Each LITT will start at 7pm in Room 120 at 5255 N. Ashland Ave in Chicago. Here are the remaining dates and forum topics:
June 25: Gay Pride Parade: Original Intent and Current Purpose
July 22: I Do Exist—Ex Gay Viewing and Discussion
Aug 11: Discussion with a Gay Secular Person
Aug 27: Discussion with an Ex-Gay Person
Sep 17: Discussion with a Gay Christian
Oct 8: Secret Confessions (Oct 11th National Coming Out Day)
Nov 5: Gay Marriage
Nov 17: Discussion with a Straight Conservative Christian
Dec 3: Discussion with a Celibate Person
Dec 14: The Actual Argument
Here is a reminder of why The Marin Foundation hosts these discussions:
Purpose for Living in the Tension Community Gathering:
Christians need to start willfully planting themselves in the middle of some very uncomfortable places—making a conscious commitment to stay in that place with the GLBT community. In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. was locked up in a jail in Birmingham, Alabama. In a letter to confront his fellow white clergymen, MLK reflected on his life’s work to that point and said: “I must confess that I am not afraid of the world tension. I have earnestly opposed violent tension my whole life, but there is a type of constructive, non-violent tension which is necessary for growth.”
I’m going to be real right now—the Christian community has been running from that constructive, non-violent tension for too long when it comes to gays and lesbians. The productive growth that MLK was talking about only comes retrospectively, after much time has been spent immersed in tension filled areas with what we are most uneasy about. Those tension-filled areas are dirty, uncomfortable, confusing, overbearing and uneasy. And they’re worth every minute for the kingdom we so boldly claim ourselves to be a part of.
Mission Statement:
For gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, ex-gay, celibate and straight (progressive and conservative) people to all willfully enter into a place of constructive tension, intentionally forming a community that peacefully and productively takes on the most divisive topics within the culture war that is faith and sexuality.
Why:
Culture wants to resolve conflict—we want to use our different communities’ filtration systems to elevate the conversation through the tension. Get past the stereotypes. Learn and practice what it means to live in unanswerable questions. Shift the paradigm away from a ‘fix it’ culture to one that turns hearts onto Christ amongst the most uncomfortable places.
Stay. Commit. Reconcile. Grow.
He was a Jewish carpenter and therefore I build bridges ©
Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/
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3 comments:
I agree with your ministry, of course! But I don't consider dealing with GLBTs as dirty, etc.(whatever you said - my memory is bad!). It may be for many, but some of us are interested & committed to reaching out!
I also don't agree with the word progressive as a substitute for liberal. Some conservative ideas are also very progressive!
Also some 'liberal' ideas are embraced by conservatives!
Thanx!
When I said dirty, I was not referring to GLBT folks as dirty - I was referring to the "constructive place of tension" that is so foreign to both communities, that many times it seems dirty, uncomfortable, overbearing, etc - all things that would tend to cause us all to run away.
As for the word progressive, I understand what you're saying but I can never win with that one or liberal or conservative or traditional or whatever structural people-group I am referring to. Good point though.
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