"GLBT Pride/Twin Cities Presents the 2004 Community Pride Award to Church of St. Joan of Arc."

"GLBT Pride/Twin Cities Presents the 2004 Community Pride Award to Church of St. Joan of Arc." This distinctive award inscription honored St. Joan's for their committed support of their GLBT members. To show that support, over 150 members of the parish marched in this year's Ashley Rukes GLBT Pride Parade held June 27 and attended the "Dreaming Out Loud GLBT Prayer Service-A Celebration of Pride and Community” held in SJA's church on June 23rd.

In a time when right wing conservatives of many churches condemn the lifestyle of homosexuality, some excluding gays and lesbians from worship while perpetuating a message of hate, St. Joan's has been steadfast in welcoming their GLBT parishioners. A monthly potluck support group run by Ron Joki and Theresa Healy allows for an outreach of connectiveness. An annual GLBT spiritual retreat explores biblical readings, meditations, rituals, play and musical skits with guest performers and speakers that confront negativity, challenges exclusivity and affirms acceptance and healing. This very website includes a GLBT section devoted to updates of relative news, GLBT families, same-sex adoption and potluck meetings. And SJA continues their presence in marching in the Pride parade each year.

Ron Joki, SJA parade organizer For the prayer service, SJA Prayer Partners Healy and Pat Stevens hosted a beautiful evening filled with joyous music, readings, prayer wishes and the celebration of St. Joan's Community Pride Award. In Healy's introduction she expressed gratitude that she and her "partner Sue always have been welcome with open arms by St. Joan's community." Established folk singer and proud member of the GLBT community Ann Reed fittingly led the service with her composition "Every Long Journey." Representing other churches in attendance were St. Stevens, Catholic Sexual Minorities, Minnehaha United Methodist Church and Pax Christi. Pat Stevens delivered the opening prayer with "God of all life, teach us that the many ways we love one another are ways that we also love you." His first reading "Mystical Wedding" from Embracing the Beloved by Steven and Ondrea Levine followed. Healy read from the second reading taken from the book "Coming Out to God" by Chris Glaser: "When we cry, Christ cries. When we pray, Christ prays. When we act, Christ acts. Our tears, prayer and actions are God's. Jesus calls GLBT Christian Family supporters. Together we may manifest the body of Christ."

The next section of the service "Visions or Dreams Ritual" asked attendants to write down their own visions and dreams on paper and, if so desired, read them aloud. I wrote and read the following: "I dream of GLBT acceptance in all religions of faith. For we are born the way we are out of Christ's love, not of indifference and division." The dream requests were then gathered into a basket and placed on the altar.

Stevens recited a hymn of Thanksgiving: "Thanks for what we are. We are a rainbow. We are precious [in a world] where we celebrate, not tolerate." Reed followed with an a cappella version of "Over the Rainbow" while dancer Julie Kerr-Berry performed a lovingly supple interpretative dance and finishing it with whisking the basket of dreams away with her.

Stevens provided a blessing for all parade participants and Healy completed the evening with a closing prayer as Reed aptly sung her signature tune of courage, "Leap of Faith." For hospitality, Julie Madden(above right) offered a gathering of wine, apple juice, fruit and cheese.

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Ron Joki and Theresa Healy coordinated SJA's participation in the Pride Parade issuing hand-colored rainbow sashes to 70 SJA parishioners. After running out, about 80 more picked up balloons and whatever they could find and joined the proceedings including our Associate Pastor Jim Cassidy(right). Because SJA won the Community Pride Award, many combined their talents to build a festive red, yellow, green and white colored float.

To get to the massively congested meeting spot on 3rd Street and Nicollet down town Minneapolis by 10:30 AM, many took advantage of the free light rail service offered by Metro Transit. Joki lead a meaningful prayer just before we took off in the wet, cold 56-degree weather. As soggy rain conditions prevailed through out the march, our damp spirits were soon warmed by the more than 100, 000 people in attendance. Being #15 in almost 300 units in this parade, we were grateful to be near the beginning of the parade. Shouting "St. Joan of Arc. St. Joan's welcomes you" met cheering approval by the umbrella-donned crowd who seemed not only quite familiar with whom St. Joan's is but affirming and thankful as well.

The parade route began at Hennepin Avenue and Third Street at 11:00 AM and continued until Spruce and Hennepin where the floats dismantled. As rain showers cleared, the 32nd Annual Twin Cities Pride Festival followed in Loring Park with three stages of all-live entertainment, three food courts, a beer garden, a Children's & Family area and the GLBT History Pavilion. New this year was the festival's very first Mass Commitment Ceremony officiated by state Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, and state Rep. Karen Clark, DFL-Minneapolis on the Loring Stage where nearly 100 same-sex couples were married. Though the marriages have no legal standing, Ann DeGroot, executive director of OutFront Minnesota, a gay-rights advocacy group, said, "They're really a symbolic action of the commitment that two people are making to each other." She added that some same-sex couples enter into a relationship contract that can offer some legal protection if the couple splits or if one of the partner dies."

Those SJA participants marching were witnessing first hand not only the GLBT Twin Cities Pride Committee bestowing us with their community award but also love and acceptance from the GLBT community and their allies. It was a show of appreciation of our church, St. Joan's, who truly practices what they preach: We welcome you wherever you are on your journey.

Boat Cruise 6/16 ..... 350 Art Show 6/18 ..... 350 Picnic 6/20 ..... 450 Block Party 6/25 ..... 1,000 Festival Sat. 6/26 ..... 65,000 Festival Sun. 6/27 ..... 230,000 Parade Sun. 6/27 ..... 100,000 ______________________ Grand Total ..... 397,150

Michael Reinbold, a continuing web reporter, freelances as a writer and banquet caterer. A passionate believer in SJA's mission of social justice and collaborative ministry, Michael is an SJA Choir member, mass reader, Team Oz AIDS rider and Grace House volunteer cook. With an extensive background in theater, photography and fundraising, he relishes all aspects of the arts, staying fit and inspiring and working with people.

Rick Spaulding is a photographer specializing in digital photography for the theater and works for National Camera Exchange. He is also an antique dealer and eBay afficianado who enjoys collecting marbles but his true joys in life are his two boys and his beautiful wife, Tinia.

In light of the horrors of the XXth Century, the Inquisition looks like a mild and sensible approach.

Twisting and twisting, the main weapon used by the homosexual agenda, to destroy the Roman Catholic Church and every principle it stands for...why would anyone be surprised that they are now twisting the words of the Bible. Oh, and God is a woman? They need to get out of our church, along with the ones who allow this sickness to continue.

Shhh you can't say a bad word about the fruits at the religion forum. Even if they are the termites of the Church.

However, until the Magisterium formally embraces this moral heresy, I shall remain loyal and trust in Christ's promise to Peter

When would there ever be a time not to trust the Lord's promise?
Has not the Church prevailed through various deceits and murders and heresies and all manner of obstacles the Devil could muster?
Have faith, my friend, the Holy Spirit will guide, and though we may sometimes wonder how much can we take, how bad can it get, no matter, the Church will prevail. In the darkest of times sometimes the most wondrous miracles occur and beautiful saints arise even as we despair the future.

27 posted on 07/18/2004 4:35:29 PM PDT by visualops (The cost of fighting the War on Terror is significant but the cost of not fighting is unimaginable.)

I'm done being silent. The FRUITS are foul, they need to be torn down and burned.

We just sang "Here I am Lord" in today's service at our church (LCMS). I'm speechless. It's such a beautiful song. I always thought it was taken from Isaiah, when he was commissioned for God's service. Are you absolutely sure about the origins of this song????

"GAY MEN AND lesbians certainly have had much to celebrate at Pride festivals around the country this year."

Pride heads the list of the 'Seven Deadly Sins', because it leads to all of the other sins. The exhibitionist homos have named their annual cavalcade of perversion quite appropriately.

31 posted on 07/18/2004 10:35:02 PM PDT by TheCrusader ("the frenzy of the Mohammedans has devastated the churches of God" Pope Urban II)

"Connectiveness? Is that a word?"

No, and neither is 'homophobia' a word. Nor does "gay" mean sexual deviancy. Nor is there any natural or healthy 'alternative lifestyle' to opt for. The entire homosexual macrocosm is a hateful and demented parody of God's natural order of creation, camouflaged by meaningless words and deceptive phrases. They eat, drink, sleep, breath and live a macabre lie.

32 posted on 07/18/2004 10:59:44 PM PDT by TheCrusader ("the frenzy of the Mohammedans has devastated the churches of God" Pope Urban II)

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