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NEWS & INFO - FEBRUARY 2012
FROM THE DESK OF REV. TOM...Dear MCCCTL Community,
The month of February is upon us, and we at MCCCTL will celebrate this month in a number of ways through which we will "Connect To Life"! 1. Our Worship Celebrations at 10:45am every Sunday continue to be the core of our life as church. This month we honor Black History Month through music and readings at each service. The scriptures and sermon titles are: Feb 5 -- Mark 1:29-39 -- "That's Why I 've Come" Feb 12 -- 2 Kings 5:1-14 -- "Something Difficult or Something Simple?" Feb 19 -- Mark 9:2-9 -- "Transformed" Feb 26 -- Genesis 9:8-17 -- "Rainbow: Symbol of the Covenant" 2 During worship the first two Sundays, we will receive special second offerings: On Feb 5, this 2nd offering will be for the MCCCTL Building Fund. On Feb 12, this 2nd offering will be for the new MCCCTL Benevolence Fund to aid persons in distress. If you wish, you may designate your Benevolence Fund donation to Irayna Court or Tent City, and these funds will be turned over to them. 3. On Feb 5 during worship we will bless the church leaders for the year 2012. After service, our Coordinating Council will meet to discuss how to implement the "wish list"of social and fundraising events expressed by the congregation at our discussion on Jan 8. 4. On Feb 12 after worship we enjoy our Monthly Fellowship Potluck. Please bring a dish to share. 5. On Feb 19 after worship I will be conducting an "Inquirers' Class" for all who wish more information about MCC and/or wish to become members of MCCCTL. 6. On Wednesday, Feb 22, we gather at 7:30pm for our annual Ash Wednesday Worship Service, this year held in the upstairs room at the Reformed Church of Highland Park, 19 S. 2nd Avenue. Enter through the parking lot behind the church, which is accessible from Magnolia Street. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent, the six-week period leading up to Easter. This is traditionally a time of reflection and introspection, a time of weeding out what does not belong in our lives, so that we may recommit to God and be resurrected with Christ on Easter Sunday. 7. On Feb 26 we again gather donations for the women of Irayna Court, the transitional living center sponsored by the Reformed Church of Highland Park. Please bring in non-perishable foods, toiletries, and paper products. After worship there will be an open Board of Directors Meeting. I look forward to seeing you at some or all of these important events. May God continue to bless you. Wishing You Peace and Joy, Rev. Dr. Tom Bohache Pastor, MCC Christ the Liberator, where we... "Connect To Life" by... Growing Spiritually, Affirming Diversity, Integrating Sexuality & Spirituality, Nurturing Community A Progressive Metropolitan Community Church Cell (302) 745-7909 / www.mccctl.com The Pride Center of New Jersey www.pridecenter
MISSION: The mission of The Pride Center of New Jersey is to provide comprehensive programming which fosters the health and well-being of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersexed and questioning (LGBTIQ) community, and to increase public acceptance and champion social change for the LGBTIQ community through education and outreach.
OUR VISION: The Pride Center envisions a world where members of the LGBTIQ community are empowered as individuals, as citizens and as members of the larger community, enjoying non-prejudicial treatment under the law and in every aspect of their lives. We will encourage the creation of a society that celebrates the inherent worth, dignity and diverse characteristics of every individual. We will be a leader in New Jersey for the collaboration of LGBTIQ and allied groups, the media, and policy makers; a resource and service center for all persons and organizations who share our vision; and a place of safety and education. MARRIAGE EQUALITY NJ!
PEOPLE OF FAITH
Opponents of equality for LGBT people have perpetuated a myth – the myth that people of faith oppose marriage equality. In fact, people of faith and their clergy are leading the way for marriage equality across our state and nation. In New Jersey, clergy from 18 different religions, denominations, movements and faith traditions favor marriage equality. These supportive clergy members come from an extraordinary range of faith communities: Baptist, Buddhist, Episcopal, Ethical Culture Society members, Interfaith, Jewish (Conservative), Jewish (Reconstructionist), Jewish (Reform), Lutheran, Metropolitan Community Church, Methodist, Presbyterian, Reformed Church of America, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, Unitarian Universalist, United Church of Christ and Unity Fellowship Church. Also supporting marriage equality are members of the Religious Society of Friends, the Quakers, who do not have clergy. Garden State Equality has a formidable Clergy Caucus. If you are a clergy member and would like to be to be involved in Garden State Equality, email us at Clergy@GardenStateEquality.org with your name, congregation and phone number, or call us at (973) GSE-LGBT. If you are a layperson who would like to help organize your congregation for marriage equality, email us at Faith@GardenStateEquality.org with your name, congregation and phone number, or call us at (973) GSE-LGBT. Clergy are at the heart of Garden State Equality. Six ordained clergy members sit on our Board of Directors. The Chair and CEO of Garden State Equality is in training for the rabbinate. Four bishops attended Garden State Equality’s 2009 Legends Dinner, our annual gala. And most of Garden State Equality’s public events over the years have taken place in houses of worship into which our members are actively welcomed with open arms. Clergy have been among the most unrelenting supporters of marriage equality. They know that the bill now before the New Jersey legislature would give same-sex couples guaranteed access to civil marriage, not to religious marriage – in other words, access only to a government marriage license. The bill before the New Jersey legislature actually strengthens the freedom of religion with language that underscores the First Amendment guarantee that religions and clergy will never be forced to perform ceremonies that contradict their beliefs. Clergy believe that preventing same-sex couples from marrying under State law is an intrusion into their religious practice. Without a marriage equality law, New Jersey has taken away their sacred right as clergy, and the right of their various faiths, to decide for themselves whom they want to marry under State law. And clergy understand that the marriage law as it stands in the State of New Jersey is not religiously neutral. The current law reflects the religious beliefs of those who oppose allowing same-gender couples to marry, which are not the beliefs of every faith community. A religiously neutral law would leave it up to every religion and every clergy member to marry legally whichever couples they want or don’t want to marry. Clergy and people of faith see the pain and the hurt that civil unions and inequality have caused the LGBT community every day. Clergy and people of faith are leading the way in advocating the end of discriminatory civil unions, and replacing them with true marriage equality. |
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