. for Larry Ellis and Jim Raymer against the bishop's written prohibition. Such an action by a United Methodist minister is forbidden by the Book of Discipline, the church's book of laws.
Following his early afternoon conviction, the trial's judge, Bishop William Boyd Grove of Charleston, W. Va., sent the jury back to determine a punishment. According to church law, they could expel Creech from the church, withdraw his ordination credentials, suspend him or give him a lesser sentence. The jury of 11 men and 2 women deliberated for two hours before determining that Creech's ordination should be withdrawn, both elder and deacon orders. This sentence means that he is no longer an ordained minister of the United Methodist Church.
Full story:
Creech found guilty; loses ministerial credentials Click here
UMNS Photograph above: The Rev. Jimmy Creech (in black suit) hugs Eliza Jenks outside Trinity United Methodist Church in Grand Island, Neb., after he was found guilty of violating the order and discipline of the denomination for performing a service of holy union for two men.
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After the withdrawal of Jimmy Creech's ordination, First UMC in Omaha, NE implemented a marriage policy that protected the pastor while allowing as faithful as possible ministry to LGBT people.
Full story:
First United Methodist Church-Omaha Policy on Marriage Equality Click here
Charges were filed against 69 United Methodist ministers who gathered Jan. 16, 1999, in a public building in Sacramento, Calif., to bless the union of two women. An investigation committee of the annual conference reviewed the charges and announced Feb. 11, 2000, that it would not place the clergy on trial and was dismissing the case. That decision, applauded by some and condemned by others, sparked a major debate across the church during the months before General Conference in Cleveland, May 2-12 [Source: UM Page on Homosexuality].
According to the United Methodist News Service:
The committee in charge of investigating a complaint against 68 California-Nevada United Methodist ministers has scheduled meetings into September, but the process will likely go beyond then, according to the panel's chairman.
"This will probably be a long process, as we see it," said the Rev. Ron Swisher, head of the committee on investigation and pastor of Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church in Oakland, Calif.
Full story:
'Sacramento 68' investigation will likely be long, official says Click here
Additional coverage:
Cal-Nevada panel ends hearing in same-sex union case Click here
Bishop Talbert Affirmed, Judicial Council Decisions, Decision No. 902 Click here
UMNS Photograph: Jeanne Barnett (left) and Ellie Charlton are blessed by a laying on of hands during a ceremony of 'holy union' at the Sacramento (California) Convention Center. The service, lead by the Rev. Don Fado of St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Sacramento, challenged the denomination's policy against its clergy performing same-sex union ceremonies.
Reconciling Ministries Network mobilizes United Methodists of all sexual orientations and gender identities to transform our Church and world into the full expression of Christ’s inclusive love. Founded in 1984, RMN consists of 295 congregations, 36 campus ministries, 84 reconciling communities. Extension ministries include the Parents' Reconciling Network, Reconciling Ministries Clergy, United Methodists of Color for a Fully Inclusive Church, and RMN's student movement, MOSAIC.
3801 North Keeler Avenue
Chicago, IL 60641
Phone: 773-736-5526
Fax: 773-736-5475
Please e-mail all questions or website errors to webspinner@rmnetwork.org.
Reconciling Communities In The News
Glide Memorial UMC, a Reconciling Congregation, announced the appointment of 
Black History Month does not end this week. As we continue throughout the year, we need to remember our call to immerse ourselves in the battle against racism. We opened Black History Month celebrating Rev. Gilbert Caldwell's work. Rev. Caldwell issued a challenge for the final days of Black History Month:
Jason and deMarco performed at the Reconciling Ministries Network Convocation in 2005. Viewers of MTV LOGO’s popular video countdown program, The Click List, voted Jason and deMarco’s music video for This Is Love the #1 music video for 2006. According to the press release about This is Love on Jason and deMarco's site:
DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. (UMNS) - Despite impending suspension, the Rev. Greg Dell has declared that signing a pledge to no longer perform same-sex union ceremonies would be a "violation" of his ministry.
DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. (UMNS) - Throughout his trial, the Rev. Greg Dell received support from the one man who understood perhaps better than anyone else what the accused pastor was going through.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb -- A Nebraska church court unanimously convicted the Rev. Jimmy Creech on Nov. 17 for blatantly disobeying the Order and Discipline of the United Methodist Church and defrocked him of his ordination.
