For the first time this year, I decided to volunteer to serve on the committee that is planning the 2010 CSC Conference, which will be held in Burlingame, CA. It had to be a moment of weakness, for I rarely involve myself in a year-long process like this one, particularly one that is so virtual in nature. In the end, though, I am glad I did—it has given me a preview of the upcoming CSC conference for 2010!
Our committee leader has been the incredible Mel Bricker, whose attention to detail and h…
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Added by Bill Gordon on November 28, 2009 at 2:52am —
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The result of November 3rd’s Maine vote on supporting an effort to provide marriage rights to same gender couples wounds me deeply. As a Mainer, I had high hopes that the people who taught me the values by which I live would live into those values. Sadly, corporate politics, fear, and hate-mongering have won out over fairness.
That deeply saddens me from many places.
The first is the simple, painful reminder that patriarchy has not yet died.
In the midst of this debate, the Roman Catholic Chu…
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Added by Bill Gordon on November 5, 2009 at 1:59am —
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Recently I volunteered to complete an assignment as part of my role in the planning team for the 2010 Creation Spirituality Communities conference, to be held in Burlingame, CA. My task was to try to determine what things, if any, folks could do locally to offset the carbon dioxide that will be released into the atmosphere as part of their travel (or other impacts on their overall carbon footprint.) Carbon dioxide and other gasses that are released into the atmosphere in increasing quantities ar…
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Added by Bill Gordon on October 25, 2009 at 5:44am —
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It was with real disappointment that I learned this morning that President Barack Obama has once again made only promises to the queer community about equality. He spoke last evening at a gala event for the Human Rights Campaign in Washington, DC, and many, including myself, feel he missed a wonderful opportunity.
This weekend marks the HRC gala, National Coming Out Day, and a march on Washington for equal rights for America's sexually diverse, second-class citizens. Many of us had hoped that P…
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Added by Bill Gordon on October 12, 2009 at 1:37am —
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I have been watching the news story about South Africa's new 800-metre world champion Caster Semenya this week. I confess that it has been with some dismay and disappointment. Semenya, you may recall, has had her gender challenged by authorities in the IAAF in a most public way. She has been subjected to examinations and tests designed to determine whether or not they consider her to be as she presents herself, a female.
I recently received feedback from someone I trust that in my writing much…
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Added by Bill Gordon on September 13, 2009 at 3:01pm —
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7/28/09
A recent discussion has emerged in a small group called “Recovering Pastors” to which I belong on the larger Creation Spirituality Communities website. The group is designed to create dialogue between and among persons who have been pastors or have served in the role of pastoral leadership, and who are now reconsidering all that might mean as they either serve or move apart from serving local churches. Primarily, the discussion seems to be among those of us serving or having served Chri…
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Added by Bill Gordon on July 29, 2009 at 8:30am —
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July 16, 2009
My father died on Friday, July 10, 2009. His death, although not totally unexpected due to his age of 88 and declining health, was nonetheless very sudden. He died at home, as he had wished, tumbling from his recliner chair to the floor, and dying in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. It appears that he died of an aneurism in his body.
As has been observed by many others, one cannot fully prepare for these events even if you know they are coming. As I write this, less than…
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Added by Bill Gordon on July 16, 2009 at 12:30pm —
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June 24, 2009
Although not a typical reason to visit the Capitol, the colors in Washington, D.C. promise to be outstanding this October. Being from Maine, I know that from my biased perspective, nothing can beat the foliage of autumn in my home state. The displays of the deciduous trees in D.C. will pale by any comparison.
However, I still hope to see all the colors that will be on the west lawn of the Capitol on October 11, which incidentally is also National Coming Out Day (as it has been ev…
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Added by Bill Gordon on June 30, 2009 at 4:34am —
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June 16, 2009
It was with real dismay and some degree of anger that I heard the news on the 15th about how the US Justice Department continues to equate same gender marriage with both incest and pedophilia. That statement was clearly articulated in a legal brief in support of the Defense of Marriage Act. I thought we had come further in our knowledge than that, and I had hoped that President Obama would more actively advocate for equal rights for all Americans.
I guess I was wrong.
I understa…
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Added by Bill Gordon on June 17, 2009 at 10:29am —
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Lately I have again been wondering about my ministerial credentials and how they connect to spiritual community, and more importantly, to the Christian church. My ordination is held with a liberal Christian denomination; I am a gay man, and I have been living openly for over fifteen years.
The first church I pastored was a Quaker congregation (a programmed meeting) that welcomed me back into the spiritual fold after I had left as a disillusioned teenager. I stayed with them for a little over a…
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Added by Bill Gordon on May 12, 2009 at 10:44am —
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My daughter called me tonight to talk with me about what is happening in our mutual home state of Maine. Just yesterday, Governor John Baldacci signed into law an act permitting same gender marriages. Sadly, the law doesn't take effect immediately; that is giving those who would legalize hate the opportunity to raise the necessary signatures to bring this issue to referendum.
This is not the first time that this has happened in Maine. Twice, Maine has provided for equal rights for all citizens,…
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Added by Bill Gordon on May 8, 2009 at 2:00pm —
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Gay marriage is on my mind these days. My husband, Rich, and I chose to be married in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on the 24th of April in 2004, and as I write this we are nearing our fifth anniversary.
The marital event stirred up a bit of controversy in Augusta, Maine, where we lived at the time. Rich and I have both plied the trade of being preachers for about five decades between us. We had both practiced that while openly out as gay men in our communities while we did so.
Rich openly did so w…
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Added by Bill Gordon on April 22, 2009 at 1:00am —
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