Five Alliance Members Honored at Alliance Q Banquet

At the Alliance Q Banquet at the Indianapolis General Assembly, the Alliance presented recognitions to five deserving Alliance members and supporters.

Rev. Dr. Ben Bohren received the Rev. O. D. Johnson Recognition.
Rev. Geoff Brewster received the Rev. Michael Schloff Recognition
Rev. Dr. Lisa Davison received the Rev. Michael Schloff Recognition
Rev. Laura Guy received the Carol Blakley Recognition
Rev. Bob Glover received the Carol Blakley Recognition

The Alliance is honored to work with such great friends and allies.

Rev. Dr. Ben Bohren Receives the Rev. O. D. Johnson Recognition

Rev. Allen Harris, Regional Minister of the Capital Area Region, and Mark Anderson, President and CEO of the National Benevolent Association, assisted Rev. Dan Adolphson, Moderator of the Disciples LGBTQ+ Alliance Council, in presenting the Rev. O. D. Johnson Recognition to Rev. Dr. Ben Bohren.

Here are the remarks Allen and Mark made at the banquet:

Allen: The recipient of this award has been a role model throughout his service in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Because of his incredible 50 years of ordained ministry in congregational, regional and general church, he has touched many people’s lives, including many in this room, and fostered deep relationships. In his earlier career he served as pastor at four Disciple congregations. He was called then to serve in higher education at Chapman University where he created and directed Disciples on Campus for ten years.

Mark: His next calling was to general work with the National Benevolent Association as the Director of Church Relations where he launched Miracle Days as an opportunity to show gratitude to Disciples who have supported the ministries of the least of these. This was a lot of ministry, but he was not done experiencing all aspects of ministry and was called as the Regional Minister with the first Open and Affirming region – Northern California/Nevada.

Allen: The Rev. Dr. Ben Bohren has been a passionate lover of God’s people. He has nurtured and guided countless number of youth and young adults. He has served as mentor for many clergy as they lived into their call to ministry. And he modeled servant leadership throughout his many years of ministry.

Mark: As Ben came to terms with his own gayness and what it meant to live as a gay Christian, he began to understand the opportunities he was afforded to provide encouragement and support to members of the LGBTQ community.

Allen: Creating sanctuary is a gift. It is a personal spiritual gift that arises from a deep and abiding faith in a loving God who desires the well-being of all creation, And, it is a gift to those seeking a safe place. When LGBTQ people were greeted by hostility, and barriers to their faithful response to a call to ministry in their own Regions, Ben led the Northern California/Nevada Region to create sanctuary. And there, these pilgrims were nurtured and cared for, and the church has reaped the benefits of their gifts and graces for ministry. But it took a person committed to the whole church for that to happen. Ben was and is that person.

Mark: Today, Ben continues to work, even though he is retired. The National Benevolent Association called him once again to work with a dynamic team who would create a 10-month service year for young adults, NBA XPLOR. Ben and his colleagues with the XPLOR program knew that the program would only be a success if it was as diverse as possible, including young adults from the LGBTQ community. With the care and compassion that Ben can provide, the XPLOR program graduated 59 people from the program and are welcoming 21 new residents this coming August. Because of his honesty and integrity with who he is, the XPLOR residents grew to love and appreciate him as a Christian, who happens to be gay. A number of the XPLOR residents are here tonight to honor our friend, Ben. Would you please raise your hand?

Allen: Whether it is preaching on Sunday morning, keynoting a CYF camp, serving on the HELM board of directors, building up an interracial youth group in rural Kentucky, bringing a feminist leader of the Disciples of Christ in the Republic of the Congo to his Region, or accompanying young adults on their journey of developing hearts for care, Ben is leading with his passion and love for God’s people. Ben ultimately sees himself as pastor who creates meaningful connections between God’s children. He is doing this as an out and proud gay man, and we are two out gay men proud of his ministry.

Rev. Geoff Brewster Receives the Rev. Michael Schloff Recognition

Rev. Sarah Combs, member of the Alliance Council, presented the Rev. Michael Schloff Recognition to Rev. Geoff Brewster, the first of two recipients to receive the award this year. Here are the remarks Sarah made at the banquet:

Our first recipient serves as a youth LGBTQ advocate and mentor and recently supervised over 140 youth in traveling to the Oklahoma state Capital to advocate for LGBTQ legislation. His leadership on the Tulsa Interfaith Pride Service planning committee has helped ensure the inclusion of many faith traditions in the annual service, so that those who may not have, or have been hurt, by a faith community might find welcome. This recipient is serving in his third year as a board member on Oklahomans for Equality, an organization that seeks equal rights for LGBTQ individuals and families through advocacy, education, programs, and alliances within the state of Oklahoma, with a particular emphasis on Tulsa and the Northeastern Oklahoma area.

His awareness and sensitivity to the needs of the LGBTQ community is remarkable, and he is a powerful, passionate advocate for justice in the church, the community, as well as at Phillips Seminary, where he is the Senior Director of Stewardship. It is our great joy and honor to present Reverend Geoff Brewster with the Reverend Michael Schloff recognition.

Rev. Dr. Lisa Davison Receives the Rev. Michael Schloff Recognition

Dan Adolphson, Moderator of the Alliance Council, made these remarks as he presented Dr. Lisa Davison the Rev. Michael Schloff Recognition:

Academic scholarship has served the fight for LGBTQ+ equality in deeply important ways, yet many times gets lost behind pride marches, made-for-TV miniseries, and lobby days at state capitals. Solid biblical scholarship has done much to change hearts and minds and steer people to embrace God’s extravagant welcome. It is in that spirit that we are pleased to announce our second recipient of the Schloff recognition, Rev. Dr. Lisa Davison.

Rev. Dr. Davison is the Johnnie Eargle Cadieux Professor of Hebrew Bible and Direction of Denominational Formation for Disciples of Christ at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She has also served at Culver-Stockton College, Lexington Theological Seminary, and is a widely published author, presenter, and authority in the areas of: Women in the Bible, Sexuality and the Bible, Contemporary Issues (race, justice, economics) and the Bible, and Christian Use and Mis-Use of the Hebrew Bible.

As a longtime Alliance Q member and one of the strongest, yet unsung allies of the LGBTQ+ community, Dr. Davison has used biblical scholarship around the topic of “What the Bible Does/Doesn’t Say About Homosexuality” in small group bible studies, sermons, and workshops to take people deep into the bible, dispel myths and untruths, and help open people’s eyes to the truth that everyone is created in the image of God and that all are welcome at the table. As a college and seminary professor, she has prepared a generation of pastors, teachers, chaplains and community ministry leaders to take this message into pulpits and classrooms around the world. What sets her apart is her deep commitment to proper and thorough scholarship, something that she ingrains into her students and her audiences.

From her nomination letter:

“Eventually, Dr. Davison joined us in our Soulforce work. Her presence made a significant difference for so many who were not accustomed to hearing a positive message from an ordained minister, much less an exegesis of Biblical scriptures which actually explained their deeper meaning and gave support for our relationships. As Lisa got to know me, she experienced me being denied membership at two different churches in Lexington. At that point, she started H.U.G.S – Hearing, Understanding & Growing through Study of the Bible. The acronym was perfect, serving a dual purpose…she gave us the hugs we needed and it also gave us a place to come together and worship each Sunday at her home when we weren’t welcome elsewhere unless we lied about who we are. Dr. Lisa has been an integral part of my wife and my’s evolution of faith, always available to answer questions, bounce ideas off of, and offer support.”

Dr. Davison’s work over the past 29 years deeply demonstrates the spirit of the Rev. Michael Schloff Recognition, and it is with great joy and honor that we present her with this recognition.

Rev. Laura Guy Receives the Carol Blakley Recognition

The Alliance presented two members with the Carol Blakley Recognition. Here are Rev. Dan Adolphson’s remarks as he presented this recognition to Rev. Laura Guy:

Carol was the first recipient of this Recognition, which was given at the Alliance Aftersession during the 1989 Indianapolis General Assembly. This Recognition shall be give to a member of the Alliance who has contributed significantly to the call on Disciples to name the reality which Carol dared to name, to the other purposes of the Alliance and to the growth and development of the Alliance within the general manifestation of the church. Tonight’s we give this award to two recipients who demonstrate the beauty and history of this recognition, the longtime work that leads to new callings in one’s life.

When an openly gay musician began participating in the life of the church it was not long before he was invited to serve as their worship leader – an opportunity that would have never been offered in the congregation where he was raised. Over time, and with the affirmation of his colleague, this young man began to pay closer attention to the stirrings of a call to pastoral ministry. With his colleague’s help, he applied for service as a part-time chaplain in a large medical facility and to engage in clinical pastoral education. He was recently approved for a full scholarship at St. Paul School of Theology, and has applied to come into care of the Greater Kansas City Region as a candidate for ordination.

It is our joy and honor to present the Carol Blakely recognition to this evening’s first recipient, Rev. Laura Guy, pastor of Living Water Christian Church in Parkville, Missouri, for her support of a man who is living more deliberately into his calling because his pastor has committed to “welcome all to the Lord’s table as God has welcomed us.”

Rev. Bob Glover Receives the Carol Blakley Recognition

Our second recipient of the Carol Blakley recognition was one of the most instrumental and influential leaders of the movement for equality in the LGBTQ+ community within the Christian Church (Disciples Of Christ), even though most of his efforts were not public nor known to many. From his nomination letters:

“As the executive of the Department of Christian Education in what was then known as the Division For Homeland Ministries, Bob Glover would frequently offer his support, and even sometimes surreptitiously the financial support of the denomination, to LGBTQ leaders and for LGBTQ events. Bob attended and supported the work of GLAD Alliance, plus he was always personally supportive of us as individuals. Quite often the logistics of our underground meetings at General Assembly would be negotiated in part by Bob, or he would help ease tensions with denominational leaders for our growing presence in the denomination. He was always with us or nearby to cheer us on, give us wise advice and counsel, hug us, and support us financially and morally. A watershed moment of Bob’s ministry was the creation of a study document for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) entitled, “Homosexuality and the Church,” and an accompanying “Study Packet,” for congregations and their leaders. When the DHM Board of Directors formally adopted this study for congregational use in 1977, along with a resolution entitled, “Civil Rights of Homosexuals,” Indianapolis radio, television, and newspapers gave coverage. It resulted in telephone calls, letters, and personal inquiries to DHM President, Kenneth Kuntz, General Minister and President, Kenneth Teegarden, and DHM Staff. Bob Glover has given his life to the liberation of God’s people from bondage, especially the bondage of misunderstood notions of sexual orientation and the science of human sexuality.”

It is with great joy and honor this evening that we recognize our second recipient of the Carol Blakely recognition, Bob Glover.