Reflections on the General Assembly From the Moderator-Elect
Rev. Dan Adolphson, Moderator Elect of the GLAD Alliance Council, reflects on GLAD’s presence at the 2015 General Assembly in Columbus, OH.
Wow! What a great General Assembly this was for GLAD! Lots of great things happened:
First, may we have that metaphorical drumroll, please? We DOUBLED OUR MEMBERSHIP at this assembly. We came in with 261 members and as of this writing our official membership count is 551. This is the largest membership GLAD has had in its history, and is a strong affirmation of our mission: setting a place at the table for persons of all gender expressions and sexual orientations. The message of GA-1327, which two years ago called all expressions of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to become a people of grace and welcome to ALL of God’s children, is becoming a reality within our “movement for wholeness in a fragmented world.”
At the GLAD Banquet, the Rev. Michael Schloff Recognition was awarded to Rev. Dr. Phil Snider, Senior Minister, and Rev. Emily Bowen-Marler, Associate Minister, of Brentwood Christian Church in Springfield, Missouri. Here are the remarks that accompanied that award.
From time to time it is appropriate for the Alliance to recognize its members and others for significant contributions to or on behalf of the Alliance, its members and friends, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), or on behalf of affirming, lesbian, gay and bisexual Christians or other persons. Tonight, we will be recognizing two individuals with the THE REV. MICHAEL SCHLOFF RECOGNITION.
This Recognition is named for the late Rev. Michael Schloff of Boston, Massachusetts, for the purpose of recognizing him posthumously.
Rev. Schloff, an openly gay Disciples clergyman, died of AIDS related pneumonia in the fall of 1988. At the time of his death, he was an original member of the former Alliance Coordinating Committee. He is credited with furthering the formation of the Alliance through his efforts during the 1985 Des Moines General Assembly. Michael was best known in the Boston area as a powerful advocate for the homeless and disenfranchised and for his work on the staff of the gay and lesbian counseling center. This Recognition shall be given to individuals or groups who demonstrate the powerful Christian commitment to lesbian, bisexual, gay and affirming Christians and to all persons within or without the church.
Our nominees provided leadership to the grassroots support campaign, NO REPEAL, formed to fight the effort to repeal Springfield, Missouri’s non-discrimination ordinance amended in October 2014 to include LGBT protections for employment, housing, and public accommodations. They played a major role, providing unofficial leadership to the faith community response involving a relative handful of institutions, including a dozen Protestant churches, the city’s only Jewish temple, and the Unitarian and Unity congregations. Their bold leadership was the impetus for public participation by other pastors, including two large United Methodist congregations. This is important to note since one of the nation’s largest Pentecostal denominations is headquartered in Springfield and marshaled their forces in favor of repeal, including publicly challenging our nominees’ theology in editorial columns in the local newspaper.
The No Repeal Effort, voted upon just two days after Easter 2015, produced a huge voter turnout. Even though the effort was unsuccessful with a close margin, many supporters felt as if the loss was still a win because the No Repeal campaign helped the LGBT community in Springfield gain many new allies along the way. Three days after the election, one of our nominees was the principal speaker at a rally of supporters that drew 1,000 people to the city square.
The recipients of this recognition are the Rev. Dr. Phil Snider, Senior Minister, and Rev. Emily Bowen-Marler, Associate Minister, of Brentwood Christian Church in Springfield, Missouri. I want to thank Jeff Munzinger, Brentwood Christian Board Chair and President of PFLAG Springfield for his help with this nomination.
Phil and Emily, on behalf of GLAD Alliance, we would like to present each of you with the Rev. Michael Schloff Recognition.
Through our booth, we were able to spread the message of extravagant welcome and how it can change our churches to hundreds of people. We had a prime spot, allowing us great conversation, the ability to provide information to help congregations on their journey, and through Mark’s O & A Theatre, shared real-life stories with people. Lots of material went home with Assembly attendees. The chip-clips and the “All Means ALL” 2.0 t-shirts were a huge hit and great conversation starters! Also, we want to thank our booth helpers: Bill Bailey, Danny Bradfield, Dave Boger, Kathy Bouchard, Nancy Davis, Bob Fisher, Jacque Foster, Ron Greene, China Isler, Bill & Mary Jacobs, Norm & Judy Linville, Cheri Metier, Linda Patrick, Maria Perez, Derek Penwell, A. Raker, Dennis Sanders, Werner Tillinger, Roger Weddell, Justin Zeigler, Jeff Zimmerman, and many others who just stopped in to help. A special thank-you to Lizzy Beach for coordinating our booth volunteers, t-shirts and chip clips; to our Moderator Karen Barr and her engineering/electrician husband Wayne for all the extra cords/printer/chocolate and staffing support, and to Karl Road Christian Church in Columbus for lending us the booth chairs and letting us ship numerous boxes to them prior to General Assembly.
Thanks also to Brad Lyons and Steve Knight at Chalice Press for working on our behalf with Cokesbury to have our books in the Assembly bookstore this year.
Through our public witness, we were able to educate, celebrate, and broaden the work of LGBTQ equality within the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and show its intersectionality with broader social justice issues. Our pre-event with Michael Adee, Carol Fey, and Sharon Stanley-Rea helped us examine how we need to stand up against the export of homophobia to countries around the world, be aware of how marriage equality changes law relating to hundreds of issues, and our need to be vigilant around LGBTQ immigration issues and for our voices to be heard. Our Saturday night joint aftersession with DJAN (Disciples Justice Action Network) reminded the church that RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Acts) popping up in state legislatures are not what they seem. Our Monday night joint aftersession with the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, Sandhya Jha, Allen Harris, LaTaunya Bynum, and Jose Morales, helped the church reframe the events of the 1991 Tulsa General Assembly into a catalyst for change and propelled us to address LGBTQ equality within the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), parallel to the changes in our wider society (you can read his remarks here).
Nearly 300 people attended our banquet where Sandhya Jha exhorted us to “march on just a little while longer…everything will be alright.” At the banquet we presented the Rev. Michael Schloff Recognition to Phil Snider and Emily Bowen-Mahler of Brentwood Christian Church in Springfield, Missouri.
A big “thank you” to our banquet overseer extraordinaire, Steve Martz, for keeping track of all the moving parts and helping keep Karen, Dan, Mark and Lizzy sane.
50 people attended Mark’s workshop on why your congregation should be Open & Affirming, and at our Open & Affirming aftersession, we celebrated 42 new Open & Affirming congregations and ministries since the Orlando General Assembly, more than doubling the number we celebrated at in Orlando.
Whew! I’m tired just typing all of this – GLAD’s public witness made a huge difference at this General Assembly!! It is because of your membership and ongoing financial support that we were able to be such a strong presence at General Assembly. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!