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Bishops & Deputies Face Blockade at Convention Center Rev. Mel White: 'End Anti-Gay Fundamentalist Debates!' |
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Compiled By GayToday
After a morning Soulforce training session at St Paul's United Methodist Church , the 200 protesters moved to the Episcopal Conference at the Colorado Convention Center for a 45-minute silent vigil and a press conference that began at 1pm. As Bishops and Deputies arrived for their 2pm Opening Orientation Session, Soulforce volunteers trained in nonviolent civil disobedience moved from the steps to the sidewalk in front of the Convention Center, peacefully and symbolically blocking the entrance.
One of those arrested was retired Episcopal Bishop Otis Charles. Bishop Charles said, "After being true to myself and my church that I was gay, I came to understand that God loves just as I am. There is no place I can, be except with Soulforce, speaking the voice of truth about God's children." "From the beginning of this tragic debate, Episcopal bishops, priests, and laity have taken courageous and costly stands for full inclusion of sexual and gender minorities," explained Dr. Mel White, co-founder of Soulforce and one of those arrested. "However, many Episcopal churches still exclude us. Many bishops still discriminate against us. The fundamentalist forces in the Episcopal Church want to deny that God loves us the way we are. The debate has been going on long enough! Soulforce is here to say that this debate must end! God loves us just the way we are. We are your neighbors, and your organists, and your clergy, and your Sunday School teachers, and your deacons, and your ushers, and God's children" In a letter to the Deputies and Bishops of the Convention, The Rev. Dr. George F. Regas, Rector Emeritus of All Saints church in Pasadena, California and one of the most highly regarded Episcopal clergymen, stated: "The debate on the homosexuality issue has become a primary source of suffering for millions of lesbian and gay people. The fact that bishops, priests and laity are at this General Convention to debate once again whether gay and lesbian persons are acceptable is obscene!" Similar Soulforce protests were held during the United Methodist General Conference in May, and at the Southern Baptist Convention and the Presbyterian General Assembly in June. In November, a Soulforce delegation will conduct further civil disobedience at the meeting of the National Council of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C. All participants in all direct actions are required to sign, wear, and uphold the Soulforce "pledge to nonviolence" used by Dr. Martin Luther King and his marchers in 1963. |
