Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of June 2, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  As always, this meditation starts with a Gospel
reading and a meditation based on it written by Nancy Eichert.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Luke 16:10-15

God has entrusted to us the riches of the world.  So
often we seem to hoard and squander those riches,
ignoring the needs of the poor in our midst.

Are we serving two rulers in our quest for the comforts
of life?  We are the bearers of God's Spirit on earth,
yet we often waver, serving two rulers, lukewarm, neither
hot nor cold.

But what if God is calling us to take sides?  Perhaps
there is no longer time for us to sit with the Pharisees,
justifying ourselves before humanity.  The poor of the
world cry out to us from afar and from next door.  The
oppressed cry out for freedom, and the disenfranchised
cry out for justice.

Have we divorced ourselves from our commitment to love
God first and our neighbor as ourselves?  Have we wed
ourselves to mammon?

My friend, imagine a new way to answer God's call to
justice.  Imagine yourself as God's Spirit-bearer on
earth.  Imagine yourself standing beside the poor, before
God's altar, promising to love, honor, and cherish.
Imagine all humanity in committed relationship before
God.

Holy Spirit, you are my vision.  Open my eyes to the
many ways I can stand in commitment with the poor and
oppressed of the earth.  Clear my heart of any need to
collect and display the world's wealth.  Show me myself
before the mirror of your love.  Let my self-esteem be
in my nakedness, my vulnerability.  Let the nakedness of
the oppressed of the earth be my mirror image.  Holy
Spirit, unite us in God?s work on earth, God's purpose,
love.  Amen.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of June 9, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  As always, this meditation starts with a Gospel
reading and a meditation based on it written by Nancy Eichert.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Luke 18:9-14

My doctor has told me how sick I really am.  I can't
believe my ears.  As the doctor leaves my bedside, I
find myself talking to God about my condition.  'Now God,'
I begin. 'you know I've always been faithful to you.  I
go o church every Sunday and I pray.  We have some great
conversations, you and I, don't we?  And you remember
the friend I brought to church last year.  Why, I'm one
of your greatest witnesses.  Now God, about this
illness. . . .'

From across the room, from somewhere in the next bed I
hear the soft sounds of muffled weeping, the voice of
someone, as though calling out to a parent.  'Oh, Lord,
have mercy.  I'm lying here sick and in pain.  The only
thing I have to believe in is your love.  Oh, Healer,
your will be done in this body.  Work out your love in
this spirit.  Help this sinner, Lord.'

Hearing this prayer, I cannot help but wonder about my
own need for God.  Will God listen if I admit that I'm
feeling scared, weak, and helpless?  I had never thought
so.  Yet now, in the face of my sickness, the good deeds
that I have relied on to give me a sense of self-worth
seem so trivial, almost pathetic.  Who will come to show
me the way to empty my heart of its self-righteous deeds
that it may be filled instead with God's merciful love?

Recall today the condition of your life when Christ first
came to you.  Remember the pure mercy and tender love that
entered your heart that day.  Now breathe in God's love.
Breathe out the vanity of self-righteousness.
Re-experience God's grace as you continue your faith
journey today relying on the tender mercy of God's love
to give you a sense of self-worth.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of June 16, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  As always, this meditation starts with a Gospel
reading and a meditation based on it written by Vanessa Moore.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Luke 19:41-48

Jesus begins the last leg of his journey toward the cross as he enters
Jerusalem.  His ministry is almost complete.  But just before he enters the
city, Jesus weeps.  He predicts the destruction of Jerusalem: 
‘. . . they
will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the
time of your visitation.’

Jerusalem was in fact reduced to rubble by invading armies several decades
later, and the resulting desolation was so widespread that the nation of
Israel never fully recovered.  But there is something more here than the
fulfillment of a prophecy, something that speaks to us today.

Jesus wept not for the destroyed buildings, but for those who did not
recognize the coming of Christ.  Jesus wept for all those who could not see
the transforming power of God’s love.  Jesus wept for those who had closed
the door against God and did not see how little it would take to open it.
Jesus wept not just for the city of Jerusalem, but for us and our world today.

Jesus is longing to come into your life more fully today.  Bring Christ
into your heart in a special way during the moments of your day.  Open
yourself to the powerful ways God wants to work in your life.  Let Jesus’
triumphant entry into Jerusalem be a joyful journey toward a closer
relationship with you.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

*************************
CHI RHO CONNECTION

The Chi Rho Press eNewsletter
Vol. III, No. 10
19 June 2002

*************************
Contents:

1.    Adam's Birthday Celebration!
2.    Reflections on Turning 55, by Adam DeBaugh
3.    Featured Product: Handouts
4.    How to Carry Your Burden
5.    Give the Gift of Information to your Church or
Local Library
6.    Adam's Last Word

--------------------------------------------------

'We have not been open until very recently to the role
and place of women in our ordained orders and we
continue to shame the unconditional love and acceptance
of Jesus Christ by living into a homophobia that has
weakened our ministries and not respected the dignity
of every human being.'
The Rt. Rev. John Bryson Chane, the new Episcopal Bishop
of Washington, in his first sermon as Bishop at the
Washington National Cathedral on June 2, 2002 (source:
the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, www.edow.org).

'The test of our progress is not whether we add more to
the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we
provide enough for those who have too little.'
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Welcome once again to the Chi Rho Connection, the
electronic newsletter of Chi Rho Press.  Thank you for
passing this Chi Rho Connection on to others.

To join our list, send an e-mail message to
mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

To unsubscribe send an e-mail to
mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Please visit our Web site at http://www.chirhopress.com
to see our entire lines of books, handouts, videos,
tchochkas, and stained glass.

Direct all other e-mail to Adam@....  See
the end of this eNewsletter for a complete list of
e-mail addresses at ChiRhoPress.com.

--------------------------------------------------

1.    Adam's Birthday Celebration!

Chi Rho Press founder and director, Adam DeBaugh turns
55 on June 23 (see following article for Adam's reflections
on the occasion of his birthday).

If you would like to help celebrate or to honor Adam on
his birthday, the board and staff of Chi Rho Press would
like to invite you to make a contribution to this
ministry in Adam's honor.

All contributions are fully tax deductible.  May we
suggest a $55.00 contribution in honor of Adam's 55
years?

Just send your check or money order, made out to Chi
Rho Press with the notation, 'Adam's Birthday' in the
memo line, to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864, Gaithersburg,
MD 20898.

Or make your birthday gift on line at
http://www.chirhopress.com/sponsor.html.

All contributions in honor of Adam's birthday will be
used for the ministry of Chi Rho Press.

--------------------------------------------------

2.    Reflections on Turning 55
by Adam DeBaugh

This month includes an auspicious and rather terrifying
event, my birthday.  I claim a bit of personal privilege
here to trumpet my advancing age.  So here are some
reflections on being 'a gentleman of a certain age.'
As we approach geezer-hood, there are a number of
advantages to growing, ahem, older.

First of all, when your AARP membership card arrives
in the mail (it arrived on the day of my 50th birthday
a few years ago; how do they do that?) fill out the form,
write the check, and send it in.  There are discounts!
Magazines!  Special offers!  Weird little insurance
programs!  And you get to be part of one of the most
potent lobbies in American history.

Second, learn the proper terminology and use the words
often.  Older men (70 plus) are 'geezers,' a sobriquet
I look forward to using proudly.  In the meantime, I am
stuck in 'advanced middle age.'  It is possible for an
older man even as young as in the mid-50's like me, to
start cultivating the persona of 'curmudgeon,' which is
a wonderful way to be.  Being a curmudgeon means that we
get to start doing cool things that we can ascribe to our
age, which leads me to . . .

Third, 'I can make that noise with my body and not be
embarrassed because I am old.'  This is a wonderful
benefit of AARP-ness.  Bodily function noises are
acceptable for the very young and the very old, neither
of whom can help themselves.  At 50-something we need
to be careful of not exercising the full panoply of
bodily function noises, but we can start small with
joyful anticipation of increasing our obnoxious behavior.

Fourth, in your 50s you have reached the age when, if
you have children, you can reasonably expect to begin
the appropriate separation from them.  AARP-titude is
still an awkward time, old enough to begin to assert
your freedom, but still young enough to be a bit tied
down by your kids.  Old enough to be able to begin making
them take responsibility for their lives, and still young
enough to have to be ultimately responsible for their
lives.  Old enough to begin to make serious plans for
when the kids take care of you, but still young enough
to have to take care of them.  You get the idea.  The
most excellent part about being in your 50s is that you
can begin the process of developing an adult-adult
relationship with your child, rather than a parent-child
elationship.  This will scare them.  It will also confuse
them.  It will serve them right.

Fifth, you are now probably closer to retirement than
you are to the beginning of your work life.  I can't
figure out the benefit of this, since I personally don't
have the stamina, energy, or physical abilities to enjoy
goofing off as much as I did when I was 20, but there
must be something to this!

Sixth, kids, even some bratty kids, will call you
'Ma'am' or 'Sir' which again will be a mixed blessing.
Play the 'aged respect card' for all it's worth and
remember that old age, experience, and deviousness will
always win out over youth, arrogant innocence, and
beauty.  Also always remember that the smart-ass kids
will eventually grow old and useless too, if we let the
little monsters live that long.  Age is the great
equalizer.

Seventh, for a brief, shining moment, when you first
wake up in the morning, you will feel 25 again.  Then
you will try to get up.  Delay the getting up part, or
in fact any movement at all, for as long as possible.
Just lie there and revel in the feelings of youthfulness,
regardless of how illusory they are.  It may not seem
like much, but some days it is the best part of the day.

And last, the older you get, the more outrageous things
you can say and do.  Eccentricity is the hallmark of
graceful old age.  You are now, with your AARP card in
hand, officially able to begin to cultivate eccentric
mannerisms, speak your mind with some impunity, and wear
whatever you darned well please.  (See number three
about bodily function noises, which is potentially a
less elegant form of this category.)  Smoke a pipe.
Wear a tam o'shanter.  Die your hair an egregious color.
Tell your coworker when he is being a jerk.  Scratch
when you itch, and where.  Carry a walking stick.  Wear
an ascot.  Start a collection of risqué matchbooks.
Begin to develop your own trademark eccentricities that
will grow and flourish as you continue to grow older.

So, happy birthday to me!  Now if you see me driving
around the entire Beltway this weekend, going 45 in the
far left passing lane, and with my directional signal
defiantly clinking, you will know why!  Deal with it.

--------------------------------------------------

3.    Featured Products: Handouts

Chi Rho Press is pleased to announce the full
availability of its complete line of Handouts.
These Handouts are especially useful for Pride
events!

Three of our four Handouts are specifically designed
for Metropolitan Community Churches, while the fourth,
'Free to Be: A Brief Look at the Bible and
Homosexuality,' is useful for everyone dealing with the
issue of the Bible and homosexuality.

The Chi Rho Press line of Handouts includes:

'FREE TO BE LESBIAN/GAY: A Brief Look at the Bible
and Homosexuality,' by the Rev. Michael England.
A brief analysis of the Biblical passages traditionally
used to condemn homosexuality.  Based on his best
selling book, 'The Bible and Homosexuality,' now in
its fifth edition from Chi Rho Press, Michael England
has distilled the most important information from the
book into this convenient, pocket-sized Handout.

'WELCOME TO MCC!' by R. Adam DeBaugh.  Basic background
information about the UFMCC.  Useful for visitors to
MCC churches or anyone interested in learning about MCC.

'WHAT DO WE BELIEVE?' by R. Adam DeBaugh.  An explanation
of the UFMCC Statement of Faith, the creedal statement
that binds MCC members together worldwide.

'WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A MEMBER OF MCC?' by R. Adam
DeBaugh.  A description of the requirements for
membership in MCC.

The four Handouts are helpful ministry tools for
membership classes, visitors' packets, Pride events,
while traveling on church business, or during visits to
friends in the community.  All four Handouts clearly
and quickly inform readers about issues important to
MCC congregations.

Chi Rho Press's Handouts are pocket size reference
materials priced at $0.20 each, plus shipping and
handling.  Discounts can be arranged for orders of very
large quantities.  Handouts are six inches high by 18
inches long, and folded down to a handy, pocket-sized,
six by three-inch brochure.

Order Handouts directly at
http://www.chirhopress.com/products/brochures.html.

In addition, Chi Rho Press offers other books useful
to MCC's ministry.  'The UFMCC Mission Statement,' by
Rev. Virginia G. Miles and R. Adam DeBaugh reflects
on an early mission statement adopted by the UFMCC
General Council.  Jean Gralley's insightful cartoons
collected in 'What a Fellowship' will add levity and
meaning to the congregational life of any MCC.  Also,
Gralley's 'Whole Church Body Book' explains church
history in a way that all members can enjoy, with
special attention to the life and call of the laity in
the church.

Please visit our Web site at http://www.ChiRhoPress.com
to learn about our full line of products that each
celebrates the faith and sexuality of all people.

Order materials from our Web site,
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com, using a credit card and the
fast and convenient shopping cart option.  Or send your
check or money order in the amount of the price of the
materials plus shipping and handling to:

Chi Rho Press
P.O. Box 7864
Gaithersburg,  MD 20898

--------------------------------------------------

4.    How to Carry Your Burden

Saundra Farmer-Wiley sent this to the Soulforce listserve
(mailto:Soulforce-subscribe@yahoogroups.com) and we
liked it so much we thought we would share it with our
readers too.

A monarch of long ago had twin sons.  There was some
confusion about which one was born first.  As they grew
to young manhood, the king sought a fair way to designate
one of them as crown prince.  All who knew the young men
thought them equal in intelligence, wit, personal charm,
health, and physical strength.  Being a keenly observant
king, he thought he detected a trait in one, which was
not shared by the other.

Calling them to his council chamber one day, he said,
'My sons, the day will come when one of you must succeed
me as king.  The burdens of sovereignty are very heavy.
To find out which of you is better able to bear them
cheerfully, I am sending you together to a far corner
of the kingdom.  One of my advisors there will place
equal burdens on your shoulders.  My crown will one day
go to the one who first returns bearing his burden like
a king should.'

In a spirit of friendly competition, the brothers set
out together.  Soon they overtook an aged woman struggling
under a burden that seemed far too heavy for her frail
body.  One of the boys suggested that they stop to help
her.  The other protested, 'We have a burden of our own
to worry about.  Let us be on our way.'

The objector hurried on while the other stayed behind to
give aid to the aged woman.  Along the road, from day to
day, he found others who also needed help.  A blind man
took him miles out of his way, and a lame man slowed him
to a cripple's walk.

Eventually he did reach his father's advisor, where he
secured his own burden and started home with it safely on
his shoulders.  When he arrived at the palace, his brother
met him at the gate, and greeted him with dismay.  He said
'I don't understand.  I told our father the burden was too
heavy to carry.  However did you do it?'

The future king replied thoughtfully, 'I suppose when I
helped others carry their burdens, I found the strength
to carry my own.'

--------------------------------------------------

5.    Give the Gift of Information to your Church or
Local Library

Now More Than Ever, we believe it is important to equip
ourselves with good resources to combat homophobia
and hatred in the church.  May we suggest buying books for
your church library or for your local public library?

Now More Than Ever, we recommend 'Called OUT' to our
Presbyterian sisters and brothers.  This is a book not only
for Presbyterians, of course, but for all people who love
God and seek to do God's will of justice and peace.  Read
this book and hear the authentic voice of Presbyterian
Christianity.  ($17.95 each.)

Now More Than Ever, we also recommend an excellent book
by a Presbyterian layperson, the eloquent and brilliant
Chris Glaser.  'Come Home!' is one of Chris' best books
and we are proud to have published it.  ($19.95 each.)

Now More Than Ever, people need to read 'The Bible and
Homosexuality' by the Rev. Michael England, a basic primer
on the few passages that have been incorrectly interpreted
as referring to homosexuality.  ($10.95 each.)

Now More Than Ever, people need to read Dr. Rembert
Truluck's brilliant 'Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse.'
Dr. Truluck's Steps to healing and wholeness continue to
be our best seller and a must-read book for any believer's
library.  ($24.95 each.)

Now More Than Ever, 'Positively Gay,' edited by Dr. Betty
Berzon, provides helpful articles about many aspects of
gay life.  ($14.95 each.)

And Now More Than Ever, we round out our sextet of
recommended books with 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily devotions written by and for the LGBT community.
($9.95 each.)

All six of these books are available on our Web site, of
course.

(All prices are for single copies, orders of six or more
copies on the Web site will automatically include a
generous discount, and shipping and handling will be
added to all orders.)

Make a summertime gift to your church or seminary
library or local library.  Buy books!

Only the truth can combat hatred and evil.  Help make
the truth of God's all-inclusive love available to as
many people as possible.

--------------------------------------------------


6.    Adam's Last Word

Summer has arrived here in the Washington DC area, along
with warm temperatures and some truly spectacular days.
I hope each of our readers is enjoying this season.

It just seems like a short time ago when all was bare and
brown, but now the riot of new leaves, flowers, and plant
life is all around us.  Thunderstorms come rolling through
the area with some frequency, 'boomers' my local weather
reporter calls them.  All part of God's wonderful creation.

Time passes, we grow older, and hopefully more centered,
wiser, and more mature.  Life continues with all its glory
and woe.  But as they say at MCC of Washington, DC, God
is Good!  All the Time!

This is also Gay and Lesbian Pride Month and there have
been a number of pride celebrations around the country.
Some of them have become very commercialized, very slick
and fancy.  I kind of miss the first Gay Pride Days in
the early 70s in DC, when Gay Pride Day was a block party,
on a single block at that, a real neighborhood gathering
as our Queer Tribe gathered from around the metropolitan
area to our neighborhood heart in the Dupont Circle area.
As wonderful as our huge corporation-sponsored, elaborate,
regimented, controlled, and expensive Pride Days have
become, I still miss the more personal, intimate Gay
Pride events of the old days.  I guess I am becoming a
dinosaur!

But if it's Pride Day, then summer is sure to follow (at
least here in the Northern Hemisphere!) with vacations,
long, languid Sunday afternoons (after church, of course),
work in the garden, trips to the beach, lake, or pool,
and time for fun and relaxation.

Have a perfectly splendid summer!  And Happy Gay, Lesbian,
Bisexual, and Transgendered Pride Month!

--------------------------------------------------

We are glad you are partners in ministry with us here at
Chi Rho Press.  We are eager for your comments, your
suggestions, your assistance with selling our books,
and your own purchases!  And of course, we covet your
prayers for this ministry.

If you've received the Chi Rho Connection as a result of the
good offices of someone passing it along to you (which
we certainly encourage) and would like to receive it
directly from us, please follow the directions at the
end of this Connection to subscribe.

To order, please visit http://www.ChiRhoPress.com.  You
may pay by credit card on our web page or we will ship
your order after receiving your check or money
order.  Include your e-mail address, mailing address,
and telephone number please.

If you have questions, please write to
Question@....

For comments and suggestions
about this eNewsletter, please write
Connection@....

To learn about our Guardian
Angel Individual Sponsor Program, please write
Angels@....

For all other correspondence,
please write Adam@....

Our snail mail address is:

Chi Rho Press, Inc.
P.O. Box 7864
Gaithersburg, MD 20898

Our telephone and fax number is 301/926-1208.

Customers outside the U.S. and especially our Canadian
friends can order using credit cards on our Web page or
through our Canadian distributor, MAP Enterprises, Mary
Ann Pearson, at her new Web page,
http://www.christiangays.com.

Copyright 2002, Chi Rho Press, Inc.

******************************************

SUBSCRIBE: ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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R. Adam DeBaugh, Director, Adam@... .
Kevin Stone Fries, Editor, Kevin@....

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of June 23, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  As always, this meditation starts with a Gospel
reading and a meditation based on it written this week by
Jack Pantaleo.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Luke 21:5-19

'By your endurance you will gain your life.'

In today's passage, Jesus describes the end times.  He
explains that the material things we hold dear in this
life will all be taken away at the end of the age.  In
referring to the Temple, he says that 'the days will come
when there shall not be left here one stone upon another
that will not be thrown down.'  In other words, 'Have
fun with your cars, cameras, and computers, but keep in
mind that they are all temporary toys that will break.
In the process of enjoying them, don't forget to play
also with the toys of the heart, with faith, hope, and
love.  The toys of the heart will never break.  They
are everlasting.'

When asked when the end times will be, Jesus is very
clear about being unclear.  He says, 'Take heed that
you are not led astray; for many will come in my name,
saying, 'I am the one!' and, 'The time is at hand.'
Do not go after them.'  He goes on to talk about
nations rising against nations.  There will be
earthquakes, plagues, and famines.  People will be
persecuted and even be put to death.  But even then,
Jesus says, 'The end will not be at once.'

So where does that leave us?  With the wonderful
verse at the end of the passage, 'By your endurance
you will gain your lives.'  The Greek word that Luke
uses for 'endurance' is hypomone.  It means patience
under trials, or steadfastness.  It means having a
spirit that is strong enough to overcome the trials of
life.  It does not mean sitting back and waiting for
trials to be over; it means getting up and doing what
is right, even in the face of fierce resistance.

Hypomone calls us to fully embrace the values Christ
taught, regardless of how popular or unpopular they may
be at the moment.  It urges us to develop in our hearts
the most indestructible of toys: faith, hope, and love.
There is no better way to play and win the game of life.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

*************************
CHI RHO CONNECTION

The Chi Rho Press eNewsletter
Vol. III, No. 11
28 June 2002

*************************
Contents:

1.    Adam's Birthday Celebration!
2.    E-mail Bag
3.    FYI:  Privacy Policy
4.    Featured Book:  Come Home!
5.    Two Brothers  A Parable
6.    Adam's Last Word

--------------------------------------------------
'But the wisdom which is from heaven is first holy,
then gentle, readily giving way in argument, full of
peace and mercy and good works, not doubting, not
seeming other than it is.'
James 3:17


Welcome once again to the Chi Rho Connection, the
electronic newsletter of Chi Rho Press.  Thank you for
passing this Chi Rho Connection on to others.

To join our list, send an e-mail message to
mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

To unsubscribe send an e-mail to
mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Please visit our Web site at http://www.chirhopress.com
to see our entire lines of books, handouts, videos,
tchochkas, and stained glass.

Direct all other e-mail to Adam@....  See
the end of this eNewsletter for a complete list of
e-mail addresses at ChiRhoPress.com.

--------------------------------------------------

1.    Adam's Birthday Celebration!

Chi Rho Press founder and director, Adam DeBaugh turned
55 on June 23.

If you would like to help celebrate or to honor Adam on
his birthday, the board and staff of Chi Rho Press
invite you to make a contribution to this ministry in
Adam's honor.

All contributions are fully tax deductible.  May we
suggest a $55.00 contribution in honor of Adam's 55
years?

Just send your check or money order, made out to Chi
Rho Press with the notation, 'Adam's Birthday' in the
memo line, to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864, Gaithersburg,
MD 20898.

Or make your birthday gift on line at
http://www.chirhopress.com/sponsor.html.

All contributions in honor of Adam's birthday will be
used for the ministry of Chi Rho Press.

--------------------------------------------------

2.    E-mail Bag

Occasionally we get e-mail or letters that are especially
gratifying.  This one is from a faithful subscriber named
Richard and arrived today in response to this week's Chi
Rho Reflection.

Adam and Chi Rho Press Friends,

This week's meditation and prayer spoke directly to my
own personal condition and was such a blessing to me.
God uses you in wonderful and healing ways.  Blessings
on your continuing ministry to us and, by extension, to
the whole people of God.  Richard

Many thanks, Richard.  It is affirmations like this that
keep us involved in this ministry.  We are especially
pleased that this week's Reflection spoke so directly
to your heart.

The Chi Rho Reflections are sent to our subscribers at
the beginning of each week and includes a selection from
that week's meditations from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book
of daily Gospel readings and devotions written by and the
LGBT community of faith.

'The Road to Emmaus' is available on our web site at
http://www.chirhopress.com/products/devotionals.html and
are available at a reduced price of $9.95 each ($7.50 each
for six or more copies), plus shipping and handling.

--------------------------------------------------

3.    FYI:  Privacy Policy

We occasionally run a column called FYI, which discusses
aspects of publishing and the business of Chi Rho Press.
This month's FYI column is about our Privacy Policy on
our Web page.

ChiRhoPress.com is the only owner of the information
collected from visitors to our Web site.  We never sell,
share, or rent this information to others in any way
except for our own in-house use.  Chi Rho Press collects
information from our users at several different points
on our Web site through a counter service and at the
shopping cart order form.

None of the information gathered from these sources will
be passed on to any secondary sources.  We hope to provide
an enjoyable and secure environment for our visitors, and
strive to maintain an enforced plan for dealing with
privacy.  If you feel that our site is not abiding by the
stated privacy policy, please email us at
privacyplan@....  If at any times changes to
this policy are made, they will be duly noted to the
public.

Utmost care is taken to maintain the privacy of the
shoppers who patronize our on-line store, send us e-mail,
and/or are on our mailing lists.  This includes the
subscribers to our electronic newsletter, the Chi Rho
Connection and the Chi Rho Reflection.  It is our strict
policy not to share, rent, or sell such data to anyone
under any circumstances.

Our extensive mailing list of names, addresses, telephone
numbers, and e-mail addresses is simply not for sale and
is not given to anyone!

In addition, when our customers make purchases on our Web
site using their credit cards, our shopping cart manager,
Americart, strips the 16-digit number after confirming the
success of the credit card charge and before sending us
the order.  This means that if you place an order with the
Chi Rho Press Web site using your credit card, no one at
the Press will see or know your credit card number.  The
only information we receive is your name, shipping address,
the type of card you used (VISA, Mastercard, Discover/Novus,
or American Express) and the expiration date on your card.

When we take credit card information either in person,
using our cool card swiper, or over the phone, by mail,
or e-mail, our policy is to destroy the credit card number
after successful billing.  We do not keep your credit
card numbers on file anywhere.

Just FYI.

--------------------------------------------------

4.    Featured Book:  Come Home!

'Come Home! Reclaiming Spirituality and Community as
Gay Men and Lesbians,' second edition, by Chris Glaser.
first published in 1990 by HarperCollins, the second
edition was published in 1998 by Chi Rho Press with the
addition of five new chapters to the original 20.

'Come Home!' is perhaps Chris Glaser's best book.  It is
divided into five sections, each with five chapters.
The five sections are entitled, 'Welcoming God's
Acceptance,' 'Receiving Our Inheritance,' 'Discerning Our
Call,' 'Making Our Witness,' and 'Declaring Our Vision.'

Bishop John Shelby Spong called 'Come Home!' 'powerful,
sensitive, and provocative. . . . Glaser stands inside
his own humanity as a gay male and hears the word of God
through the Bible.  Christians, gay and straight, need
this book if we are to be the body of Christ.'

This is a brilliant and important book by perhaps the
best-known Gay Christian writer in the U.S. today.

The Rev. Carter Heyward called 'Come Home!' 'an
enthusiastic compelling testimony to the power of faith
in the lives of many gay and lesbian Christians.'

Virginia Ramey Mollenkott said, 'If courage, honesty,
and insight are beautiful, then this is one beautiful
book. . . . I rejoice that in this book all the gay
men and lesbian women who have been robbed of their
spirituality are issued an urgent invitation: Come home!'

'Come Home!' by Chris Glaser offers a vision of faith,
hope, and affirmation inviting gay men and lesbians to
come home to their spirituality through Christian faith
and community.  Order your copy today!

'Come Home!' is available for $19.95 each, $14.95 each
for six or more copies, plus shipping and handling.

--------------------------------------------------

5.    Two Brothers  A Parable

(Author unknown, received via the Internet.  Especially
for Kevin.)

Once upon a time two brothers who lived on adjoining
farms fell into conflict.  It was the first serious rift
in 40 years of farming side by side, sharing machinery,
and trading labor and goods as needed without a hitch.
Then the long collaboration fell apart.  It began with
a small misunderstanding and it grew into a major
difference, and finally it exploded into an exchange of
bitter words followed by weeks of silence.

One morning there was a knock on John's door.  He opened
it to find a man with a carpenter's toolbox.  'I'm looking
for a few days work,' he said.  'Perhaps you would have a
few small jobs here and there I could help with?  Could
I help you?'

'Yes,' said the older brother.  'I do have a job for you.
Look across the creek at that farm.  That's my neighbor,
in fact, it's my younger brother.  Last week there was a
meadow between us and he took his bulldozer to the river
levee and now there is a creek between us.  Well, he may
have done this to spite me, but I'll go him one better.
See that pile of lumber by the barn?  I want you to build
me a fence, an 8-foot fence, so I won't need to see his
place or his face anymore.'

The carpenter said, 'I think I understand the situation.
Show me the nails and the post-hole digger and I'll be
able to do a job that pleases you.'

The older brother had to go to town, so he helped the
carpenter get the materials ready and then he was off
for the day.  The carpenter worked hard all that day
measuring, sawing, nailing.  About sunset when the farmer
returned, the carpenter had just finished his job.

The farmer's eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped.  There
was no fence there at all.  It was a bridge, a bridge
stretching from one side of the creek to the other!  A
fine piece of work, handrails and all and the neighbor,
his younger brother, was coming across, his hand
outstretched.  'You are quite a fellow to build this
bridge after all I've said and done.'

The two brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and
then they met in the middle, taking each other's hand.
They turned to see the carpenter hoist his toolbox on
his shoulder.

'No, wait!  Stay a few days.  I've a lot of other projects
for you,' said the older brother.

'I'd love to stay on,' the carpenter said, 'but I have
many more bridges to build.'

--------------------------------------------------

6.    Adam's Last Word

My birthday passed with appropriate fanfare and
celebration.  June 23 was a beautiful day and I was
honored to be able to present the second of two stained
glass windows I made to my home church, Holy Redeemer
MCC, in College Park, MD.  This window has taken a long
time to complete, unfortunately.  Working a full time
secular job and my work with the Press, makes my stained
glass work feel like a third job some times, and I do
not always have the time I need.  But the window is
finished and installed.  (Work has already begun on the
third window!)

This new finished window is the Communion Window (the
first was the Holy Spirit Window).  I am donating the
designs and my labor to the church for these four windows
and church members have contributed money to cover most
of the cost of supplies (glass, copper foil, solder, and
framing).

The Communion Window is especially poignant for me because
Mr. Jim Plankenhorn endowed it in memory of his spouse,
the late Rev. Larry Uhrig.  Larry was a dear friend of
mine and my pastor for a long time.  He was pastor of
MCC Washington, DC for many years and was one of MCC's
best preachers.

Come visit Holy Redeemer MCC, at 4907 Niagara Road, Suite
102, College Park, MD 20740-1100; 301-982-5775, or visit
their Website at http://www.holy-redeemer-mcc.org.  See
the windows, but more importantly visit a wonderful,
loving, friendly, Christ-centered, and growing congregation.
Our Pastor is the Rev. Clay Witt.

******

My body is falling apart!  Three weeks ago I slipped on a
manuscript I had cleverly left on the stairs while
carrying a laundry basket down to the first floor.  I
fractured my coccyx, for which they can do nothing but
give me meds for pain and inflammation.  (No jokes,
please, about my butt being in a sling!)

My birthday weekend was marred somewhat by a major
toothache, for which more meds (a heavy-duty antibiotic
and more pain meds) were prescribed.  I had to miss a
wonderful hike at Great Falls, organized by my friend
Chris at Holy Redeemer MCC.

When I look in the mirror each morning, I notice that
the gray in my hair is slowly winning the struggle to
overtake the black.  <sigh>

But, my dear friend Bill scolded me a few years ago
when I complained about getting older.  Living in the
era of HIV, Bill said, gave us no right to complain
about growing older.  Considering all the talented,
wonderful people who never got the chance to be 50, we
should gratefully cherish every day, week, month, and
year that passes.  We should praise God that our aches,
pains, little accidents, and even the gray hairs, and
that they are not much worse or symptoms of a truly
severe, life threatening illness.

Bill is right, of course, and I thank God daily for my
life, my ministry, my work, and my health.  And for the
opportunity to live in a remarkable time in the life of
our community.

And I thank God for you, our faithful readers.  Thanks
for being part of this ministry!

--------------------------------------------------

We are glad you are partners in ministry with us here at
Chi Rho Press.  We are eager for your comments, your
suggestions, your assistance with selling our books,
and your own purchases!  And of course, we covet your
prayers for this ministry.

If you've received the Chi Rho Connection as a result of the
good offices of someone passing it along to you (which
we certainly encourage) and would like to receive it
directly from us, please follow the directions at the
end of this Connection to subscribe.

To order, please visit http://www.ChiRhoPress.com.  You
may pay by credit card on our web page or we will ship
your order after receiving your check or money
order.  Include your e-mail address, mailing address,
and telephone number please.

If you have questions, please write to
Question@....

For comments and suggestions
about this eNewsletter, please write
Connection@....

To learn about our Guardian
Angel Individual Sponsor Program, please write
Angels@....

For all other correspondence,
please write Adam@....

Our snail mail address is:

Chi Rho Press, Inc.
P.O. Box 7864
Gaithersburg, MD 20898

Our telephone and fax number is 301/926-1208.

Customers outside the U.S. and especially our Canadian
friends can order using credit cards on our Web page or
through our Canadian distributor, MAP Enterprises, Mary
Ann Pearson, at her new Web page,
http://www.christiangays.com.

Copyright 2002, Chi Rho Press, Inc.

******************************************

SUBSCRIBE: ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
UNSUBSCRIBE: ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

R. Adam DeBaugh, Director, Adam@... .
Kevin Stone Fries, Editor, Kevin@....

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of June 30, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  These meditations start with a Gospel reading
and a meditation based on it written this week by Sara Case.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Luke 22:31-38

Peter did not suffer from the low self-esteem that many
of us do.  He believed he could do all sorts of things,
and when he tried them he would often fail.  He told
Jesus he was ready to go with him to prison and to
death, but when Jesus was arrested, Peter lied to save
himself.  Satan had control of him then and was sifting
him like wheat.

I tend to come from the other direction, believing that
I can't do something I haven't done before.  The power
of this negative thinking then prevents me from
experiencing life fully, and I, too, am 'sifted.'

The good news is that Jesus, who is able to see all
our possibilities, prays for us whether we are
exuberant or cautious, fearful or bold.  Jesus knew
that Peter would deny him, but he could see beyond
this mistake to a time when Peter would turn away
from fear and self-protection.  'When you have
turned again,' Jesus said to him, 'there will be
work for you to do strengthening your sisters and
brothers.'  Note that Jesus did not say, 'If you
turn again.'  Jesus prayed and had faith that Peter
would change.

Jesus prays for us, too, all the time, and we, too,
are transformed by the power of prayer.  Do you
understand what this means for you?

Take time now to quiet yourself and to know in your
heart that, while negative forces are trying to sift
you as wheat, just as they did Peter, so Jesus is
praying for you that your faith may not fail.  Let
this prayer embrace you and give you hope.

Receive the embrace, drink deeply of the hope, and
know that wherever your journey takes you, Jesus is
holding you in prayer.

Amen.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

Grace and peace,

R. Adam DeBaugh
Director
Chi Rho Press
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Subscribe to Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic newsletter
mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Website.  You can order using our convenient shopping
cart and pay on line using your credit card!
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Chi Rho Press, Inc.
P.O. Box 7864
Gaithersburg,  MD 20898, USA

301/926-1208 (phone/fax)

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of July 7, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  These meditations start with a Gospel reading
and a meditation based on it written this week by Harold
Joseph Burris and Joseph W. Houle.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Luke 23:26-31

Jesus had choices on the road to Calvary.  He could have
spoken up at his trials and defended himself.  He could
have promised to cease his activities and gone back home
to his family and the local carpentry shop.  But his
commitment led him on.

On the other hand, Simon of Cyrene had no choice.  The
Roman officers seized him as he traveled on his own
private journey, laid the cross on him, and demanded
that he carry it behind Jesus to Calvary.  There is no
room for Simon's reaction to his forced servitude, nor
is any description of his future to be found in the
Gospels, even though three of the Gospels record this
event in exact detail.

Simon of Cyrene's crossing of the stage of history in
this way reminds us of all those others whose fate is
sealed through no choice or conscious decision of their
own.  Their life journeys from one experience to another
are suddenly interrupted by some circumstance which
compels their immediate involvement and changes the
course of their lives, perhaps even their ultimate
fate.  Black women and men, especially, have identified
with Simon in bearing their own unchosen burdens and
oppression.  Indeed, Simon continues to live in all
those who bear indignities and trials through no choice
or fault of their own.

Simon of Cyrene and all his brothers and sisters, his
heirs of every generation, of ever race, of every nation,
of every sexual orientation, want to understand the 'why'
of the burdens of their lives.  Perhaps some intimate
word or gesture or glance between Jesus and Simon, his
cross-bearer, unknown and unrecorded for history, may
have redeemed this passer-by's burden and endowed it
with meaning.  If not, he too waits with the many.

Amen.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of July 14, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  These meditations start with a Gospel reading
and a meditation based on it written this week by Harold
Joseph Burris and Joseph W. Houle.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Mark 1:1-13

Like a great landscape painter, Mark with broad strokes
introduces us to the good news of Jesus Christ.  Setting
the scene squarely in Judaic prophetic history, he first
brings John into focus, highlighting his ministry of
calling attention to the coming Messiah.  Then in a few
compact sentences he tells of the baptism of Jesus, the
descent of the Spirit on Jesus, and the temptation in the
wilderness.  Mark expects his readers to recognize, in
this brief account of the earliest events of Jesus'
public life, that Jesus is the fulfillment of the
prophecies of the Jewish Scriptures.

The Gospel's challenge to us as it announces the coming
of Christ into our world is equally brief and succinct:
'Prepare the way of the Lord.'  There is no room here
for lengthy discourse or second thoughts.  When Christ
appears on the horizon, some response is required of us.
The politician in us will try to evade the issue to no
avail.  The religious authority in us will resist the
changing of the status quo.  The child in us will seek
to draw near to Christ.  The leper in us will cry out
for Christ's mercy.  The intellectual in us will meet
Christ by night to ask for instruction.  No part of
us will escape Christ's powerful presence.

How then shall I prepare to encounter Christ appearing
on the horizon of my life today?  I will go out into
the wilderness for a time, to the edge of my life, away
from the frenzy of my daily routine, and there I will
listen for the voice announcing Christ's arrival.  I
will confess my sins and immerse myself in the waters
of God's mercy, which cleanse and purify my soul.  I
will simplify the paths of my inner life so that Christ
may enter easily and find the way to my heart open and
clear.  In this way there shall be a new 'beginning of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ' in my life today.

Amen.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of July 21, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  These meditations start with a Gospel reading
and a meditation based on it written this week by Harold
Joseph Burris and Joseph W. Houle.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Mark 3:7-19

Jesus' power to preach and heal brought huge crowds to
him.  His own human limitations in coping with such
large crowds led him to make the most significant
selection in history.  The twelve whom he called to
himself, and whom he sent out to preach, heal, and
cast out demons, found their lives irrevocably changed.
Thrust to the center of this impromptu stage of Jewish
and world history, the twelve were never again to be
private citizens or idle bystanders.  With Christ,
through Christ; and in Christ, in preaching, teaching,
healing; in betrayal, denial, and even in death, they
were never to escape having been selected by Jesus.
They were his, and he was theirs.  And even after the
death and Resurrection of Jesus, they devoted themselves
to a ministry of witness that consumed them to the end
of their lives.

They were, nonetheless, very ordinary people with very
ordinary ways of sinning: jealousy, doubt, denial,
betrayal, and all manner of selfish pursuits.  Yet it
was to this band of twelve very ordinary persons that
Christ entrusted the good news of the reign of God.

As Christians, we today are challenged with the same
trust that Christ placed in the first unlikely group
of disciples.  Still called, sent, and commissioned
by Christ through the church and God's particular call
on our lives, we struggle to love, minister to, and care
for the people of our world.  Still oppressed with
disease, hunger, poverty, with demons and unbelief,
the crowds come in search of healing and hope.

The challenging question to us from today's Gospel is
this: As Christians called by Christ to preach, teach,
heal, and cast out demons, what do we offer the crowds
when they come?

Jesus, you have called me to serve you in the people I
encounter today.  Strengthen and empower me to fulfill
the ministry with which you entrust me.

Amen.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of July 28, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  These meditations start with a Gospel reading
and a meditation based on it written this week by Harold
Joseph Burris and Joseph W. Houle.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Mark 5:21-43

Today's Gospel invites us to reflect on two healing events.
Jairus, a ruler in a synagogue, has come to tell Jesus that
his daughter is near death.  He makes an anguished plea for
Jesus to come to his home and heal his beloved child.

En route to Jairus' house, they encounter a humble woman
who is sick and hemorrhaging.  Her greatest hope is to touch
even his garments.  Indeed, while pressing through the
crowd, she is able to reach Jesus and touch his robe.
Jesus insists on knowing who has touched him: he is
determined to reassure the woman that her faith has been
well placed.  That day she is not only physically healed,
but she receives the inner peace that only Christ can
impart.

But what about Jairus?  He had pleaded with Jesus to come
and help his daughter.  And Jesus had indicated that he
would come; but on the way, he had begun to take care of
someone else!  Jairus' frustration must have turned to
despair as messengers brought to him the news that his
daughter had died.

Have you ever had a similar experience?  A time when it
seemed that Jesus had forgotten about you, when even
though others were receiving Christ's gifts of healing
and peace, your own life was falling apart?  What are
we to do in such circumstances?

The response of Jesus to Jairus and to us is very simple:
'Do not fear, only believe.'  And sometimes Jesus asks
us to believe even the impossible.  After all, from a
rational point of view, who would have expected Jesus to
raise Jairus' daughter from the dead?  Certainly nothing
in the Gospel text indicates that Jairus had asked for
such a miracle.  And yet he did trust Jesus enough to
turn complete control of the situation over to him.

In the end Jairus was not disappointed when he put his
trust in Jesus.  Nor will we be disappointed when we
put our faith in Jesus.  If Christ does delay to answer
our prayer, it may well be only to do a greater work
than we had thought to ask.  When bad things happen in
our lives, that is the time more than ever to heed the
words, 'Do not fear, only believe,' and to turn the
situation over to Christ; and then, of course, to expect
a miracle.

Amen.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

*************************
CHI RHO CONNECTION

The Chi Rho Press eNewsletter
Vol. III, No. 12
29 July 2002

*************************
Contents:

1.    Taking a Hiatus
2.    Web Site Changes Continue
3.    Featured Book:  Come Home!
4.    The Gold Buddha
5.    Adam's Last Word

--------------------------------------------------

'The most important thing is that gay people not allow
organized religion to steal their spirituality from
them....  I say up front, homosexuality is a gift from
God.  And I believe that with all my heart.'
Reverend Troy Perry, founder of the Metropolitan
Community Church, in an interview by The Advocate in 1985

Welcome once again to the Chi Rho Connection, the
electronic newsletter of Chi Rho Press.  Thank you for
passing this Chi Rho Connection on to others.

To join our list, send an e-mail message to
mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

To unsubscribe send an e-mail to
mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Please visit our Web site at http://www.chirhopress.com
to see our entire lines of books, handouts, videos,
tchochkas, and stained glass.

Direct all other e-mail to Adam@....  See
the end of this eNewsletter for a complete list of
e-mail addresses at ChiRhoPress.com.

--------------------------------------------------

1.   Taking a Hiatus

The Chi Rho Connection will be taking a summer hiatus
to re-evaluate the contents and direction of this
electronic newsletter. We have had some wonderful,
critical input from some readers and the board and
staff have decided to take a break for the rest of
the summer and come back with a new philosophy and
content.

We would welcome your suggestions and advise!  What
works for you in the Connection?  What doesn't work
for you?  What would you like to see more of?  Or less
of?  Please let us know.

We hope to resume publication of the Chi Rho Connection
in a couple of months.  The weekly Chi Rho Reflection,
the Gospel reading and meditation based on it from
'The Road to Emmaus,' will continue at the beginning of
each week.  As events warrant it, we may be sending you
special news of upcoming events or publications.

--------------------------------------------------

2.    Web Site Changes Continue

Our excellent new Web minister continues to add changes
to our Web page and this effort will continue through
July and August.   Some book reviews have been added
recently.  Soon to go up are tables of contents,
publisher's notes, introductions, and forewords of
selected books.  We invite you to visit us at
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com from time to time to check
us out!

--------------------------------------------------

3.    Featured Book:  Come Home!

'Come Home! Reclaiming Spirituality and Community as
Gay Men and Lesbians,' second edition, by Chris Glaser.
first published in 1990 by HarperCollins, the second
edition was published in 1998 by Chi Rho Press with the
addition of five new chapters to the original 20.

'Come Home!' is perhaps Chris Glaser's best book.  It is
divided into five sections, each with five chapters.
The five sections are entitled, 'Welcoming God's
Acceptance,' 'Receiving Our Inheritance,' 'Discerning Our
Call,' 'Making Our Witness,' and 'Declaring Our Vision.'

Bishop John Shelby Spong called 'Come Home!' 'powerful,
sensitive, and provocative. . . . Glaser stands inside
his own humanity as a gay male and hears the word of God
through the Bible.  Christians, gay and straight, need
this book if we are to be the body of Christ.'

This is a brilliant and important book by perhaps the
best-known Gay Christian writer in the U.S. today.

The Rev. Carter Heyward called 'Come Home!' 'an
enthusiastic compelling testimony to the power of faith
in the lives of many gay and lesbian Christians.'

Virginia Ramey Mollenkott said, 'If courage, honesty,
and insight are beautiful, then this is one beautiful
book. . . . I rejoice that in this book all the gay
men and lesbian women who have been robbed of their
spirituality are issued an urgent invitation: Come home!'

'Come Home!' by Chris Glaser offers a vision of faith,
hope, and affirmation inviting gay men and lesbians to
come home to their spirituality through Christian faith
and community.  Order your copy today!

'Come Home!' is available for $19.95 each, $14.95 each
for six or more copies, plus shipping and handling.

--------------------------------------------------

4.    The Gold Buddha

Dennis Blyth, moderator of the list-serve
GayChristian@yahoogroups.com sent this inspiring story
to his list.  We reprint here with Dennis' kind
permission.

In 1957, a monastery in Thailand was being relocated
and a group of monks was put in charge of moving a
giant clay Buddha.  In the midst of the move one of
the monks noticed a crack in the Buddha.  Concerned
about damaging the idol, the monks decided to wait
for a day before continuing with their task.

When night came, one of the monks came to check on
the giant statue.  He shined his flashlight over the
entire Buddha.  When he reached the crack he saw
something reflected back at him.  The monk, his
curiosity aroused, got a hammer and a chisel and
began chipping away at the clay Buddha.  As he knocked
off piece after piece of clay, the Buddha got brighter
and brighter.  After hours of work, the monk looked up
in amazement to see standing before him a huge
solid-gold Buddha.

Many historians believe the Buddha had been covered
with clay by Thai monks several hundred years earlier
before an attack by the Burmese army.  They covered
the Buddha to keep it from being stolen.  In the attack
all the monks were killed, so it wasn't until 1957,
when the monks were moving the giant statue, that the
great treasure was discovered.

Like the Buddha, our outer shell protects us from the
word: our real treasure is hidden within.  We human
beings unconsciously hide our inner gold under a layer
of clay.  All we need to do to uncover our gold is to
have the courage to chip away at our outer shell, piece
by piece.  Could you be sitting on your own gold mine?

--------------------------------------------------

5.    Adam's Last Word

Summer is rushing on, with hot and humid temperatures
in the Washington DC area.  But it is a time of some
relaxation, reflection, and renewal.  I hope you all
are getting plenty of everything you need  including
a few good books to read!

As you have seen in our first article, we are taking
a break with the Chi Rho Connection for a month or so,
working on rethinking what we are doing with our
electronic newsletter and what is most important to
you, our readers.  We would value your input.  In fact
this break is the result of some very valuable
suggestions by one of our readers.

We would like to hear from more of you as well.  What
would you like to see in the Chi Rho Connection?  What
do you not want to see?  What is working?  What is not
working?  Please let us know, write us at
Connection@....

The weekly Chi Rho Reflections will continue to go out
at the beginning of each week during this hiatus.

Have a great summer!

--------------------------------------------------

We are glad you are partners in ministry with us here at
Chi Rho Press.  We are eager for your comments, your
suggestions, your assistance with selling our books,
and your own purchases!  And of course, we covet your
prayers for this ministry.

If you've received the Chi Rho Connection as a result of the
good offices of someone passing it along to you (which
we certainly encourage) and would like to receive it
directly from us, please follow the directions at the
end of this Connection to subscribe.

To order, please visit http://www.ChiRhoPress.com.  You
may pay by credit card on our web page or we will ship
your order after receiving your check or money
order.  Include your e-mail address, mailing address,
and telephone number please.

If you have questions, please write to
Question@....

For comments and suggestions
about this electronic newsletter, please write
Connection@....

To learn about our Guardian
Angel Individual Sponsor Program, please write
Angels@....

For all other correspondence,
please write Adam@....

Our snail mail address is:

Chi Rho Press, Inc.
P.O. Box 7864
Gaithersburg, MD 20898

Our telephone and fax number is 301/926-1208.

Customers outside the U.S. and especially our Canadian
friends can order using credit cards on our Web page or
through our Canadian distributor, MAP Enterprises, Mary
Ann Pearson, at her new Web page,
http://www.christiangays.com.

Copyright 2002, Chi Rho Press, Inc.

******************************************

SUBSCRIBE: ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
UNSUBSCRIBE: ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

R. Adam DeBaugh, Director, Adam@... .

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of August 4, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  These meditations start with a Gospel reading
and a meditation based on it written this week by Philip
E. Carolan.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Mark 7:24-37

The story of the Canaanite woman graphically illustrates
that the good news is for all and that no one is outside
of God's grace.  The story is also a portrayal of the
recognition and healing by Jesus of very human
constraints within himself.  It shows that he did not
find his identity in himself alone, but also in and
through others.  The Canaanite woman was the instrument
through which Jesus recognized and confronted his own
cultural bias and prejudice against a people whom he
as a Jew felt were less worthy in the sight of God.
In challenging Jesus, she was the means through which
he recognized and threw off the cultural bonds of
hatred, pride, and prejudice.  Through her own faith
and presence, she liberated him and thereby empowered
him to broaden the scope of the good news.

Prejudices, mind-sets, pride: these also keep me from
loving completely and from fulfilling my God-given
powers.  Who are the ones whom I feel are expendable,
whom I look down upon, whom I think are my inferiors,
whom I dislike, whose needs I don't want to bother
with, who have hurt me and whom I have not forgiven?
The ones whom I disdain the most are often Christ in
Christ's most distressing disguise.  Yet these very
souls may well be the means of our own empowerment
and liberating self-discovery: the discovery of
ourselves in God, of God in ourselves, and of all
other persons in God with ourselves.  And this
self-discovery then becomes the discovery not only
of ourselves, but also of Christ, the center of all
creation.

O Lord, send the Canaanite of my prejudices to
confront me.  Open my mind and heart to discover
you in all whom I encounter.  Teach me to love
fully.

Amen.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of August 11, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  These meditations start with a Gospel reading
and a meditation based on it written this week by Vanessa
Moore.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Mark 15:40-47

'There were also women looking on from afar . . .
who . . . followed Jesus, and ministered to Jesus.'

It is painful to watch someone die.  Sometimes it seems
harder than the dying itself.  The women who followed
Jesus from Galilee and Jerusalem watched Jesus'
agonizing death.  At times during the crucifixion,
it must have seemed impossible to watch any more.
Something inside must have said, 'Enough!  I can't
stand it!  I can't watch any more!'  Yet they stayed.
They watched.  And when it was over, they took care to
notice where Jesus' body had been laid.  After the
Sabbath they would return and perform one last gift
of love, the anointing of the body for burial.

When faced with dying all around us, we too are afraid.
We try to avoid suffering and death; we want to look
away.  We don't know what to do or say.  It's hard to
watch someone struggling with pain.  We want to be able
to watch someone struggling with pain.  We want to be
able to make it stop.  Something in us, too, says, 'I
can't stand it.  I can't watch any more!'  Deathbeds
make us uncomfortable; they remind us of our
powerlessness.

It helps to know that God is present even in pain and
death.  We can be servants of Christ to the dying,
like the women who watched and served Jesus.  When
some of the brutal realities of dying overwhelm us,
even while we say, 'Enough, no more,' we remember
that suffering, death, and burial are not the end,
but the gateway to a promised resurrection.  While
we mourn the loss of those we love, we can still
hold fast to the comfort of Christ, pick up, and go on.

Amen.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of August 18, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  These meditations start with a Gospel reading
and a meditation based on it written this week by Louis
F. Kavar.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Mark 10:46-52

As Jesus arrives in Jericho, he hears the call of the
beggar Bartimaeus: 'Have mercy on me!'  The call of
Bartimaeus is often a difficult one for us to hear.
Perhaps our difficulty lies in not quite understanding
the Biblical sense of mercy.  For us, mercy is most
often associated with forgiveness, but for the ancients,
mercy was synonymous with compassion, whose literal
meaning is 'to suffer with.'  The cry of Bartimaeus is
therefore a plea to Jesus to suffer with him, to feel
his pain.

The townspeople, resisting the experiencing of another's
pain, attempt to silence Bartimaeus.  Jesus, however,
calls Bartimaeus, inviting him into his life and asking
him what he wants.  Bartimaeus answers: 'Let me receive
my sight.'  The response of Jesus is simple: 'Your faith
has made you well.'  This statement which accompanies
the restoration of Bartimaeus' sight is full of insight
for us.

First of all, faith gives birth to insight.  It is faith
that enables us to perceive the graciousness of God
despite apparent evidence to the contrary in our lives.
In the midst of the limitations on our lives, faith
challenges us to see the presence of God providing for
us in our deepest need.

Secondly, Jesus affirms that Bartimaeus has the resources
for his own healing, resources that enable Bartimaeus to
transform his blindness into vision, his weakness into
strength.  It is not that Jesus heals Bartimaeus, but
that Bartimaeus' faith in Jesus gives him new sight.

Let us take, then, the example of Bartimaeus, allowing
Jesus to be present in our pain so that we, too, may be
empowered for our own healing, finding God's loving
care around us in places where we least expect it.

Amen.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 for one copy to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of August 25, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  These meditations start with a Gospel reading
and a meditation based on it written this week by Sara
Case.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Mark 12:35-44

Today we find Jesus teaching in the Temple courts.  We
know he is speaking to a large crowd, but we are not
told who the people are.  Imagine yourself there in
the crowd, listening to the teacher.  You are among
first century Jews, taught from your earliest days to
expect a Messiah of Davidic descent, and Jesus raises
a question about your belief!  He also challenges the
authority of those who taught you.

In questioning this teaching, Jesus does not say whether
it is right or wrong.  He leaves no doubt, however that
the belief of the most important people in church or
society does not necessarily make that belief true.
Jesus simply examines the teaching in question in the
light of Scripture and opens it to the power of God for
resolution.

In seeking spiritual truth, we must learn to open our
questions, open our very selves, to the light of God's
power, and then wait for the answer, however long the
wait may be.  In this case, the answer to Jesus'
question did not come until after his death and
Resurrection when his own Davidic descent was claimed
and reconciled with Scripture.  (See, for example,
Matthew 1:1-17, Luke 3:23-38, Romans 1:3, and 2 Timothy
2:8.)

Has one of your beliefs come under question recently?
If so, recall the circumstances and how you felt on that
occasion.  Offer your questions to God now, along with
all the feelings your uncertainty stimulates.  As you
wait for God's answer, let God bring life to your
questions.

Amen.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 for one copy to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of September 1, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  These meditations start with a Gospel reading
and a meditation based on it written this week by Vanessa
Moore.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Mark 14:27-42

'You will fall away; for it is written, 'I will strike
the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'  But
after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.'

Jesus' love for the disciples never faltered.  Even
while prophesying that the disciples would desert and
deny him, Jesus promised to return to them.  Jesus
kept the promise, returning and bringing the Holy
Spirit to be a comfort and a counselor.

As Christ loved the disciples, so Christ loves us, and
that love is alive today.  We can say with assurance,
'Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come
again.'  Christ keeps promises to us, too.

In the hustle and bustle of each day, it is easy to
become flustered and unfocused.  We can become unfocused
by big things: a close friend's illness, conflicts with
one's spouse, turmoil within ourselves.  We can be
flustered by small things: a forgotten grocery list,
a chore left undone, a work project thrust on us
suddenly.

On another level, we can be shaken when we read and
hear each day of death, destruction, and violence,
evidence of a broken world that seems beyond hope.
Yet God, our source of light, is present in the midst
of all darkness.  Focusing on God's redeeming love
helps us to deal with the ups and downs of our lives.
Remembering that God keeps promises gives us something
to anchor ourselves to in a world gone topsy-turvy.

Draw strength from the depth of God's love for you.  In
a world that is often unfaithful, God is always faithful.
In a world that is always changing, God never changes.
God's love for each of us is everlasting.

Amen.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 for one copy to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of September 8, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  These meditations start with a Gospel reading
and a meditation based on it written this week by Vanessa
Moore.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read John 10:31-42

'. . . understand that God is in me, and I am in God.'

When Jesus said, 'I and God are one,' the crowd around
him became so angry that they picked up stones to stone
him.  Jews of Jesus' day were able to accept themselves
as God's chosen people, but to say that God is in you,
and you are in God?  Radical, impossible, blasphemous . . .
so they thought.

Without realizing it, some of us may echo the same
sentiments of that same crowd.  We say, 'God couldn't
possibly be in me because I am so flawed.'  We forget
that God created us and loves us.  Some of us can
believe that God is in us but we have trouble living
as if it were true.  We abuse ourselves in various
ways, through self-hatred, overwork, homophobia,
alcohol, compulsive sex, instead of treating ourselves
with the dignity we deserve as God's loved ones.

If we begin to comprehend that God is in us, then we
can begin the process of stopping self-destructive
behavior.  By discovering that God loves us, we can
begin to love ourselves.

Think today about the ways that God has shown love
for you.  Have your actions toward yourself reflected
that love?  Know today that God loves you, and that
you are in God, as God is in you.

Amen.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 for one copy to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of September 15, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  These meditations start with a Gospel reading
and a meditation based on it written this week by Vanessa
Moore.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Matthew 3:1-12

'Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees;
every tree therefore what does not bear good fruit is
cut down and thrown into the fire.'

John the Baptist must have made people uncomfortable.
He said and did things no one else would have dared;
he made the Pharisees squirm on many occasions; he
challenged people to change.

John the Baptist confronts us with the waste in our
own lives, too.  All of us have 'trees' in our lives
that do not produce good fruit.  Our trees take many
forms: harmful relationships, abusive behavior,
addiction to drugs, alcohol, sex, or work.  Our trees
can be lives overburdened with anger and self-hatred.
Our trees can be so choked with memories of the past
that they can not produce good fruit in the present.
Often these trees have been our means of survival for
years.  They have become so deeply rooted in our lives
that we do not see how we or anyone else could uproot
them.

Today's Gospel invites us to take the ax to the roots
of these old and unproductive trees in our lives.  It
can be scary and it is never easy, but it is the only
way to stimulate new growth.  Be patient with yourself
when it seems as though you will never clear your way
out of the underbrush.  After all, some of those trees
have been there for a long time.  The important thing
is to learn to respect yourself as a child of God, to
keep cutting, and to throw the dead wood into the fire
of God's consuming love.

Amen.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 for one copy to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

*************************
CHI RHO CONNECTION

The eNewsletter of Chi Rho Press,
Your LGBT Christian Publishing House
Vol. III, No. 13
20 September 2002

*************************
Contents:

1.    Ending our Hiatus: We're Baaack!
2.    Web Site Changes Continue
3.    Call for Submissions
4.    'The Journey is Our Home:' Sharing Our Faith
Journeys, by the Rev. Michael England
5.    Author Bio: Chris Glaser
6.    Link of the Month: GentleSpirit.org
7.    Featured Book: Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse
8.    Adam's Last Word

--------------------------------------------------
'Why is it when we talk to God we are said to be praying,
and when God talks to us we're said to be schizophrenic?'
Lily Tomlin

Welcome once again to the Chi Rho Connection, the
electronic newsletter of Chi Rho Press.  Thank you for
passing this Chi Rho Connection on to others.

To join our list, send an e-mail message to
mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

To unsubscribe send an e-mail to
mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Please visit our Web site at http://www.chirhopress.com
to see our entire lines of books, handouts, videos, tapes,
tchochkas, and stained glass.

Direct all other e-mail to Adam@....

--------------------------------------------------

1.   Ending our Hiatus: We're Baaack!

We have taken a couple of months off and now, your Chi
Rho Connection is back with some new ideas, renewed
emphasis on articles of interest to our readers, and
a renewed spirit and energy.

Some popular features will be continued, some less
popular articles have been dropped, and we will be
running some new features.  One of the new features
in each issue is called 'The Journey is Our Home:'
Sharing Our Faith Journeys.  In this column people
from all over the world will be telling their faith
stories.  Our first article in 'The Journey is Our
Home' is by the Rev. Michael England, pastor of MCC
of Greater Hayward, CA, and author of our hugely
popular book, 'The Bible and Homosexuality.'
http://www.chirhopress.com/products/gayandchristian.html#England

We will also be including biographies of authors,
friends, colleagues, and others as a regular feature.
Read about author Chris Glaser in today's issue.  Chris
has written many books and is probably the most popular
Gay Christian writer in the USA today.  Chi Rho Press
published the second edition of his book, 'Come Home:
Reclaiming Spirituality and Community as Gay Men and
Lesbians.'
http://www.chirhopress.com/products/gayandchristian.html#ComeHome

In addition, we will be offering a Link of the Month,
featuring links to wonderful Web sites, which we are
pleased to recommend to our readers.  This month's Link
is to Gentle Shepherd Christian Church in Atlanta,
Georgia.

FYI will be returning on an occasional basis, with
information about the work, the process, and the trials
of your LGBT Christian publishing house.  Coming soon,
we will be doing a series of FYIs on the book production
process.

We will continue our Book of the Month feature, just once
a month, highlighting quotes from reviews and information
about the book, to whet your interest.

News from Chi Rho Press will also be featured, like
today's brief article about continuing changes in our
Web page.  Of course we will let you know about new
books that are in the production stages and when they
are published!

And finally, Chi Rho Press Director Adam DeBaugh will
continue offering his Adam's Last Word in each issue,
with very personal reflections and reports, and
occasional insights into his life and work.

We hope you will appreciate the changes we are making
to the Chi Rho Connection and that you will recommend
the Connection to your friends and colleagues.

--------------------------------------------------

2.    Web Site Changes Continue

Our excellent Web minister continues to add changes
to our Web page.   Some book reviews and new links have
been added recently.  Soon to go up are authors' bios,
tables of contents, publisher's notes, introductions,
and forewords of selected books.  We invite you to visit
us at http://www.ChiRhoPress.com from time to time to
check us out!

--------------------------------------------------

3.    Call for Submissions

With changes in the look of the Chi Rho Connection, Chi
Rho Press is pleased to issue a Call for Submissions for
articles to appear in future issues of our electronic
newsletter.  We are especially looking for the following
kinds of articles:

a.  Faith Stories for the column, 'The Journey is Our
Home:' Sharing Our Faith Journeys. If you would like to
contribute the story of your faith journey for inclusion
in 'The Journey is Our Home,' please try to limit your
story to 500 words.

b.  Reviews of Books.  Whether published by Chi Rho
Press or any other publisher, we are looking for book
reviews.  What have you read recently that has inspired
you?  What do you think other LGBT Christians would
benefit by reading?  Please don't forget to include
the full title, author, publisher, ISBN number, date
of publication, and price of the book.  Word limit,
400 words.

c.  Inspirational stories are always welcome, but not
the stuff that is already making its way around and
around and around the Internet.  How about coming up
with your own original inspirational story?

d.  Link of the Month.  What are the Internet Web pages
that are most helpful and interesting to you?  Submit
the complete link and your brief description of what
it is and why you are recommending it.

e.  Finally, your letters, suggestions, comments,
criticisms, and contributions are always welcome.

Please send your submissions to Connection@....

--------------------------------------------------

4.    'The Journey is Our Home:' Sharing Our Faith
Journeys, by the Rev. Michael England

As one of the new features of the Chi Rho Connection,
we are starting a series in which people tell the story
of their faith journeys.  The title of this column,
'The Journey is Our Home,' comes from a wonderful
contemporary hymn by Ruth Duck, called 'Lead on,
O Cloud of Yahweh.'  The whole second verse reads,

Lead on, O fiery pillar,
We follow yet with fears,
But we shall come rejoicing
Though joy be born of tears.
We are not lost, though wandering,
For by your light we come,
And we are still God's people,
The journey is our home.

We will be publishing a new faith story in each issue
of the Chi Rho Connection.  Our writers will be well
known and not famous at all, clergy and lay people,
LGBT people and non-gay people, people from all walks
of life, and even Christians and non-Christians.  We
have already begun collecting these faith stories for
'The Journey is Our Home' and hope you are blessed by
the spiritual insights found here.

To begin 'The Journey is Our Home' series, we have
called upon one of the authors whose work has been
featured the longest in the Chi Rho Press inventory,
the Rev. Michael England.  Michael is pastor of
Metropolitan Community Church of Greater Hayward, CA
in the San Francisco Bay Area.  He is author of 'The
Bible and Homosexuality,' which has been a standard
primer for 25 years and is now in its fifth edition
at Chi Rho Press.  Here is Michael's story of faith:

+   +   +

I was raised a Southern Baptist when that denomination
still celebrated integrity of individual free conscience
and passionate exploration of faith.  The little Baptist
Student Union community at UCLA opened me to exciting
horizons of what faith can be and become.  God worked,
particularly through my parents and my UCLA BSU pastor
and friends, to move me toward spiritual enrichment and
anticipation.  Through a remarkable series of events
the summer after my university graduation, God presented
me irresistibly with a call to clergy ministry.  Within
the space of a week I abandoned plans and moved to the
San Francisco Bay Area to Golden Gate Baptist Theological
Seminary.

My seminary years were rich and challenging, producing
real growth in me beyond the good education I was
receiving.  Still, I grew increasingly depressed in my
closet.  I had internalized the implicit and general
condemnation of homosexuality (though few spoke of it
openly in the early '70s).  I used to sit on a high
bank behind the classroom building gazing across the
Bay at the beautiful lights of San Francisco and
railing at God to heal me from the inexplicable 'curse'
with which I felt afflicted.  I worked with a therapist
to try to 'change' and participated in a number of
excellent encounter groups.  Those efforts led to
tremendous growth, but my homosexuality was not altered
in the slightest, of course.

One day in 1972, while I was away from home and left
to my own devices without transportation much of the
day, I seemed to have no alternative but to take a hard
look at myself.  (God does things that way sometimes.)
I began, in my left-brain way, to make lists of options
and to consider my future.  Finally, it seemed I had
three choices: to continue hopelessly on my course of
therapy and search which was producing no change in my
attraction to men, to commit suicide, or to explore
what it would be like to accept and learn to like who
I was.  That last option was foreign to anything I
could have imagined, so foreign I was at a loss to
understand its origin.  That is how lost I was in my
conditioned self-hatred, so lost that I, like the boy
Samuel, didn't recognize God's voice calling.

Still, with only one viable option I found myself
saying, 'God, I know this is nuts, but what would you
think if I tried . . . well . . . accepting myself as
I am?'  And, I remember this as if God had spoken
audibly, God replied, 'Well, it's about time!  Now
you're ready to listen!'

It was as though the clouds had broken and the sun
shone on me for the first time.  I returned home and
began exploring ever so tentatively in literature and
by visiting an early gay center in San Francisco.
There I saw posted on the events board the Sunday
services of MCC of San Francisco, through whose
loving community God led me to my ministry in the
UFMCC clergy.

+   +   +

'The Bible and Homosexuality' by the Rev. Michael
England is available from Chi Rho Press for $10.95
each, plus shipping and handling.  You can order it
on our Web site at
http://www.chirhopress.com/products/gayandchristian.html#England.

--------------------------------------------------

5.    Author Bio: Chris Glaser

Chris Glaser is the author of nine books, including
'Uncommon Calling' (1988), 'Come Home!' (1990, and the
expanded second edition published in 1998 by Chi Rho
Press), and 'Coming Out as Sacrament' (1998), and a
series of devotional books, 'Coming Out to God' (1991),
'The Word Is Out' (1994), 'Communion of Life: Meditations
for the New Millennium' (1999), and 'Reformation of the
Heart' (2001).  Collaborating with his golden Labrador
retriever, Calvin, he 'translated from the canine'
'Unleashed: The Wit and Wisdom of Calvin the Dog' 1998).
His newest book, 'Henri's Mantle: 100 Meditations on
Nouwen's Life and Writings' (September, 2002) reflects
on the words and friendship of his spiritual mentor,
prolific religious author Henri J. M. Nouwen.

He has also contributed to more than a dozen other
books, most recently, 'Befriending Life: Encounters
with Henri Nouwen' (2001) and 'Body and Soul: Womanist,
Feminist, Queer Theologians Rethink Sexuality,
Spirituality, and Social Justice' (2002).  His writings
have appeared in many publications, including Newsweek,
The Los Angeles Times, The Atlanta Journal Constitution,
The Advocate, Frontiers, Christianity and Crisis (for
which he was a columnist), The Christian Century, and
a range of church periodicals, including Church and
Society and Presbyterians Today.

Glaser has been editor of Open Hands since 1998, a U.S./
Canadian ecumenical quarterly magazine for congregations
in seven denominations that are welcoming of lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender persons.  Previously, he
was news reporter and then news editor of Frontiers, a
gay newsmagazine in Los Angeles that is also distributed
nationally.

Traveling widely as a speaker and retreat leader, he has
spoken on hundreds of college and seminary campuses,
churches, retreat centers, and meeting halls to a wide
variety of religious and secular groups, straight and
LGBT and blended.  He has addressed PFLAG groups and
city councils, and has appeared often on television and
radio, in magazines and newspapers.  His subject matter
has included the church/the Bible and homosexuality, the
spiritual gifts of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
transgender community, same-gender marriage, and more
generally, the spiritual life, men's spirituality, the
Bible, Henri Nouwen (with whom he studied), and more.

Glaser received his Masters of Divinity from Yale
University Divinity School in 1977 and earlier, his
B.A. in English Honors and Religious Studies from
California State University, Northridge, in 1973.
While in college he served as Director of Youth
Ministry of the Congregational Church of Northridge
(UCC) and was ordained an elder of his home
congregation, First Presbyterian Church of Van Nuys.

In 1974 Glaser founded what became the Gay/Lesbian/
Straight Coalition at Yale Divinity School, and, in
1976, he founded the Gay/Lesbian Peer Counseling
Service at the University of Pennsylvania in
Philadelphia while a campus ministry intern for the
Christian Association (1975-1976).  From 1977 to 1987,
he served as founding Director of the Lazarus Project,
a ministry of reconciliation between the church and the
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in Los
Angeles, funded by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
nationally and regionally.  Shortly thereafter he served
a year as an interim campus chaplain at the United
Campus Ministry of the University of Southern California.

Glaser was the openly gay member of the Presbyterian
Task Force to Study Homosexuality, which met from 1976-
1978.  When the denomination rejected the favorable
recommendations of that committee and established a
policy forbidding the ordination of gays and lesbians
in 1978, he was refused ordination while remaining
employed by the church as Lazarus Director.

He ghostwrote and edited much of the denomination's
1985 book, Breaking the Silence, Overcoming the Fear -
Resources in Homophobia Education.  He served as the
second national coordinator and treasurer of
Presbyterians for Lesbian & Gay Concerns, overseeing
its acquiring not-for-profit status with the IRS and
writing the first annual report accepted by a
Presbyterian General Assembly in 1979.  As editor of
its newsletter for three years, he gave the publication
its name, More Light, now known as the More Light
Update, from which More Light churches that are
welcoming of LGBT people get their name.  He continued
to serve the More Light Update as columnist and guest
editor and writer of semi-annual prayer books and
collections of resource materials.  He has also
written two youth curricula for a consortium of
churches, including the PC (USA), on worship and on
racism, and edited two others on evangelism and 1 and
2 Samuel.

Chris has served in a variety of parish, campus, and
youth ministries and as a member of countless church
committees.  For two years he chaired the Spiritual
Advisory Committee of AIDS Project Los Angeles.
Presently he serves on the board of the newly formed
Southern Association for Gender Education, Inc., as an
ally of transgender people.

A native Californian, Chris now makes his home in Atlanta
with two golden retriever/Labrador mixes, Calvin, the
author, and Mrs. Hobbes, an 'adopted' stray.  He is a
member of Ormewood Park Presbyterian Church, a More
Light congregation in his neighborhood.  Recent awards
include the 1998 Inclusive Church Award from More Light
Presbyterians.  In honor of Hotlanta 2001 he was named
one of 100 'hot' persons, places, and things in Atlanta
(one of five 'hot' writers), as chosen by readers and
the editorial staff of Southern Voice, the gay and
lesbian newspaper of the South.

You may e-mail Chris at ChrsGlaser@..., and visit
his Web page at www.ChrisGlaser.com.  You may order
his book, 'Come Home' directly from Chi Rho Press at
http://www.chirhopress.com/products/gayandchristian.html#ComeHome.

--------------------------------------------------

6.    Link of the Month: GentleSpirit.org

The Rev. Paul M. Turner and his staff at Gentle Spirit
Christian Church in Atlanta, GA have put together a
wonderful Web site, which we strongly recommend to our
readers.  Check out http://www.gentlespirit.org and see
what's going on in this vibrant, growing church with a
special ministry to the LGBT community.

--------------------------------------------------

7.    Featured Book: Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse

Here are some excerpts from reviews of 'Steps to Recovery
from Bible Abuse' by Dr. Rembert S. Truluck.

From Sappho's Psalm, a column, by Toni J. P. Pizanie,
published in Ambush, (New Orleans, LA) Vol. 19, Issue
12, June 8-21, 2001:

'Dr. Rembert Truluck has written one of the most
stimulating accounts of . . . abuse set upon us by
'right wing' Christians.  His book is an uplifting
educational experience that all Christian believers
should study and enjoy.' Truluck 'used his superior
intelligence to study the Bible more closely and to
dispel the ignorance of sick religion. . . . His is
the Christian success story that we can all share. . . .
His words can calm our fears and renew our faith. I
personally found this book so inspirational that I
asked my mother to read it as well. . . . The book
is a comfortable read and the 52 lessons presents an
opportunity to feed our souls and clear our minds.
It gives us firm ground on which to rebuild
relationships harmed by sick religious teachings.'

From the Stonewall Society Web site, Equal Pride,
Vol. II, Issue 6, by Codi.
http://www.stonewallsociety.com/EqualPride/currentissue.htm

'This book is a resource for anyone who has experienced
Bible Abuse.  It is also a resource for those wishing
to end such abuses; parents, teachers, ministers, and
just your everyday person. Formatted and referenced well
for quick resource, Steps to Recovery From Bible Abuse
also works quite well as front to back reading
material. . . . Dr. Truluck challenges, enlightens, and
even amuses while bringing a clearer understanding of
how we are abused.  His interpretations are based on
accurate translations and a good grasp of Biblical
timing, history, and social dynamics.  This is well
thought out work, not just another attempt to offer
our version of religious theories.  At the center of
this premise is that Jesus Christ came to heal sick
religions.  That certainly places a whole new view and
interpretation of many of Christ's teachings.  This
theory is backed up by on the mark examples.

'Steps to Recovery From Bible Abuse is strong material,
which I believe will be a foundation for religious
reform.  I must stress, this is not a painful read.
. . .[Y]ou will be changed by reading this material. . . .
[A]nyone who has suffered from Bible Abuse should take
the time to read this material.  The benefits are amazing.
However, I have found this to be an excellent resource
for those wishing to better understand the Christian
religion as well. . . .[T]he answers are all here.
The steps themselves take you through a healing and
understanding process in logical and beneficial order.
The lessons are rewarding for both individual study or
with a group.

'This will without a doubt be one of the most reached
for books in my library. . . . This book has the ability
to help many within and outside of our community.
Whether you seek answers for yourself, for another, or
just general understanding, this is a must reference.'

From Ronda Smith's Washington Blade article, August 11,
2000 (http://www.washingtonblade.com):

'The openly Gay minister [Truluck] only devotes one
chapter (31 pages) in the book to a discussion about
biblical scripture used to condemn homosexuality.  The
other 17 chapters generally focus on how to examine one's
faith, deal with anger, study the Gospels, and take time
to heal and recover.  A central goal of writing Steps
to Recovery, Truluck said, was to help Gay Christians
prosper.  'My aim was to help Gay people feel good about
themselves,' he said, 'and to stop hurting themselves
and others.'

From The Other Side (posted on their Web page,
http://theotherside.org/):

'This book combines biblical scholarship with personal
stories of pathos and power about gay, lesbian,
bisexual, and transgendered people who have been hurt
but ultimately healed by Christianity.  Taking a fresh
look at the Bible as 'the friend of lesbians and gays,'
Truluck provides the information needed to respond to
the wounding ignorance that damages the spirit.  A
strong advocate of small-group study, Truluck offers
questions for reflection and discussion throughout the
book, as well as additional resources.'

To read the complete reviews of Steps to Recovery
from Bible Abuse, go to
http://www.chirhopress.com/products/product_details/BookRevStepsToRecovery.
html.  To order, go to
http://www.chirhopress.com/products/gayandchristian.html#Truluck.
'Steps' is available for $24.95, plus shipping and handling.

--------------------------------------------------

8.    Adam's Last Word

We have taken almost two months off from publishing the
Chi Rho Connection, while we thought and prayed about
what to keep and what to add and what to throw away to
make our electronic newsletter more interesting and
useful to our readers.  We hope that we have succeeded
in making the Connection a more welcome addition to your
in-box twice a month.

*****

We have accepted the resignation of Kevin Stone Fries
as Editor of the Press, with regret and with thanks for
his long years of service to the Press.  Before he
left the Press Kevin finished his major edit of Dr.
Sandy Bochonok's book of daily meditations, 'Living
as the Beloved.'  And with that huge task accomplished,
Kevin has moved on to other ventures.  We wish Kevin
well in his new work and ministry and thank him for
his generous and extremely competent work with Chi Rho
Press over the past five years!

*****

I have been invited to preach at my home church, Holy
Redeemer MCC, College Park, MD (http://www.holy-redeemer-mcc.org)
this Sunday, Sept. 22 at 11 am, and at Open Door MCC,
Boyds, MD (http://www.opendoormcc.com) on Sunday, Oct.
6 at 10 am.  If you are in the area, come join us at
either or both of these services!

*****

I have also been finding a little time to work on my
stained glass.  I am working on the third of four
panels for Holy Redeemer MCC.  This is the Noah?s Ark
panel.  The church has outgrown its space and is looking
for new rental space.  Luckily, the building we are
negotiating for has lots of windows to hang stained
glass in!  <G>

*****

I have finished my edits of all but the November and
December meditations for 'Living as the Beloved.'  I
just received Sandy's rewrites and approval of Kevin's
edits for those last two months, so I will be working
on my final edits of them.  Then I need to enter the
easy edits and talk with Sandy about any questions my
review of the manuscript has raised.  Then I start
laying out the book!  We hope to be able to announce
a pre-publication sale before the end of the year and
to have the book out at the beginning of 2003.

*****

I received today the final manuscript for the 2002-2003
Liturgical Calendar!  We had to suspend publication of
our annual Liturgical Calendar this year due to
circumstances beyond anyone's control.  But the Rev.
Dr. David Kerr Park has prepared next year's Calendar
with a totally new look and lots of great new features.
We will be increasing the size of the Liturgical
Calendar to an 8-1/2? x 11 inch booklet and making it
spiral bound so it will lie flat when opened for easier
use.  Look for the announcement of its availability soon!

*****

Other book projects are in the works and there is always
lots to do around the Chi Rho Press offices, especially
with the departure of Editor/Office Manager Kevin Fries.
But I am doing by best to keep current!

*****

We can always use a bit more working capital, especially
with two new books nearing publication.  If you would
like to make a tax deductible contribution, please go to
http://www.chirhopress.com/sponsor.html.  Remember a
minimum contribution of $150 a year enables you to join
our Guardian Angel Individual Sponsors program.

Or you could purchase a Promissory Note, now returning
6% simple interest.  Write me at Adam@...
for more information about investing in Chi Rho Press
for a great rate of return!

*****

Summer seems to have flown by and autumn is in the air.
I hope your summer (for those of you in the Northern
Hemisphere) was a grand one and that the coming months
will be filled with wonder and delight for you.

We here at Chi Rho Press hope that the changes we are
making in the Chi Rho Connection are part of that
delight for you.  Please let us know what you think!

R. Adam DeBaugh, Director, Adam@....

******************************************

We are glad you are partners in ministry with us here at
Chi Rho Press.  We are eager for your comments, your
suggestions, your assistance with selling our books,
and your own purchases!  And of course, we covet your
prayers for this ministry.

If you've received the Chi Rho Connection as a result of
someone passing it along to you and would like to receive
it directly from us, please follow these directions:

To SUBSCRIBE send blank e-mail to:
ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To UNSUBSCRIBE send blank e-mail to:
ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Please visit http://www.ChiRhoPress.com.  You may
pay by credit card on our web page or we will ship
your order after receiving your check or money
order.  Please always include your e-mail address,
mailing address, and telephone number.

For all e-mail correspondence, please write
Adam@....

Our snail mail address is:

Chi Rho Press, Inc.
P.O. Box 7864
Gaithersburg, MD 20898

Our telephone and fax number is 301/926-1208.

Customers outside the U.S. and especially our Canadian
friends can order using credit cards on our Web page or
through our Canadian distributor, MAP Enterprises, Mary
Ann Pearson, at her Web page, http://www.christiangays.com.

Copyright 2002, Chi Rho Press, Inc.

******************************************

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of September 22, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  These meditations start with a Gospel reading
and a meditation based on it written this week by Leah
Maroney.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Matthew 5:11-16

'You are the salt of the earth . . .
You are the light of the world.'

Being the salt of the earth and the light of the world
does not always mean serving God in a dramatic, starring
role.  Sometimes we find our most meaningful service in
the most humble tasks, far from the attention of crowds,
and without anyone to applaud or acknowledge us.

Being the salt of the earth and the light of the world
may simply mean a gentle gesture, a caring glance, or a
kind word at the right moment.  It may mean saying a
quiet prayer that no one but God hears, but which
provides a little extra light for someone to see their
path.  God invites us to be a gift to others in hundreds
of minor, quiet ways.

There is a group of friends who gather three times a
week to prepare food and go into the community to feed
hundreds of homeless people out of an old van that is
parked in a poor section of the city.

There is a man who visits an AIDS patient every day and
occasionally takes him out for a haircut or a movie or
dinner in his home.

There is a woman who cooks dinner once a week for men
living in an AIDS hospice.  She shares their meal with
them and spends the evening visiting them.

God invites each of us to flavor our world and let our
light shine in similar ways.  That is why Jesus says
to us today, 'Let your light so shine before others,
that they may see your good works and give glory to
your God who is in heaven.'

Jesus, I am your salt and your light.  Give me
opportunities today to love, serve, and witness to
those with whom you bring me into contact.  I am
grateful to be able to serve you in even the smallest,
humblest task.

Amen.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 for one copy to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of September 29, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  These meditations start with a Gospel reading
and a meditation based on it written this week by Vanessa
Moore.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Matthew 6:7-15

'Your Heavenly Parent knows what you need before you
ask.'

God knew us before we were formed in our mother's womb.
It is therefore no surprise that God knows what we need
before we even form the words.

Once during a worship service in our church, a man
sitting near the choir began to sob during the opening
hymn.  A choir member reached out and placed her hand
on his shoulder.  She didn't say anything or stop
singing, she just placed her hand there.  She sensed
the man's need to be touched and loved; he didn't have
to say a word.  She didn't need to say anything, either;
her hand on his shoulder said, 'I care.'

When we pray, God senses our prayers without our saying
a word; all we have to do is open ourselves and allow
God to be present for us.  We can have simple and yet
complete communion with God, like lifelong lovers who
have become so attuned to each other that they
communicate without words.  Prayer is placing ourselves
in the presence of a loving Creator.  Like a visit with
a trusted friend, prayer also includes time to listen
as well as to speak.

Jesus teaches us a basic and well-known prayer in
today's Gospel.  It covers every human need.  It is
not an appeal to an indifferent deity.  It is a
comfortable chat between old friends.

Today, seek a gentle and loving conversation with your
God.  Ask that your prayers be answered in the sure
knowledge that they have already been heard.

Amen.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 for one copy to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

Dear friends,

We are very pleased to announce the publication today
of 'A Liturgical Calendar and Lectionary, Year B,
December 2002 through November 2003.'  I just sent the
information off to our Web minister, so it isn't on
the Web site yet, but information about how to order
is below.  We are very excited about the publication
of this new, improved, and expanded version of the
Liturgical Calendar we have published for many years.
I know it will be an important resource for your
ministry.

Here's more detailed information.

A Liturgical Calendar and Lectionary, Year B, December
2002 through November 2003, compiled by Dr. David Kerr
Park.  Spiral bound, 8 ½" x 11", 78 pages.  $9.95 each,
six or more copies for $7.95 each, plus shipping and
handling.

Chi Rho Press is pleased to announce a brand new
Liturgical Calendar for the coming church year.  Our
newly designed Liturgical Calendar is packed with
useful information for planning worship and preaching
in the local church for each Sunday and Holy Day of
the Church Year.  It is intended for use by pastors,
musicians, altar guilds, teachers, theological
students, and anyone using the Church Year as a
basis for worship or education.  The Liturgical
Calendar is spiral bound so it can lie flat for
easy use, in a new, larger 8 ½" x 11" format.

Because we are rushing this Liturgical Calendar
into print, it is not yet up on our Web site,
though it will be there soon!  To order, call
us at 301/926-1208 and leave a message with the
number of copies you want, your name, address,
and phone number, and a credit card number, the
card holder?s name as it appears on the card, the
type of card it is (Visa, MasterCard, or Discover),
and the expiration date.  Or send us e-mail with
this information.

You may also send your order with a check or money
order, made out to Chi Rho Press, to Chi Rho Press,
P.O. Box 7864, Gaithersburg, MD 20898.  (To figure
shipping and handling, for orders up to $9.99 add
$2.50; orders of $10 to $19.99 add $3.50; orders
of $20 to $39.99 add $4.50; orders of $40 to $59.99
add $5.50; orders of $60 to $79.99 add $6.50; orders
of $80 to $99.99 add $7.50; orders of $100 or more,
add 9% of the order.)

Featured in this new Liturgical Calendar are these
sections: Celebrations that may be featured on a given
Sunday, or alternate ways of naming a day in the
Liturgical Calendar.  Next are Visual Elements,
including the standard color for the day (based on
modern ecumenical consensus), alternative colors,
commonly used symbols, and other creative suggestions.

Then the Revised Common Lectionary readings, including
a brief summary of each reading.  The First Reading is
usually from the Hebrew Scriptures, but there are
exceptions, such as the use of readings from Acts
during the Easter season.  These are sometimes
selected thematically to fit the Liturgical Calendar,
but often are simply being read through key passages
over a series of weeks.  This is followed by a Psalm
or a Canticle.  The Second Reading is next, usually
from the Epistles, like the First Reading typically
a series of key passages from the same book being
read over a number of weeks.  Finally the Gospel
Reading follows the story of Jesus through the
Christmas and Easter cycles, plus the teachings of
Jesus the rest of the year.

On many Sundays there is a section of Alternative
Readings, some from the Revised Common Lectionary
and others are based on the suggestions of other
writers seeking to better balance the place of women
in the Lectionary or address other concerns.  All
the Alternative Readings are from the Bible.

Finally comes Liturgical Notes, which includes a
Calendar for the week, Suggestions for that day,
and an empty space for your own Planning notes.
The calendar includes a new Sanctoral Cycle (the
list of saint?s days), days from the secular
calendar, both official holidays and other days
that mark people?s lives, as well as days from
other faith traditions.

A word about the new Sanctoral Cycle: A major
element of the calendar for each week includes
remembering the lives and deaths of those who have
gone before us.  This is traditionally called the
Sanctoral Cycle (or list of saint?s days).  The list
used in this resource, however, was developed for
use in GLBT congregations to reflect the particular
needs we have for modern spiritual models.

This list is designed intentionally to be more
reflective of the faith and contributions of women
(Fanny Crosby, Julian of Norwich), lay persons
(Dorothy Day, Henry David Thoreau), ethnic minorities
(Sojourner Truth, Seattle), non-Europeans (Oscar
Romero), Protestants (Martin Luther, Søren
Kierkegaard), and especially modern examples we
can better relate to (Mother Teresa, Anne Frank).
This is an inclusive, contemporary Sanctoral Cycle
that can be used in practical ways in a gay and
lesbian context.  It is a work in progress, and
as such will continue to be updated in future
editions of the Liturgical Calendar published by
Chi Rho Press, and hopefully soon in book form.

A core of historical and Biblical names that are
still meaningful today have been retained (Mary the
Mother of Jesus, St. Francis of Assisi).  Then others
not usually represented have been added, such as
persons of other faith traditions through whom the
light of Truth has also shown (Rabbi Abraham Heschel,
Gandhi), or artists and musicians (Michaelangelo,
Bach).  In selecting contemporary examples Dr. Park
has emphasized persons who stood for inclusiveness,
justice, and spiritual diversity (Martin Luther King,
Clarence Jordan).  Many gay and lesbian ?saints? are
included as well (Dag Hammarskjold, St. Aelred, Sts.
Sergius and Bacchus) and martyrs (Matthew Shepherd,
Harvey Milk) because it is important for us to
reclaim our own heritage as spiritual leaders and
people of faith.

Order your copy of the 2003 Liturgical Calendar today!
$9.95 each, six or more copies for $7.95 each.

R. Adam DeBaugh
Chi Rho Press, Your LGBT Christian Publishing House
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Subscribe to Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic newsletter
mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Please visit the Chi Rho Press Website.
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Dear friends,

Just a quick note to follow up on yesterday's
announcement of the publication of our 2002-2003
Liturgical Calendar and Lectionary.  Our wonderful
Web minister worked overtime and got the Calendar
up on our Web site already!  So you can go directly
to the Web site and place your order.  Please go to
http://www.chirhopress.com/products/devotionals.html#Park.

Many thanks!

R. Adam DeBaugh
Chi Rho Press, Your LGBT Christian Publishing House
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Subscribe to Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Please visit the Chi Rho Press Website.
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of October 6, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  These meditations start with a Gospel reading
and a meditation based on it written this week by the Rev.
Andy T. Sidden.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Matthew 8:1-17

Sunlight dances on gentle waves.  Salty sea breezes
tangle my hair.  My mate's brown arm brushes against
mine.  I am alive.  I am excited.  I believe in
miracles.

God's magic still happens.  It happens so often that
our senses, miracles in themselves, aren't able to
keep up.  Try as we may we can't experience all the
wonder around us.  We grow numb to our precious world.

Walking on the beach at sunset, it's easy to believe
in miracles, easy to praise God for the glory of living.
The trouble is, most of our moments aren't spent in
such idyllic settings.  We rush through our daily lives
being jostled and pushed by others who are also in a
hurry.  We struggle with bothersome inconveniences,
striving to meet human deadlines.  And we do is all in
surroundings that bore us with their familiarity.

Not only do we long for miracles, but we want them to
be so dramatic that they can't be ignored.  We want
them to be quick, big, and complete.  Bang.  The
miracle has occurred.

But our Saviour fills our daily lives with quiet
miracles.  We flip a switch, we have light.  We put
on glasses, we see.  We dial a phone, and we hear a
friend.  The fact that the medical world took centuries
to defeat polio doesn't make the victory any less of a
miracle.

'A miracle does not come by lazily waiting for God to
do it all,' a Bible scholar says.  'It comes from
cooperation of faith-filled effort with the illimitable
grace of God.'*

Some miracles, though, require nothing more of us than
that we open our senses to what God is doing around us.
If the leper hadn't looked at his body, how would he
have known Jesus had cleansed him?

Amen.

* Altered from 'The Gospel of Matthew,' Volume I
(Revised Edition).  Translated with an introduction
and interpretation by William Barclay.  Copyright 1975
William Barclay.  Altered and used by permission of
Westminster/John Knox Press. (p. 300)

A special note:  This is the 34th anniversary of the
first Metropolitan Community Church service, October
6, 1968.  Congratulations to the MCCs in 22 countries
that have sprung from that miracle of faith and witness.
We also pray God's special blessings on MCC founder,
the Rev. Elder Troy D. Perry.  Thanks be to God for
Troy's willingness to do the unthinkable and start a
church that would welcome all of God's amazing
diversity of creation in a truly inclusive and
welcoming church.  Troy's life has been the embodiment
of the Apostle Paul's assertion that 'through Christ,
nothing is impossible!'  Happy 34th birthday, MCC!

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 for one copy to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of October 13, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  These meditations start with a Gospel reading
and a meditation based on it written this week by the Rev.
Andy T. Sidden.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Matthew 9:27-34

The tall thin man propped himself up, leaning his frail
frame against the back of a church pew, and made a
statement that initially sounded strange.

'I'm so happy . . .' Randy said, pausing to gasp for
air and to wipe tears from his darkly circled eyes.
Smiling weakly, he finished, '. . . to be here.'

The words were spoken with too much effort for them
to be doubted.  Randy was sincere about his happiness.
A few days earlier it had looked as if this gentle
twenty-six-year-old human being, this child of God,
this new Christian, wouldn't make it to church.  He
had been hospitalized, barely able to breathe,
suffering from AIDS-related pneumonia.

But Randy was determined.  Like the blind men in
today's passage, he struggled, crying out to God
and refusing to be denied a closer union with Christ.
This Sunday was special for Randy.  It was his Sunday
to be officially baptized into the family of God.  He
left his hospital bed to be in God's house with his
brothers and sisters in Christ.

Sometimes, it's too easy for us to think of reasons to
stay away from church.  After all, God is everywhere.
We needn't track Christ down to be healed.  We simply
have to call Christ's name.

Perhaps that's the problem.  Perhaps if Christ were a
little more difficult to find we would be less likely
to forget to look for our Saviour.  How often we
suffer simply because we fail to call on Christ.

Randy and the blind men knew the value of being close
to God.  Mostly surely, God was with Randy in his
hospital room.  But he wanted more.  He wanted to
feel the healing presence of Christ that comes from
being with other Christians.

And most surely, he did.  As he put it, 'I'm so
happy. . . .'

Amen.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 for one copy to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

*************************
CHI RHO CONNECTION

The eNewsletter of Chi Rho Press,
Your LGBT Christian Publishing House
Vol. III, No. 14
15 October 2002

*************************
Contents:

1.    'The Journey is Our Home:' Sharing Our Faith
Journeys, by Philippe Beaudette
2.    Call for Submissions
3.    2003 Liturgical Calendar Published!
4.    Living in Gratitude While Ducking for Cover,
by Adam DeBaugh
5.    Link of the Month: the Revised Standard Bible
6.    Adam's Last Word

--------------------------------------------------

'Being a publisher is like a ministry.  You take a vow
of poverty.  It will be thankless some days, but you
have to put your heart into it and take the ontological
leap.'  Sadi Ranson, director of the failed Brookline
Books/Lumen Editions, quoted in the article, 'The
Bookmaker's Odds,' by David Mehegan, Boston Globe,
9/23/02.

Welcome once again to the Chi Rho Connection, the
electronic newsletter of Chi Rho Press.  Thank you for
passing this Chi Rho Connection on to others.

To join our list, send an e-mail message to
mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

To unsubscribe send an e-mail to
mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Please visit our Web site at http://www.chirhopress.com
to see our entire lines of books, handouts, videos, tapes,
tchochkas, and stained glass.

Direct all other e-mail to Adam@....

--------------------------------------------------

1.    'The Journey is Our Home:' Sharing Our Faith
Journeys, by Philippe Beaudette

As one of the new features of the Chi Rho Connection,
we have started a series in which people tell the story
of their faith journeys.  The title of this column,
'The Journey is Our Home,' comes from a wonderful
contemporary hymn by Ruth Duck, called 'Lead on,
O Cloud of Yahweh.'  The whole second verse reads,

Lead on, O fiery pillar,
We follow yet with fears,
But we shall come rejoicing
Though joy be born of tears.
We are not lost, though wandering,
For by your light we come,
And we are still God's people,
The journey is our home.

We hope to publish a new faith story in each issue of
the Chi Rho Connection.  Our writers will be well
known and not famous at all, clergy and lay people,
LGBT people and non-gay people, people from all walks
of life, and even Christians and non-Christians.  We
have already begun collecting these faith stories for
'The Journey is Our Home' and hope you are blessed by
the spiritual insights found here.

To continue 'The Journey is Our Home' series, we have
called upon Philippe Beaudette.  Here is Philippe?s story
of faith:

+   +   +

I heard the most wonderful quote tonight, 'Life begins
when you begin to serve.'  Isn't that wonderful?  When
I was asked to write about my faith story, I did a lot
of thinking, meditating about my FAITH story as a
separate entity from my LIFE story.

I grew up Roman Catholic, my family was one of those
that went to church EVERY week.  I can't remember a
single Sunday where I missed it, not one.  My parents
were pretty serious about that.  Of course, when I was
younger I was mostly looking forward to the sherbet
that I got as part of the fruit platter at the
Rendezvous Restaurant after church if I was good.

My interest in music, plus my strong church upbringing
combined to make me into a church musician.  I did it
full time for a while.  However, my faith story began
for me, ironically enough, when I STOPPED doing church
work.  What I discovered was that in the process of
WORKING for church, I stopped working for FAITH.  It's
so easy to just 'do your job,' put in the time and get
it over.  Now, instead of working for the church, I
work for my faith.

You see I re-discovered my faith.  I rediscovered the
beauty of liturgy.  I rediscovered the joy of watching
my pastor hold up the bread and cup and proclaim, 'These
are the gifts of God for the people of God!'

My faith journey is long and convoluted.  Like most, I
have gone through periods where I question the presence
of God.  More than ever, though, I have found that
questioning leads me to the belief that there IS God.
God calls us to question, to wonder, but ultimately to
believe.

In fact, that is my faith story.  It's been a heck of a
journey for me.  I had to question, I had to wonder, but
in the end, I just had to believe.  Somehow, I do not
think it is over yet.  God calls us to always fight and
discover what is right, what is just, what is true, and
to work for those things.  I am finding more and more I
am being called to work to show my faith, to fight for
justice, to struggle for peace.  I am being called to
give my passion to kindness.

Recently, I stopped working for the church and started
serving the church.  Life really does begin when you
begin to serve.

+   +   +

Philippe Beaudette, 26, grew up Roman Catholic in
Shawnee, Oklahoma.  He currently serves as Music
Director and webmaster for Soulforce in Oklahoma.  He
also coordinates the Oklahoma City Soulforce Study
Group and is a member of the Soulforce Oklahoma
Advisory Board.  A pianist for twenty-one years,
his first job was as a Roman Catholic Church musician.
He is currently the accompanist/pianist at Church of
the Open Arms (UCC) in Oklahoma City.  Philippe has
a great love for liturgy, his cat, and all things
'computer-geek.'  A cancer patient, Philippe lives
in Oklahoma City with his cat, Damien, and is able
to devote much of his time to Soulforce.  Philippe
can most often be found where there is chocolate or
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream.  Philippe Beaudette can be
reached at philippe@....  Please
check out the Web site for Soulforce in Oklahoma at
http://www.soulforceinoklahoma.org.

--------------------------------------------------

2.    Call for Submissions

With changes in the look of the Chi Rho Connection, Chi
Rho Press is pleased to issue a Call for Submissions for
articles to appear in future issues of our electronic
newsletter.  We are especially looking for the following
kinds of articles:

a.  Faith Stories for the column, 'The Journey is Our
Home:' Sharing Our Faith Journeys. If you would like to
contribute the story of your faith journey for inclusion
in 'The Journey is Our Home,' please try to limit your
story to 500 words.

b.  Reviews of Books.  Whether published by Chi Rho
Press or any other publisher, we are looking for book
reviews.  What have you read recently that has inspired
you?  What do you think other LGBT Christians would
benefit by reading?  Please don't forget to include
the full title, author, publisher, ISBN number, date
of publication, and price of the book.  Word limit,
400 words.

c.  Inspirational stories are always welcome, but not
the stuff that is already making its way around and
around and around the Internet.  How about coming up
with your own original inspirational story?

d.  Link of the Month.  What are the Internet Web pages
that are most helpful and interesting to you?  Submit
the complete link and your brief description of what
it is and why you are recommending it.

e.  Finally, your letters, suggestions, comments,
criticisms, and contributions are always welcome.

Please send your submissions to Connection@....

--------------------------------------------------

3.    2003 Liturgical Calendar Published!

'A Liturgical Calendar and Lectionary, Year B, December
2002 through November 2003,' compiled by Dr. David Kerr
Park.  Spiral bound, 8 ½" x 11", 78 pages.  $9.95 each,
six or more copies for $7.95 each, plus shipping and
handling.  Now available on our Web site at
http://www.chirhopress.com/products/devotionals.html#Park.

Chi Rho Press is pleased to announce a brand new
Liturgical Calendar for the coming church year.  Our
newly designed Liturgical Calendar is packed with
useful information for planning worship and preaching
in the local church for each Sunday and Holy Day of
the Church Year.  It is intended for use by pastors,
musicians, altar guilds, teachers, theological
students, and anyone using the Church Year as a
basis for worship or education.  The Liturgical
Calendar is spiral bound so it can lie flat for
easy use, in a new, larger 8 ½" x 11" format.

Featured in this new Liturgical Calendar are these
sections: Celebrations that may be featured on a given
Sunday, or alternate ways of naming a day in the
Liturgical Calendar.  Next are Visual Elements,
including the standard color for the day (based on
modern ecumenical consensus), alternative colors,
commonly used symbols, and other creative suggestions.

Then the Revised Common Lectionary readings, including
a brief summary of each reading.  The First Reading is
usually from the Hebrew Scriptures, but there are
exceptions, such as the use of readings from Acts
during the Easter season.  These are sometimes
selected thematically to fit the Liturgical Calendar,
but often are simply being read through key passages
over a series of weeks.  This is followed by a Psalm
or a Canticle.  The Second Reading is next, usually
from the Epistles, like the First Reading typically
a series of key passages from the same book being
read over a number of weeks.  Finally the Gospel
Reading follows the story of Jesus through the
Christmas and Easter cycles, plus the teachings of
Jesus the rest of the year.

On many Sundays there is a section of Alternative
Readings, some from the Revised Common Lectionary
and others are based on the suggestions of other
writers seeking to better balance the place of women
in the Lectionary or address other concerns.  All
the Alternative Readings are from the Bible.

Finally comes Liturgical Notes, which includes a
Calendar for the week, Suggestions for that day,
and an empty space for your own Planning notes.
The calendar includes a new Sanctoral Cycle (the
list of saint's days), days from the secular
calendar, both official holidays and other days
that mark people's lives, as well as days from
other faith traditions.

A word about the new Sanctoral Cycle: A major
element of the calendar for each week includes
remembering the lives and deaths of those who have
gone before us.  This is traditionally called the
Sanctoral Cycle (or list of saint's days).  The list
used in this resource, however, was developed for
use in GLBT congregations to reflect the particular
needs we have for modern spiritual models.

This list is designed intentionally to be more
reflective of the faith and contributions of women
(Fanny Crosby, Julian of Norwich), lay persons
(Dorothy Day, Henry David Thoreau), ethnic minorities
(Sojourner Truth, Seattle), non-Europeans (Oscar
Romero), Protestants (Martin Luther, Søren
Kierkegaard), and especially modern examples we
can better relate to (Mother Teresa, Anne Frank).
This is an inclusive, contemporary Sanctoral Cycle
that can be used in practical ways in a gay and
lesbian context.  It is a work in progress, and
as such will continue to be updated in future
editions of the Liturgical Calendar published by
Chi Rho Press, and hopefully soon in book form.

A core of historical and Biblical names that are
still meaningful today have been retained (Mary the
Mother of Jesus, St. Francis of Assisi).  Then others
not usually represented have been added, such as
persons of other faith traditions through whom the
light of Truth has also shown (Rabbi Abraham Heschel,
Gandhi), or artists and musicians (Michelangelo,
Bach).  In selecting contemporary examples Dr. Park
has emphasized persons who stood for inclusiveness,
justice, and spiritual diversity (Martin Luther King,
Clarence Jordan).  Many gay and lesbian 'saints' are
included as well (Dag Hammarskjold, St. Aelred, Sts.
Sergius and Bacchus) and martyrs (Matthew Shepherd,
Harvey Milk) because it is important for us to
reclaim our own heritage as spiritual leaders and
people of faith.

Order your copy of the 2003 Liturgical Calendar today!
$9.95 each, six or more copies for $7.95 each.

--------------------------------------------------

4.    Living in Gratitude While Ducking for Cover

By R. Adam DeBaugh, Director, Chi Rho Press

(This article has been accepted for publication in the
November/December 2002 edition of Whosoever.org, the
wonderful on-line Christian LGBT magazine edited by
Candace Chellew.  We are offering it here with Candace's
kind permission, even before its appearance in
Whosoever.org because of the timeliness of the
material.  Please visit and subscribe to Whosoever at
http://www.Whosoever.org.)

'Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all
circumstances.'
1 Thessalonians 5:16-17

I live in Montgomery County, Maryland.

It was here that the 'Suburban Sniper' started the
amazing reign of terror on Oct. 2.  Last night (Oct.
14) a 47 year old woman was shot in the head while
she and her husband put their Home Depot purchases in
their car.  She is the ninth death.

Home Depot, for crying out loud!  Is nothing sacred?
In the LGBT community, we often call it 'Homo Depot'
a great place to meet other lesbians and gay men,
all of us blissfully working on our homes and
apartments.  But now such common and prosaic acts as
shopping, filling our cars with gasoline, sitting on
a bench, mowing the lawn, and walking into your middle
school can be fatal.

This person is very good at what he (or she, but I
somehow doubt it's a woman) does.  He has never used
more than one shot.  Eleven bullets so far, and nine
dead and two wounded (and that is as of October 15,
who knows what the count will be by the time you read
this, if the sniper hasn't been caught).  Many of his
kills have been with head shots, very difficult even
with a high powered rifle.

I don't know if this person is a foreign terrorist,
fighting on the side of al Qaeda, as some national
leaders are quick to suggest.  I don't know if the
sniper is a serial killer or a spree killer or any
of the other terms that are being bandied about in
the increasingly hysterical press.  It seems to me
he is just a hunter, one more guy with a high-powered
rifle that no one except police and military should
be allowed to own who got tired of blowing away deer
and ducks and decided to hunt a more horrifying game,
people.

I got gas this morning, sort of hunkering down a bit
as the much-too-expensive gasoline flowed into my car.
I wondered if the hunter/sniper had made his way back
to Maryland from his terrifying visit to Virginia last
night.  And I reflected on the passage from 1
Thessalonians that is the theme of Whosoever.org
next month.

'Living in Gratitude,' the estimable Candace Chellew
encourages us to write about.  OK. 'I live in
Montgomery County, Maryland,' is how I started this
article.  For those of us who live in the Washington,
DC area these days, that's all we need to say.

1 Thessalonians gives us some good tips. 'Rejoice
always, pray constantly, give thanks in all
circumstances.'

The Epistle writer says, 'Rejoice always. '  Hmmmm,
well we might rejoice that we are among the living
in this time of looking-over-our-shoulders anxiety.
But that seems a little selfish, doesn't it?  Rejoice
that life goes on, that the police are on the job,
that most of our children are safe in their locked-down
schools, that there is only one hunter/sniper out there,
that it has only been nine dead (so far).  Rejoicing
is a problematic thing to ask of us DC area folks
right about now.

'Pray constantly,' oh yes.  We've got that one covered.
Pray that I can get from the Giant food store to my
car without being shot.  Pray that I can finish pumping
gas without finding myself in the hunter/sniper's
crosshairs.  Pray that no one I know and love will
become the next victim.  Pray that the police and
law enforcement officers are kept safe.  Pray that
they catch this madman.  Pray.

'Give thanks in all circumstances.'  Oh boy.  How do
we give thanks under these circumstances?  How do we
give thanks when an insane, yet incredibly competent
hunter/sniper is randomly shooting our neighbors?  How
do we give thanks now?

The police closed all the major highways around the
Fairfax County Home Depot last night, and there are a
lot of major highways.  There was a ten-mile backup
on Route 66 last night at 11 p.m.  The hunter/sniper
is disrupting a lot more of life in the DC area than
we like to admit.  I saw a law enforcement officer
of some kind in full gear, including a flak jacket
and automatic rifle this morning.  Outside my local
elementary school!  Police cars are following school
buses on their rounds.  The first day of the attacks,
when four people were felled here in the neighborhood
of my secular job, the receptionist told us we were
locked down, we were advised not to leave the building
for lunch, and we would need our card-keys to come
back if we did leave. 'Give thanks in all
circumstances?'  And what about the families and
friends of the nine dead and two wounded (including a
13 year old boy who was shot while walking from his
grandmother's car to his school)?  Are they giving
thanks in THESE circumstances?

Well, but yes.  Despite my overwrought rhetorical
flourishes, the Scripture is still the Scripture and
it has something instructive for us all days, and
especially the days like today.  Rejoice, pray, and
give thanks, not a bad way to live one's life, frankly.
And yes, bad things happen.  Here in the DC suburbs we
are living for a (hopefully) brief season under the
baleful gaze of this hunter/sniper.  But here and in
other communities, there are other tragedies,
unemployment, hunger, discrimination, sexism, racism,
homophobia, poverty, disease, loneliness, despair,
and degradation.

Terrorism comes in many forms: the hunter/sniper in
the Washington suburbs; the manic Baptist preacher from
Kansas who travels the country loudly proclaiming that
'God hates fags' and 'Matt Shepherd  Four Years in Hell;'
government leaders indifferent to hate crimes and
discrimination; airplanes being turned into missiles;
and on and on and on.  Another Epistle reassured us
that 'perfect love casts out all fear.'  It is the
perfect love of God through Christ Jesus that enables
us to 'rejoice, pray, and give thanks.'  In spite of.
In spite of.  In spite of it all.

So I continue my little life, ducking for cover, yes,
but also living in gratitude.

Amen.

--------------------------------------------------

5.    Link of the Month: The Revised Standard Bible

A very handy link when you are looking for that
particular verse or quote.
http://www.hti.umich.edu/r/rsv/ provides the Revised
Standard Version of the Bible and allows for searches
for specific words or phrases, actual Scriptural
citations, proximity and Boolean searches.

What Bible search engines have YOU found and use
regularly?

--------------------------------------------------

6.    Adam's Last Word

Well, it's been quite a time since the last issue of
the Chi Rho Connection on Sept. 20.  We are very
grateful for the praise we have gotten on our new look.
Please let your friends and colleagues know about the
Chi Rho Connection and Reflection!

I preached at Holy Redeemer MCC on Sept. 22
(http://www.holy-redeemer-mcc.org/) and at Open Door
MCC on Oct. 6 (http://www.opendoormcc.com/), both
blessed experiences (for me at least, and I hope
for the two congregations!).

Oct. 6 was Fellowship Sunday, the sixth anniversary
of the very first Metropolitan Community Church
service on Oct. 6, 1968.  MCC is now 34 years old
and growing like crazy!  Visit the MCC international
Web site at http://www.mccchurch.org.

The week of Sept. 29 was especially difficult with
two funerals to attend, wonderful saints of God,
Sibbie Deal and Steven Pardieck, both of whom had
served MCC of Washington DC for many years.  They
were old friends and colleagues and their passings
reminded me of just how slippery this slope of
mortality can be.  May they rest in peace, and
light perpetual shine upon them.

On a more joyous note, last weekend I was privileged
to attend the 30th anniversary celebration of MCC
Baltimore and the dedication of their wonderful new
building.  Visit MCC Baltimore's Web site at
http://www.mccbaltimore.org/.

The Rev. Elder Troy Perry, the founder of the MCC
movement, preached and we got to spend some private
time together before the dedication service Saturday
evening.  Troy has truly been a prophet of God for
the LGBT community and he continues to be an inspiring
and powerful witness to God's all-inclusive love.

Of course Washington, DC's Suburban Hunter/Sniper is
in the news and in all of our thoughts around here.
Just another reason why living near the Nation's
Capitol is such fun!  I hope you will join me in
prayers for the worried residents of the area, for
the victims and their families and friends, for the
law enforcement men and women who are working so hard
to catch this person, and for the perpetrator as well.
(Please see article number 4 for my reflections on
this tragic situation.)

In news around here on the third floor (Chi Rho Press
Land), we are very excited about the faith stories we
have gathered.  We are still looking for additional
faith stories (please see our call for submissions in
article number 2), so please consider writing for the
Chi Rho Connection.

We are very excited about the publication of the
Liturgical Calendar and Lectionary for 2003.  Dr.
David Park did a wonderful job on this, which is
sure to be an important resource for anyone who is
in ministry in a local church.

We have also had a number of new manuscripts arrive
in the Chi Rho Press Tower, about which I hope you
will be hearing more very soon!

Lastly, we are making good progress on Living as the
Beloved, by Dr. Sandy Bochonok.  This wonderful book
of daily devotions is going to be a very special
publication and I am very excited about it!

That's all for now.  The next edition of the Chi Rho
Connection will be published on Oct. 31, with a new
faith story in The Journey is Our Home and other news.
I will talk to you then.  I hope this Autumn is filled
with every good and joyous thing for you and your
ministry.

R. Adam DeBaugh, Director, Adam@....

******************************************

We are glad you are partners in ministry with us here at
Chi Rho Press.  We are eager for your comments, your
suggestions, your assistance with selling our books,
and your own purchases!  And of course, we covet your
prayers for this ministry.

If you've received the Chi Rho Connection as a result of
someone passing it along to you and would like to receive
it directly from us, please follow these directions:

To SUBSCRIBE send blank e-mail to:
ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To UNSUBSCRIBE send blank e-mail to:
ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Please visit http://www.ChiRhoPress.com.  You may
pay by credit card on our web page or we will ship
your order after receiving your check or money
order.  Please always include your e-mail address,
mailing address, and telephone number.

For all e-mail correspondence, please write
Adam@....

Our snail mail address is:

Chi Rho Press, Inc.
P.O. Box 7864
Gaithersburg, MD 20898

Our telephone and fax number is 301/926-1208.

Customers outside the U.S. and especially our Canadian
friends can order using credit cards on our Web page or
through our Canadian distributor, MAP Enterprises, Mary
Ann Pearson, at her Web page, http://www.christiangays.com.

Copyright 2002, Chi Rho Press, Inc.

******************************************


R. Adam DeBaugh
Chi Rho Press, Your LGBT Christian Publishing House
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Subscribe to Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic newsletter
mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Please visit the Chi Rho Press Website.
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of October 20, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  These meditations start with a Gospel reading
and a meditation based on it written this week by the Rev.
Andy T. Sidden.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Matthew 11:1-6

Deacon Helen leaned against her crutches and gazed at
the dust and disarray of our partially remodeled
sanctuary.  'Things always look worse before they get
better,' she said, smiling.

Helen can smile because she knows that when the
remodeling is complete, our sanctuary will shine
again, better and brighter than ever.  Her assurance
comes from years of experience, Helen has endured
far worse times.  She has survived times when the
dust and disarray of her own life seemed to separate
her from Christ.

Years ago, a motorcycle accident cost her a leg.
This year, while helping with the remodeling, she
bore the pain of recent knee surgery on her remaining
leg.

John the Baptist must have felt a lot like Helen as he
spent his final days in prison.  He had labored long
and hard in the wilderness, sacrificing his own comfort
in order to minister to the souls of others.  He had
devoted his life to preparing the way for Christ.

Yet now he faced his mortality, locked away from both
the ministry and the people he loved.  Worst of all,
John was physically separated from Christ, the Saviour
whose coming he had foretold.

How bad things must have seemed to John.  And how his
heart must have leaped for joy when he received Jesus'
message.  As Helen might say, things were truly getting
better.  John's wait was over.  Miracles were happening.
The Saviour had come.

Sometimes we, like John and Helen, must endure hard
times.  But we, too, can rest assured that Christ has
better days in store for us.  And when the dust clears,
we, the true sanctuaries of the Holy Spirit, will
shine again.

Amen.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 for one copy to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

Chi Rho Reflection for the Week of October 27, 2002

**********

As one of the on-going ministries of Chi Rho Press, here
is a meditation from 'The Road to Emmaus,' a book of
daily meditations written by and for the LGBT community
of faith.  These meditations start with a Gospel reading
and a meditation based on it written this week by the Rev.
Andy T. Sidden.

Thank you for forwarding this to your friends.

Please read Matthew 12:33-42

My friend Denise, a bright, energetic woman blessed with
a rare zest for life, sometimes speaks so rapidly in her
excitement that strangers look at her with confusion.
They simply aren't accustomed to coping with so many
words spoken so quickly.

My friend Jay, on the other hand, lets words roll
lazily off his Southern tongue, sometimes speaking
so slowly that listeners try to fill in the blanks,
often completing his sentences for him.

Whether our words flow quickly like Denise's or slowly
like Jay's, they are powerful things, capable of
inflicting much pain or bestowing much joy.  In
today's passage, Christ acknowledges the power of
words, telling us they come from 'the abundance of
the heart.'  Our hearts will be judged, we're told,
by the words we speak.

As humans and as Christians, we all remember times
when we've said things we later regretted.  How vivid
the pictures are of the pained faces our careless
words have caused.  We can be thankful that our God
is forgiving, the judgment merciful.

We can also praise God for times when we are able,
through our words, to bring comfort and encouragement
to others, and for the joy that others have poured
out to us through kind words.

Although Denise and Jay deliver their words in vastly
different ways, no two people are more capable of
making me smile and, yes, even laugh out loud.

Denise and I met more than a dozen years ago when we
worked together in a small South Carolina mill town.
Jay and I met at church a few years back.  Both
friends have been there when I needed them, offering
words of support, comfort, and encouragement.

Because I have heard my friends' words, I believe I
know their hearts.  I feel sure Jesus does, too.

Amen.

Grace and peace,

Chi Rho Press

Subscribe to the Chi Rho Connection, our free electronic
newsletter, mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit the Chi Rho Press Web site.  You can order using our
convenient shopping cart and pay on line using your credit
card!  http://www.ChiRhoPress.com

Purchase 'The Road to Emmaus' from Chi Rho Press for $9.95
plus $2.50 shipping and handling.  See
http://www.ChiRhoPress.com or send your check or money
order for $12.45 for one copy to Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898.

*************************
CHI RHO CONNECTION

The eNewsletter of Chi Rho Press,
Your LGBT Christian Publishing House
Vol. III, No. 15
31 October 2002

*************************
Contents:

1.    'The Journey is Our Home:' Sharing Our Faith
Journeys, by Charles Coventry, Edinburgh, Scotland
2.    Calls for Submissions
3.    2003 Liturgical Calendar Published!
4.    Book of the Month: Come Home!
5.    Adam's Last Word

--------------------------------------------------

'God answers all our prayers.  Sometimes the answer is
yes.  Sometimes the answer is no.  Sometimes the answer
is, you've got to be kidding.'
Jimmy Carter, former President of the United States and
recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize.

Welcome once again to the Chi Rho Connection, the
electronic newsletter of Chi Rho Press.  Thank you for
passing this Chi Rho Connection on to others.

To join our list, send an e-mail message to
mailto:ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

To unsubscribe send an e-mail to
mailto:ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Please visit our Web site at http://www.chirhopress.com
to see our entire lines of books, handouts, videos, tapes,
tchochkas, and stained glass.

Direct all other e-mail to Adam@....

--------------------------------------------------

1.    'The Journey is Our Home:' Sharing Our Faith
Journeys, by Charles Coventry, Edinburgh, Scotland.

As one of the new features of the Chi Rho Connection,
we have started a series in which people tell about
their faith journeys.

We hope you are blessed by the spiritual insights
found here.

To continue 'The Journey is Our Home' series, we have
called upon Charles Coventry, of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Here is Charles' story of faith:

+   +   +

I am connected with Metropolitan Community Church
(MCC), Edinburgh, Scotland, which I found out about
through a friend. I have been disabled since birth
(cerebral palsy) and had very little contact with
other children, my primary education was in special
schools, a year behind others.  When I did get into
mainstream education (age 12) although I got
qualifications for university entrance, I was never
fully integrated because no attempt was made to
integrate me into sports, and I was still that bit
isolated.

There was pressure on me to have girlfriends, and
ultimately, after graduation and in employment to
get married and produce a family.  This kind of
teasing about not having girlfriends stopped having
any effect on me after about 17.  I had doubts about
managing school teaching, controlling a class, and by
extension, knowing what I had lost, about bringing up
children of my own.

I failed to fit into ideals of manliness, first of
all being frightened by pressure to smoke.  I was
expected to take up the pipe and cigars on special
occasions like Christmas, but the fear of fire was
part of my disability, I am partially sighted, so
there was a real risk of being burned.  I failed to
reach the standards of alcohol consumption expected
of a man, finding spirits impossible for me.  When it
came to shaving, the safety razor was impossible,
and it was only after a serious accident that I was
allowed to buy an electric shaver.  Again, because
of my partial vision, I can't drive, and after
graduation I never got the right kind of job for
long enough, and was last in employment in 1982.

My disability includes a severe numeracy problem,
which extends to anything not a continuation of the
school syllabus.  I was always in trouble for this
and it was after I was nearly convinced that I was
mentally subnormal that I heard about the Transcendental
Meditation technique.  I learned and got the chance
to leave home for further study in the Department of
Celtic at the University of Edinburgh.  I am in fact
now a linguist and local historian.  It was here that
I also got the chance to learn to swim.

After my parents died I came to understand that I am0
gay, and this was confirmed by subsequent experiences.
I found a gay swimming group and it was through this
that I heard about MCC.  Not only in MCC, but in all
the gay groups I have become involved with, I have
found acceptance as a human being, a swimmer, and
Gaelic scholar, not a specimen of cerebral palsy.
It was because most church people latched on to my
disability that I was very suspicious of religion.
At school I was used as a moral example of goodness
to the rest of the pupils, and it was only later, when
I could be sure of not being pestered with magic cures
derived from literal interpretation of the New
Testament, that I had anything to do with the church.

As long as nobody asks about my marital status, I don't
really need to come out, and in a place like Edinburgh
it is quite easy to find gay groups.  Outside of
university circles, straight people tend just to talk
about how their marriages and families are going, but
in MCC and my other gay groups, although there are gay
dads, even if I ever find a partner, and could never be
a parent, it doesn't seem to matter to gay friends.
I'm just another member of the group, a swimmer, and
Gaelic scholar.  One of my swimming sessions happens
to be at a time which means that for most of the year
I can't make the MCC service, but when I apologized for
this at MCC, they just said that my swim still counted
as a kind of worship.

+   +   +

--------------------------------------------------

2.    Call for Submissions

With changes in the look of the Chi Rho Connection, Chi
Rho Press is pleased to issue a Call for Submissions for
articles to appear in future issues of our electronic
newsletter.  We are especially looking for the following
kinds of articles:

a.  Faith Stories for the column, 'The Journey is Our
Home:' Sharing Our Faith Journeys. If you would like to
contribute the story of your faith journey for inclusion
in 'The Journey is Our Home,' please try to limit your
story to 500 words.

b.  Reviews of Books.  Whether published by Chi Rho
Press or any other publisher, we are looking for book
reviews.  What have you read recently that has inspired
you?  What do you think other LGBT Christians would
benefit by reading?  Please don't forget to include
the full title, author, publisher, ISBN number, date
of publication, and price of the book.  Word limit,
400 words.

c.  Inspirational stories are always welcome, but not
the stuff that is already making its way around and
around and around the Internet.  How about coming up
with your own original inspirational story?

d.  Link of the Month.  What are the Internet Web pages
that are most helpful and interesting to you?  Submit
the complete link and your brief description of what
it is and why you are recommending it.

e.  Finally, your letters, suggestions, comments,
criticisms, and contributions are always welcome.

Please send your submissions to Connection@....

--------------------------------------------------

3.    2003 Liturgical Calendar Published!

'A Liturgical Calendar and Lectionary, Year B, December
2002 through November 2003,' compiled by Dr. David Kerr
Park.  Spiral bound, 8 ½" x 11", 78 pages.  $9.95 each,
six or more copies for $7.95 each, plus shipping and
handling.  Now available on our Web site at
http://www.chirhopress.com/products/devotionals.html#Park.

Chi Rho Press is pleased to announce a brand new
Liturgical Calendar for the coming church year.  Our
newly designed Liturgical Calendar is packed with
useful information for planning worship and preaching
in the local church for each Sunday and Holy Day of
the Church Year.  It is intended for use by pastors,
musicians, altar guilds, teachers, theological
students, and anyone using the Church Year as a
basis for worship or education.  The Liturgical
Calendar is spiral bound so it can lie flat for
easy use, in a new, larger 8 ½" x 11" format.

Order your copy of the 2003 Liturgical Calendar today!
$9.95 each, six or more copies for $7.95 each.

--------------------------------------------------

4.    Book of the Month: Come Home!

'Come Home! Reclaiming Spirituality and Community as
Gay Men and Lesbians,' second edition, by Chris Glaser.
first published in 1990 by HarperCollins, the second
edition was published in 1998 by Chi Rho Press with the
addition of five new chapters to the original 20.

'Come Home!' is perhaps Chris Glaser's best book.  It is
divided into five sections, each with five chapters.
The five sections are entitled, 'Welcoming God's
Acceptance,' 'Receiving Our Inheritance,' 'Discerning Our
Call,' 'Making Our Witness,' and 'Declaring Our Vision.'

Bishop John Shelby Spong called 'Come Home!' 'powerful,
sensitive, and provocative. . . . Glaser stands inside
his own humanity as a gay male and hears the word of God
through the Bible.  Christians, gay and straight, need
this book if we are to be the body of Christ.'

This is a brilliant and important book by perhaps the
best-known Gay Christian writer in the U.S. today.

The Rev. Carter Heyward called 'Come Home!' 'an
enthusiastic compelling testimony to the power of faith
in the lives of many gay and lesbian Christians.'

Virginia Ramey Mollenkott said, 'If courage, honesty,
and insight are beautiful, then this is one beautiful
book. . . . I rejoice that in this book all the gay
men and lesbian women who have been robbed of their
spirituality are issued an urgent invitation: Come home!'

'Come Home!' by Chris Glaser offers a vision of faith,
hope, and affirmation inviting gay men and lesbians to
come home to their spirituality through Christian faith
and community.  Order your copy today!

'Come Home!' is available for $19.95 each, $14.95 each
for six or more copies, plus shipping and handling.

--------------------------------------------------

5.    Adam's Last Word

It is Hallowe'en here in the United States as we send
out this edition of the Chi Rho Connection.  It is not
a holiday celebrated in much of the rest of the world
and is a peculiarly American event, which has been
adopted by many LGBT people as a special night to
dress up in costumes not reflective of who we really
are.  Or are they?  Perhaps the LGBT community likes
Hallowe'en precisely because we CAN dress up as we
really are in the depths of our closeted psyches, and
appear before the world without blush or embarrassment.
Or maybe it is just because part of LGBT culture is
the celebration of the theatrical residing in so many
of us.

I shall put on the brown monk's robe I bought a few
years back at Maryland's Renaissance Festival and hand
out candy to the children who will wander up to the
front door of Tawdry Tower, my little town house.

Hallowe'en is a linguistic corruption of All Hallows
Eve.  The evening before All Hallows Day or All Saints
Day, November 1.  Christians inherited, or rather
co-opted Hallowe'en from the Pagan celebration of
Samhain, the day on which the veil between the living
and the dead is thinnest.

All Saints Day is an especially wonderful day in the
life of the church.  Our new Liturgical Calendar says
about the Feast of All Saints, 'The tradition of
remembering all the saints together dates to the
early history of the Church, which affirmed 'the
communion of saints' as the mystical Body of Christ,
transcending both time and space.  Even when no one
is visibly with us in our prayers and our spiritual
path, we are surrounded by their presence and inspired
by their witness.  All the saints, some famous and
some known only to God, answered God's call in their
life in their own unique way.  This collective feast
reminds us that each of us has our own special gifts,
and we are each called to DO something holy for God.'

The next day is All Souls Day, Nov. 2, about which
our Liturgical Calendar says, 'In some traditions
there has been a distinction between remembering the
official canonized saints on All Saints Day and
commemorating those whose names are not on any
calendar, but are cherished as models of faith,
or are dearly loved family and friends.  They, as
well, are part of that great 'cloud of witnesses'
who encourage us in our spiritual journey.'  In
Mexico this is la Dia de la Muerte, a popular
Mexican holiday of remembering and honoring the
dead.

However you honor the saints who have gone before
us and your own well-loved friends and relatives who
have passed away, this is a special time to reflect
on the Saints who have inspired us and the Souls who
have loved us.

Friday evening, I will be attending an All Saints
Day event at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Washington
DC with my friends Bill and Bob.  Bill and Bob are
great Anglo-Catholics and major royalists with whom
I spend Christmas day every year.  The St. Paul's
Parish Choir with orchestra will be performing the
Lord Nelson Mass by Franz Josef Haydn.  Not a bad
way to mark All Saints Day, I figure.  And I will
reconnect with my high Anglo-Catholic roots.  A
Suffragan Bishop from New York will be preaching
and a retired Bishop will be celebrating the
Eucharist so it will be a high old Anglican time
of it!

*****

In the United States next Tuesday is also Election
Day.  I encourage all our readers, as I do every year,
to vote!  This is an especially important election,
with the entire United States House of Representatives
and a third of the United States Senate up for
re-election.  If you think that your vote doesn't
matter, you are sadly in error.  The last election
showed the United States to be almost perfectly
divided between those who voted for Democratic and
Republican candidates.  The division was so sharp,
and the Electoral College system we have of electing
the President, that Mr. Bush won the Electoral
College votes (thanks to the intervention of the
U.S. Supreme Court majority appointed by his father
and Mr. Reagan), even while Mr. Gore won the popular
vote by half a million votes.  With the control of
both the House of Representatives and Senate in the
balance, your vote is very important.

Please don't forget to vote Tuesday!

*****

The GLBT community lost a good friend with the death
of Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota.  He was a man
of integrity and nobility, unabashed by the trappings
of high office, wearing the same rumpled suits he had
worn as a professor at Carlton College, and keeping
his self-effacing good humor.  A man of principle, not
to be trifled with, Paul Wellstone was a political
hero in a time when politics is filled with charlatans,
cads, the greedy, the vain, and the unprincipled.  He
will be missed.

In his stead, the Democrats have named former Senator
and former Vice President Walter Mondale to stand for
the Senate seat vacated by the death of Paul Wellstone.
'Fritz' Mondale is another friend of the LGBT community.
His wife Joan is a potter and created the first pottery
baptismal bowl and pitcher for the new building built
by the Metropolitan Community Church of Washington DC.

*****

Autumn is here in the Washington DC area.  A long
drought is being moderated by days of rain and the
leaves are changing here.  Things seem to be relaxing
with the passing of summer into autumn.  Perhaps the
capture of the hunter/snipers that have plagued our
community for three weeks in October has helped the
overall mood.  But it is a good, mellow harvest time.
I hope you are all blessed and filled with love and
joy as we begin to prepare for the year-end holiday
season.

Please take a moment this weekend to honor and bless
all those faithful saints and loved ones who have
gone before us.  And Americans, don't forget to vote
next Tuesday.

R. Adam DeBaugh, Director, Adam@....

******************************************

We are glad you are partners in ministry with us here at
Chi Rho Press.  We are eager for your comments, your
suggestions, your assistance with selling our books,
and your own purchases!  And of course, we covet your
prayers for this ministry.

If you've received the Chi Rho Connection as a result of
someone passing it along to you and would like to receive
it directly from us, please follow these directions:

To SUBSCRIBE send blank e-mail to:
ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To UNSUBSCRIBE send blank e-mail to:
ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Please visit http://www.ChiRhoPress.com.  You may
pay by credit card on our web page or we will ship
your order after receiving your check or money
order.  Please always include your e-mail address,
mailing address, and telephone number.

For all e-mail correspondence, please write
Adam@....

Our snail mail address is:

Chi Rho Press, Inc.
P.O. Box 7864
Gaithersburg, MD 20898

Our telephone and fax number is 301/926-1208.

Customers outside the U.S. and especially our Canadian
friends can order using credit cards on our Web page or
through our Canadian distributor, MAP Enterprises, Mary
Ann Pearson, at her Web page, http://www.christiangays.com.

Copyright 2002, Chi Rho Press, Inc.

******************************************