For Faith, For Love: FOREVER the movie on April 21st

On Wednesday, April 21, 2010 at 7:00pm, The Center NYC LGBT Community Center located at 208 West 13th Street, NY, NY 10011, in association with Catch A Dream Entertainment and, The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry of Berkeley, CA will screen the powerful and thought provoking documentary entitled: For Faith, For Love, FOREVER.

As the presidential inauguration in 2009 came to a close, millions of people around the world witnessed a historical event in time; however, 2,500 miles due west there is division in California where the highly publicized Proposition 8 appeared on the general election ballot in November 2008. The proposition eliminated the right for same sex couples to marry, and has been fiercely debated over the past several years, Civil Rights!

The future of marriage equality was discussed during a Town Hall Meeting at First Congregational Church of Oakland, CA and documented by filmmaker Nefertiti Strong. The documentary, in final negotiations to be narrated by Rodney Chester, the lead actor of Logo’s hit movie Noah’s Arc – Jumping the Broom, explores the debate on same-sex marriage in the African-American community and its inclusion of the black church. Despite media portrayals suggesting complete disapproval, African-American clergy strongly believe in allowing people to live “in Spirit and in Truth” in regards to their God-given identities.

The Town Hall discussion, sponsored by the San Francisco Foundation and the Haas Jr. Fund, brought “dialogue and people together to work out issues in their communities,” said Reverend Roland Stringfellow, the event’s organizer, gay rights activist and Executive Producer of For Faith, For Love, FOREVER. “What the film 'For Faith, For Love, FOREVER' seeks to do, through the lens of the African-American church context, is to give courage to people of faith to address open and honestly the issue of being 'in the life' and the ways to find a way back to church communities we love."

Over the past year, the HOT button issue has been gay marriage. Strong believes the recording of the documentary has shed light onto a very important issue; however, gives people who may not been in attendance a chance to weigh in on the issues. “The beauty of film has captured a moment in time forever, that generations can not only see what happened, but understand why you did something,” Strong said.
Strong is president and founder of Catch a Dream, Inc. a TV/Film production based in Los Angeles and New York. The Center is hosting a fundraiser for the film in New York City LGBT Center and will screen the youth-focused 2010 HIV/AIDS PSA Campaign “Get Down” written and directed by Kim J. Ford of Lionqueen 192, Productions, Inc and FACES NY Inc.

Real Open Talk For Life with WJC

My Christmas Angel…

By: Rev. W. Jeffrey Campbell, Houston, TX

On last Saturday I was scheduled to lead Praise and Worship at my church’s annual Angel Tree event. This event is hosted by our Criminal Justice and Outreach Ministries and provides gifts to children of incarcerated parents. This year over 500 children were blessed by this outreach effort.

On Saturday morning I was in quite a funk as I headed to the church. There was no particular reason for my melancholy mood. I was just walking around with a cloud over my head. When I entered the lobby of our life center I wondered to myself and to God, “How in the world am I going to lead these people in songs of celebration feeling the way that I do?” Little did I know that an angel awaited me in the ballroom of the life center.

When I entered the ballroom there were a few of the church staff and volunteers putting the final touches on decorations and set-up. I grumbled on the inside. My pastor’s wife is the hostess of this event every year. She too was standing across the room dressed in a beautiful red pant suit. When she saw me she waved and greeted me with a big “Good Morning!” I walked toward her and we hugged. She said, “It’s so cold in here! Come on, let’s go get some coffee.”

As we walked out of the ballroom towards the area where the coffee and hot tea had been set-up we just chatted…about nothing in particular. The more we talked, the more I could feel the conversation and her presence shifting my mood. I felt somewhat like the snowman in the Campbell’s Soup commercial. In that commercial a snowman comes inside from the cold and takes a seat at the kitchen table and begins to eat a steaming hot bowl of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup. While eating the hot bowl of soul the snow begins to melt away and a little freckled face boy appears, all warmed up by the soup. I was that little boy last Saturday and whatever I was experiencing had caused me to freeze up but, one gesture by Mrs. Doris Gardner Ratliff melted away all the snow and revealed who I truly am. I am a man with a desire and a gift to lead God’s people in worship and praise. It’s amazing how one small gesture from an angel can make all the difference in the world.

Sometimes in our foggy and dark places not only do we miss the angels who are sent to bless us but, we are often too bogged down to praise God and bless the people of God. I have never had coffee with Mrs. Ratliff before. As a matter of fact, I rarely drink coffee except for with an occasional dessert. I could have very well have said, “No thank you. I’m really not a big coffee drinker.” However, in that moment it was not the coffee I needed. It was a few minutes of good company that was important and I am so glad I didn’t miss the opportunity to be encouraged.

Don’t miss your Christmas angel this season or any angel in any season. Slow down enough to recognize when the gesture being extended is just what God has ordered for you. I am a witness to the fact that a warm cup of coffee with an angel can change your “bah-humbug” to a song of praise.

“O come let us adore Him; O come let us adore Him; O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

Until next week…ROTFL with WJC!

Please contact me at

realopentalkforlife@yahoo.com for further discussion.

Discover a Cool Blog - #4

As the presidential inauguration in the beginning of this year came to a close, millions of people around the world witnessed a historical event in time; however, 2,500 miles due west there is division in California where the highly publicized Proposition 8 appeared on the general election ballot last November. The proposition eliminated the right for same sex couples to marry, and has been fiercely debated over the past several years, Civil Rights!

The future of marriage equality was discussed during a Townhall Meeting at First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. Oakland, CA on October 2, 2008. In association with Catch A Dream Entertainment and The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry, filmmaker Nefertiti Strong filmed the event in a documentary entitled: “For Faith, For Love, Forever.”

The documentary, in final negotiations to be narrated by Rodney Chester, the lead actor of Logo’s hit movie Noah’s Arc – Jumping the Broom, explores the debate on same-sex marriage in the African-American community and its inclusion of the black church. Despite media portrayals suggesting complete disapproval, African-American clergy will have an opportunity to express their individual opinions on same-sex marriage. These African-American pastors and ministers will also have a chance to speak openly about their reasons for being for or against the inclusions of same sex couples, their rights to marry and being a part of their individual congregations.

“For Faith, For Love, Forever will dig down deep, past the politics, and focus on the people and the lives at are really affected by this proposition,” say Nefertiti Strong the Director and Producer of this powerful documentary.

The townhall discussion, sponsored by the San Francisco Foundation, Energy 92.7 FM, and First Congregational Church of Oakland, brought “dialogue and people together to work out issues in their communities,” said Reverend Roland Stringfellow, the event’s organizer, gay rights activist and Executive Producer of For Faith, For Love: FOREVER, “its effectiveness as a tool for ministry; as well as its instructions, theories and motivations as it relates to homosexuality such as how is it expressed, what is taught and how homosexuality is tolerated.”

In the past few months, the HOT button issue has been gay marriage. Strong believes the recording of the documentary will not only shed light onto a very important issue, but give people who may not been in attendance a chance to weigh in on the issues. “The beauty of film has captured a moment in time forever, that generations can not only see what happened, but understand why you did something,” Strong said.

THE MOVIE TRAILER


For more information visit For Faith, For Love, Forever the movie.

Fear or Faith

The role of faith communities in the dialog for a new campaign for marriage equality in California.
By Rev. Roland Stringfellow

rstringfellow@clgs.org

By now most people have heard how the blame game was played after the passage of Prop 8 in California. Scapegoats included people of color, campaign organizers, communities of faith, even Hollywood (who is seen as being kind to queer folk) because they could have help bank rolled the campaign more than they already did. There were groups of angry people who took matters a step further and decided to vandalize places of worship, such as Catholic Churches and Mormon Temples as these two communities were targeted as the main financial supporters of the “Yes on 8” campaign.

As an organizer working with faith communities, one of my goals during the No on 8 campaign was not only to move “church going” folk in their voting for marriage equality, I also found that I had an equally challenging task of moving marriage equality activists away from an aversion or fear of faith communities in order to encourage them to use tactics and language that would speak to congregations. The common thread between the “Yes on 8” and “No on 8” campaigns was fear – fear to listen to lesbian and gay voices as they shared their stories of the value of their relationships, families and their faith. From a faith perspective, I found that with conservative congregations, my work included addressing their fear that same-sex marriage destroys families and challenging the misconception it is wacky, fringe, or blasphemous to open their doors and welcome LGBTQI individuals. On the activist side, the task was to address that queer people who attend religious services are not naïve in their faith by clinging to a God that has no love for them or doesn’t exist.

Many would agree that religion is the root reason why there is so much homo and transphobia in our society, why we have such suppressed views about sexuality in general, and why lesbians and gays deal with internalized homophobia. Post election polling data confirmed what many of us already knew that people who voted for Prop 8 (and against marriage equality) did so largely based on their religious convictions. Religious conviction is also the reason why President Obama states why he is opposed to same-sex marriage, but in favor of domestic partnerships. No doubt, addressing religious arguments will be important and need to taken into account as we move forward in the new and next phase of campaigning for marriage equality.

As much as we hate to admit it, the separation between church and state is not a reality in the minds of many Americans and religious convictions DO dictate public policy. While I support the right of anyone to their own theological beliefs, such as our President, I stand against any theology that is oppressive and not life-giving (i.e. murdering physicians who perform late term abortions). While I understand the argument that says “All theology and religion has been oppressive”, I disagree with it. Many of us are familiar with people who say they are spiritual, but not religious. We understand them to mean that they acknowledge a higher power in their lives, but do not subscribe to religious institutions that are exclusive and oppressive of human beings. This, in and of itself, is a theology and when put into practice can be considered “religion”. All of this is to say that there are religious convictions that can be positive and life-giving.

The day following the California Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Proposition 8, I was watching Larry King Live who pitted a legal activist who was for marriage equality against a former pro-football player who is now a pastor of a conservative congregation in Southern California. While the legal activist was incredibly knowledgeable, she spoke a different language than this pastor. Legal and activist arguments do not always mesh well with theological ones. In public discourses, why don’t we pair up legal minds with legal minds and theologians with other theologians? There are theologians who have dedicated their lives to the study ancient texts as they pertain to LGBT people in order to understand the culture and context in which these words were written. These men and women teach in theological institutions and lead congregations as they encourage students and parishioners to seek live-giving ways to become more inclusive and less exclusive.

As strategies are being formulated about the when’s and how’s of the next campaign to “change hearts and minds” about marriage equality, let us consider inviting and listening to these progressive scholars and religious practitioners who have experience dismantling these religious arguments made by religious conservatives. One way of addressing their arguments is by addressing their fear. In many fundamentalist congregations, it is a belief if they support the “liberal ideology” of gay marriage they will go to Hell. Yet, these same people fail to see they condemn LGBT people to a Hell when they shun, bash, or shame them. Is this what they mean by “preaching the Good News?” It is time to dismantle the hypocrisy of theology that masquerade as life-giving, but is actually a bitter pill that produces death. Hopefully as we move forward we will not be motivated by fear, but by faith that the real Good News is creating a society where separate is not equal and people are free to live with authenticity and peace with the person they love because they have all the rights and legal protections that a constitution provides. People say that I am a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.

Rev. Roland Stringfellow is the Coordinator of the Bay Area Coalition of Welcoming Congregations, which is a program of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry located at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA. For more info go to: www.clgs.org