What: A TBLG Concerns gathering to discuss General Convention 2009 followed by an
Oasis Welcoming Service, Dinner, and "For the Bible Tells Me So"
When: Saturday May 31st, 2008
1-4:15p.m. TBLG Concerns Committee discussion of General Convention
4:30p.m. Oasis Welcoming Eucharist
5:30p.m. Dinner & 6:00p.m. Showing of "For the Bible Tells Me So"
Where:
Christ Episcopal Church Dearborn, 120 North Military, Dearborn MI 48124
General Convention 2009 is going to be watershed time in the life of the Episcopal Church.
It will be the first gathering of the whole church since the outcry of many within the
Anglican Communion about the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson. Will the Episcopal Church
move towards full inclusion by addressing the ways our collective life still discriminates
against TBLG people, or will we continue to maintain policies that promote the silent but
deadly consequences of "Don't ask, Don't tell"? Will our church fully live into being one
that welcomes all, or will we roll up the welcome mat? While TBLG issues are only a small
fraction of the important issues our church needs to address, they seem key to whether our
church embraces its vocation as healer, liberator, and reconciler, or whether it will stay
paralyzed by fear.
During this gathering, we will look at what might be done to best address the ways that TBLG
individuals, couples, and families are still suffering discrimination within our life as a church.
We will also look at how these issues relate to other major concerns the church is dealing with,
ranging from such institutional concerns as church growth to such programmatic concerns as the
Millennium Development Goals.
We hope this gathering will give members of our diocese an opportunity to think about how our
Diocesan Convention (Oct. 24th/25th, 2008) can help our concerns be heard on the National level.
We hope it will give our deputies a chance to reflect further on what are going to be some of the
most important issues addressed at the convention but which will still only be a small part of
the vast number of issues on which they will be asked to act.
This gathering will be followed at 4:30p.m. by an Oasis Welcoming Eucharist, sponsored by Journey
of Faith and Christ Church Dearborn, during which the Rev. Canon Lisa Gray will preach. At 5:30p.m.
TBLG Concerns will also host a dinner. Following the dinner at 6:00p.m. there will be a showing
of "For the Bible Tells Me So." Some may be drawn to attend all of these. Others may primarily
be drawn to attend the TBLG Concerns Committee gathering or the film. We hope everyone will join
us for worship and food.
So that we can order the appropriate amount of food, we would be very grateful if you would let us know
whether you plan to join us for dinner. It would also be helpful to know if you plan to attend the
TBLG Concerns Committee gathering and/or the showing of the film. Please RSVP to Joe Summers at
(734)846-3578, or
jsummers@umich.edu
Sponsored by The TBLG Concerns Committee and the
Michigan Chapter of Integrity.
