January 22  9:00 AM, Social Hall

January 22  5:30 PM, Social Hall

January 23  11:00 AM, Sanctuary

January 29

February 12; 5:30 PM, Social Hall

March 11; 5:30 PM, Social Hall

April 8; 5:30 PM, Social Hall

May 13; 5:30 PM, Social Hall

June 2000

June 10; 5:30 PM, Social Hall

June 24-July 1

July 8; 5:30 PM, Social Hall

August 3-6

MLP conference held in conjunction with this event).

August 12; 5:30 PM, Social Hall

September 9; 5:30 PM, Social Hall

October 14; 5:30 PM, Social Hall

November 11; 5:30 PM, Social Hall

December 2; 5:30 PM, Place TBA

Unity in Diversity Conference

The Social Justice Ministries committee for Los Ranchos Presbytery is now reviewing the materials for the Unity in Diversity conferences that have been supplied by the Stated Clerk's office. You can view the conference materials online at http://horeb.pcusa.org/oga/diversity/. You can also order the hardcopy version for free at the same URL.

Local Chapter News

As a help for those of you wanting to study the whole homosexuality issue in your congregation, we have available to us Claiming the Promise, An Ecumenical Welcoming Bible Study Resource on Homosexuality by Mary Jo Osterman available for $5 per Study Guide. This has a dialogue base with references to scripture and how we interpret them from several points of view. Most importantly, no one is right or wrong. It is designed to get everyone talking, listening and being heard. Contact Linda Malcor for information about how to obtain your copy.

We have started a shelf for a More Light collection in the St. Mark library. Our current collection includes back issues of Open Hands, Daniel A. Helminiak's What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality, Dan Woog's Friends and Family: True Stories of Gay America's Straight Allies, and Una W. Fahy's How to Make the World a Better Place for Gays and Lesbians. If you have books, magazines or newsletters you would like to donate, please contact Linda Malcor

Commentary

More Light in Los Ranchos

By Michael J. Adee

Since 1974 More Light Presbyterians, and its antecedent groups, have been addressing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender concerns in the life of our church and in society. As the national organization and network doing this work of justice, love, and inclusion in our church, MLP is so pleased to have the MLP Chapter in Los Ranchos Presbytery join our ranks. Certainly your presence in your presbytery and in southern California is a profound, inspiring, encouraging, and necessary one.

Your Chapter is a life-giving force in your presbytery, giving hope and courage to the many GLBT people in your area, their families and friends, and to allies of good will, people of justice and conscience. Never underestimate your importance of the voice and face that you bring to the transformation of our church and society.

Fifteen years ago as the pastor of the Riverside Church in New York, William Sloan Coffin declared, "We now have a sharply divided church, one divided by homosexuality, or should we call it homophobia--the fear of and contempt for homosexuals. However we label it, it is the most divisive issue the churches of America have encountered, or evaded, since slavery." While we have made significant progress in our church and in our society, and we still have anti-gay laws barring GLBT people from serving in our church; hate crimes against GLBT continue to increase; the Knight Initiative; and opposition to the recent Vermont Supreme Court ruling regarding same-sex marriage.

Now is the time, in this new millennium, to get it right, to speak out against prejudice, discrimination, and injustice in any form, and to stand up for a Gospel that embraces all persons and a Church that is open to all, regardless of sexual orientation. I look forward to being with your Chapter later this month.

Here's to "More Light" in Los Ranchos Presbytery and Southern California!

With much care and hope,

Michael

Religious leaders come together on this unique occasion to speak with a united voice against California's Proposition 22 - The Limitation on Marriage Initiative.

• Rev. James Lawson - retired United Methodist minister of the Holman Methodist Church in Los Angeles. His accomplishments include working for the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference under Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and with peace and social action groups such as the NAACP, Urban League, and others. Rev. Lawson was recently quoted in the LA Times opposing Prop. 22 and comes highly recommended by GLBT activists in the area.

• Dr. Robert Goss - author of the highly regarded book and Professor of Religion at Webster University in St. Louis, MO.

• Rev. Elder Darlene Garner - of the United Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches national headquarters in Southern California.

• Rev. Elder Nori Rost - of the Metropolitan Community Church in Colorado Springs, CO and representative of the National Religious Leadership Roundtable.

• Mike Fuhr - chair of the Orange County Federation of gay, lesbian and AIDS organizations.

The program will also feature representatives from California Church Impact, the California Council of Churches, the No on Knight Campaign, and the Interfaith Clergy Caucus.

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