Dear Rainbow Circle Members & Friends:
Can you believe we’re nearly through summer? Since we last connected, I have personally moved cross-country to be nearer to my family, especially my three kids (although two of my three are now young adults and beginning their adult lives). Where does the time go? And while many of us are currently experiencing a heat wave, I was reminded by my new neighbors that summer here near Lake Erie has already begun to turn toward autumn.
At AWAB, we celebrate the turning of seasons even as we navigate the challenges that confront us and all of society. The overall legislative and national rhetoric these days against LGBTQ+, immigrant, and marginalized communities continues to be intense. As I navigate these near-daily, overwhelming, and hateful waves of assaults, I have found myself buoyed by faith and AWAB’s history. Recently, in preparing a sermon, I was reading a commentary on Hebrews co-authored by my colleague, pastor, and friend, Anne Scalfaro, in which she wrote:
“Hebrews’ ‘Faith Hall of Fame’ (chapter 11) is …. a testimony to God’s enduring faith in us, as it is of our enduring faith in God. That kind of faith—God’s faith in us, not our faith in God—is the very heart of hope.”
Anne’s words help me hold on to hope even as I wrestle with so much these days. The thought that the Divine believes in us, even when we struggle to believe in ourselves, somehow gives me energy to keep at the work before us.
As Hebrews 11 goes on to recount the stories of ancient people, I’ve been captivated by the stories of people in AWAB’s history. At long last, Finding a Home Among Baptists by C. Delane Tew will soon be available. This is the story of welcoming and affirming ministry in Baptist life dating back to the early 1970s. Delane carefully recounts our Baptist story weaving it in and through the larger LGBTQ+ movements and events of the last half-century. The faith, courage, and perseverance of Roger Harrison, Barbra MacNair, and many, many others remind me that we, too, can meet the challenges of our time, as overwhelming as they may be.
The history of AWAB is made up of people like you who help to make possible what we can’t do on our own. Thank you for your part in welcoming and affirming ministry as you engage it in your home church and local context. Thank you too for your ongoing monthly support that is helping AWAB grow and expand the ministry it has long been about. Here are some individuals who are part of AWAB’s “Faith Hall of Fame” whose lives and persistent ministry gave shape, form, and hope to welcoming and affirming ministry in Baptist life.
Roger Harrison is the person responsible in 1973 for beginning a conversation about the need for welcoming and affirming ministry in Baptist life.
Nadean Bishop served as pastor of University Baptist Church in Minneapolis as the first out lesbian called by an American Baptist church.
Barbra MacNair, who through her commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusion, paved the way for many in Baptist life to be involved as we are today. AWAB’s annual Christian Witness Award is named after Barbra.