Letter from Benz on Founding of Conference Reconciling Group
We MIND!
Save the date: Jan. 21, 2007
On Sunday, November 5, 2006, we made reconciling history. Several
dozen of you were there at St. Paul & St. Andrew as we discussed
the proposed by-laws, steering committee and name of our new
organization. After several years of growing activism and involvement
by literally hundreds of people, we needed some real structure and
organization. And on Sunday, that’s exactly what we gave ourselves.
We voted to call ourselves Methodists in New Directions, or MIND – as
in, “closed doors, broken hearts, we mind,” the slogan of our t-shirts that has
already found national resonance.
We elected the following steering committee:
Chair: Dr. Dorothee Benz, Park Slope UMC
Treasurer: Kareen Canora, Asbury-Crestwood UMC
Secretary: Kevin Nelson, Park Ave. UMC
At-large members:
Helen Andrew, Memorial UMC
Rev. John A. Carr, First and Summerfield UMC
Jim Harvey, Park Slope UMC
Rev. K Karpen, St. Paul & St. Andrew UMC
Marie Laguerre-Lewis, Memorial UMC
Jorge Lockward, Grace – Spanish UMC
Rev. Richard Parker, Babylon UMC
Marilyn VanTine, Valhalla UMC
Rev. Dr. Traci West, Drew University
And we discussed, debated, amended and then passed a set of by-laws.
But of course, founding the new organization is just the beginning of a
new chapter in our work to open the hearts and minds and doors of the
United Methodist Church until it finally recognizes its gay and lesbian
members as equal children of God. And so we ended the meeting with a
brainstorm of possible projects and directions for our work this year,
and with a meeting date for our next general meeting. So please mark
your calendars now: Sunday, January 21, 2007, at 3pm at Memorial
Methodist Church in White Plains. The January 21 meeting will kick off
our membership drive and our spring action campaign—so don’t miss it!
The new steering committee has already been busy with logistics and
planning. There will be a steering committee meeting, probably in early
December, and that meeting is open for all to attend. (We will send a
notice as soon as we finalize a date.)
If you would like a copy of the by-laws, or minutes from Sunday’s meeting, please e-mail me
and I will send them to you. As always, feedback and ideas are
encouraged, and we hope to see many of you at the steering committee
meeting as well as the January 21 meeting.
Peace,Dorothee Benz
Chair, MIND