BGLASS

Hello to all of you! Despite the fact that finals week is next week and I should be studying and writing papers, I have decided to take a break and write a post about what I believe to be a very important topic! This past week was BGLASS (Bisexual Gay Lesbian And Straight Supporters) week here at the seminary, and it was filled with wonderful lectures and events. I will briefly review several of the lectures I have attended.

Pastoral Care of LGBT. Professor Dykstra is a pretty cool dude. I have never personally had him in class, but I have heard nothing but good things about the man. He has a wonderful teaching style, and he is incredibly easy to listen to. He spoke a lot about pastoral care to LGBT congregants, especially youth. Prof Dykstra also recommended the following website for information about supporting LGBT in the church: believeoutloud.com. He only got to speak for 40 minutes time, but he emphasized the fact that acceptance of LGBT parishioners is extremely important, and sometimes this acceptance on an individual basis is a process. Overall, a very good lecture.

Texts of Terror. Oh my wonderful lecture! My personal favorite from the week! Profs Lapsley and Sakenfeld (OT Biblical Scholars) presented Old Testament supports for anti-gay movement. They presented evidence as to why these biblical passages are misinterpreted and wrongly applied to our current context and situation. Discussion then led into why LGBT clergy and ordination is such a big deal in the church today. One of my collegues made a great point: why is this an issue and things like helping the poor are not? What is it about this that has people's feathers so fluffed up?

Children of God. A lecture by a Methodist minister and Ph.D. candidate here at the seminary specifically about ministering to LGBT youth. His emphasis was that we are all children of God, and should all be ministered to with equal care. He spoke of several personal stories in which this has been such a major issue, and made some novel ideas as to how we as a church could better address youth ministry overall.

10A. The amendment to change the language of ordination standards in the PC(USA) was also discussed all week long. Some agree, some disagree. The important thing is that we are in conversation about it. The question is: Are we actually in conversation about it? To many, it seems to be more of a disrespectful argument than anything else. There was a task force established for peace, unity, and purity in the denomination a few years back, but the divisiveness still continues. 

The week ended with a great big cookout on the quad with a huge moonbounce castle thing! Yay! It was a whole lot of fun! It was a great week with great lectures, great speakers, and great conversations! For this, I am grateful! But now, it's time to get back to studying and paper-writing. I will update again soon and tell you all about the papers I am writing and the project I have been working on (all extremely interesting to me, and hopefully to you)! Blessings and Peace. =)