Grace Shines Through Town and Rural Churches
Pastors and lay members from small-town and rural churches gathered at Grace UMC in Dixon for the annual Town and Rural Church Festival, themed “Glimpses of God’s Grace.” The event…
Location: First United Methodist Church, 516 Church St., Evanston
Rainbows, Resistance, and Reconciliation (R3):
Rainbows, Resistance, and Reconciliation (R3):
A Celebration of Intersectional Pride
A convocation celebrating Reconciling Ministries
Feb. 15-16, First United Methodist Church, 516 Church St., Evanston
Feb. 15, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Speaker: Rev. Beth Stroud, assistant professor of history at Methodist Theological Seminary in Ohio, whose clergy orders were reinstated last year—20 years after a church trial removed her orders.
Activities: other speakers, lunch, workshops, and a panel to discuss "What's Next for Our Congregations Post-General Conference and the 2024 U.S. Presidential Elections."
Feb. 16: Celebration of First UMC's 11th Anniversary as a Reconciling Congregation
9:15 a.m.: Dialogue time
10:30 a.m.: Anniversary Worship Service; Rev. Dr. Pamela Lightsey, preaching.
Event purposes:
- Provide opportunities for healing and hope: build community
- Vision faithful movement forward. Strategize about what people and churches need for this work.
- Identify ambassadors for LGBTQIA+ justice and advocacy (as RMN names them)
- Address issues facing us now like ongoing prejudice and the many hateful laws restricting gender-affirming care.
- Strategize to take action against violence inflicted on members of the community, especially transgender folk
- Address issues of mental health as relates to homophobic Christian teachings and societal attitudes and seek to reduce high suicide rates)
- Embrace Queer folk who, because of cultural structural context (color), may still feel a need to be closeted
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