Sunshine Cathedral MCC
1480 SW 9th Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33315-1375
954-462-2004
fax 954-462-7070
www.sunshinecathedral.org
info@sunshinecathedral.org

SunBurst: The Weekly Newsletter of the Sunshine Cathedral MCC

The Weekly Newsletter of the Sunshine Cathedral MCC

November 2008 Archive

Q&A with Rev. Durrell Watkins

Question: You reminded us on Sunday that we have spent most of a year reading from Matthew’s Gospel, and you said we would spend next year reading from Mark. Is there a reason you spend a year at a time on a Gospel?

Answer: We follow the Common Lectionary at Sunshine Cathedral. It’s “Common” because the readings are used by many congregations. So if you went a church in Arkansas, New Jersey, Vermont, or New Mexico, you would likely hear the same Gospel reading on a given Sunday. Methodists, Lutherans, Episcopalians, the United Church of Christ, and many MCCs (just to name a few denominations) follow the Common Lectionary. The Catholic Lectionary is very similar to the Common Lectionary.

The Lectionary follows a three-year cycle: Year A (where Matthew is featured), Year B (which features Mark), and Year C (where Luke is the gospel of the year). John’s Gospel is worked in a few weeks of each year. In addition to Gospels, there are assigned epistle readings, psalms, and lessons from the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). We use two or three of the four possible readings each Sunday. Often, we also include a contemporary reading or a text from another sacred tradition. The readings usually share a theme, and because we follow the Lectionary, if you were to attend every Sunday service at Sunshine Cathedral for three consecutive years, you would hear about 60% of the bible read aloud during that three-year cycle. Our approach to scripture reading in worship is intentional and systematic, and is meant to acquaint us thoroughly with our sacred texts.

Question: When are LBGT people going to be seen as human beings in the eyes of Floridians? How could Florida vote for Amendment 2?

Answer: It is complex, isn’t it? The real problem is the hate rhetoric of the religious right. They have persuaded otherwise good, caring people that to be “faithful” they must oppose gay equality. Their arguments are the same ones they have used to oppose gender equality, and racial equality, and inter-religious camaraderie, but eventually, their arguments fail. Eventually, good people know that it isn’t right to dehumanize others.

Amendment 2 may have received 62% of the votes, but I imagine there was a time not long ago when it would have received 70% or even 80% of the votes. And, to be fair, amendments are usually worded in ways that are meant to confuse people. I bet there were many who thought they were voting for marriage equality instead of against it, but simply misunderstood the verbiage of the amendment.

We still have work to do, but I believe that we are making progress, however slowly. Intolerance, patriarchy, and heterosexism may have held a slight advantage for now, but remember Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Canada, and other places that have said no to hate. Remember that in Florida, many people actually voted against intolerance.

Finally, remember the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “The road ahead will not always be smooth… There will be inevitable setbacks… There will be those moments when the buoyancy of hope will be transformed into the fatigue of despair. Our dreams will sometimes be shattered and our ethereal hopes blasted… Difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice. Let us realize that William Cullen Bryant is right: ‘Truth crushed to earth will rise again’… This is our hope for the future…” This is the hope of all people who long for equality and justice. I stand with you in hope!

Question: My friend and I are arguing about reincarnation. How can I persuade her that reincarnation doesn’t really happen?

Answer: I, for one, wouldn’t bother trying to dissuade your friend from her belief in reincarnation. Reincarnation is one of many symbols that suggest the energy of life is ongoing and that life’s significance doesn’t end with physical death. Some people believe in a spirit world or paradise. Some people believe in an eternal, restful oblivion. Some people have only questions and no certainties about what comes after death. Jesus said, “In God’s house, there are many rooms” (John 14.2). Maybe we each choose a different room. One person may choose the restful sleeping chamber; another, the cosmic party room; still another, the room with a revolving door so they can return and do it all again. Some people thought Jesus was the reincarnation of Elijah; he didn’t seem too offended by their belief, even if he didn’t share it (Luke 9.18-20).

If one’s beliefs about the afterlife add hope, quality, or comfort in this life, then why not let them have those beliefs, whatever shape they take. You believe one thing about the afterlife, your friend believes something else. You both agree that life is good and meaningful and its purpose isn’t limited by time or space. Maybe you’re both right, at least about what is most important. And the truth is: none of us knows the details of the next world until we experience it for ourselves. For now, I’m busy enough trying to make the most of this life.

Remember, “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5.7). We can believe that life is eternally significant without knowing the details of what the next experience will be. If we experience the sacredness of the now, the “next” will probably be wonderful enough, however it manifests.

Question: Do you think people who claim to channel Ascended Teachers or Angel Energies are sincere or are they really just con artists?

Answer: I’ve read some “channeled” teachings that seemed a little vapid. But I’ve known people who found them quite uplifting. Who I am to deny their enjoyable experience?

There are two “channeled” works that I have appreciated. The first is A Course in Miracles. Psychiatrist Helen Schucman claimed to experience something she called “inner dictation”. She had been raised in a secular Jewish family and, as a scientist, considered herself agnostic. But she claimed to take her “inner dictation” experience seriously and she attributed the inner “Voice” to Jesus!

ACIM seems to be a blend of Buddhist philosophy, Gnosticism, Positive Psychology, and Christian terminology. It is presented as a self-help curriculum and many people believe they have been helped by studying and applying the teachings of A Course in Miracles. Was it channeled? It is my nature to be a bit skeptical about such claims, but its positive message has proven useful to many people, and that’s what is important to me. Even if it is nothing more than the work of a skilled mental health practitioner who blended spirituality with psychology to come up with a useful self-help tool, it is nevertheless something that is important to people all over the world. Whatever its origin, it has benefited many people.

The second “channeled” work that I’m thinking of us is the teaching of “Abraham”. Esther Hicks claims to channel a group of energy-beings who collectively are called “Abraham”. The teachings of “Abraham” seem to be empowering, positive, and there is a definite audience for them. Is the teaching really just the wisdom of an insightful individual (Esther Hicks), or is it coming from some other plane of existence? I don’t much care. For me, if the teachings are positive and helpful and are being used constructively to help people, then they are good enough regardless of their myth of origin.

I don’t know if every person who claims to channel wisdom from beyond is sincere (my assumption is that some are and some aren’t), but I do know there are examples of so-called channeled works being at least harmless and perhaps beneficial. If you have found yourself attracted to some of this literature and are finding it positive and helpful, then that may be good enough. If you do not find yourself being drawn to such literature, then simply ignore it. Different strokes, as it were. In either case, there is probably no need to rush to judgment. If such literature speaks to you, explore it; if not, leave it alone. The myths about what inspires such literature are much less important to me than what the literature actually says.

If you have questions about faith, the bible, the church, or sexuality & spirituality, you can email your questions to durrell@sunshinecathedral.org, or go to the Cathedral web site at www.sunshinecathedral.org and click on the link there. Rev. Durrell Watkins will answer your questions and publish the answers in this column. Your name will always be withheld, so only the actual question and the response will be printed.

Rev. Robert Griffin to serve as first MCC member of EDS Board of Trustees

On Saturday, October 25, 2008, the Reverend Robert L. Griffin was elected to the Board of Trustees for the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA, making him the first MCC Trustee of EDS. Before joining the Board of Trustees, Rev. Griffin served for over a year on the EDS Alumni Executive Council.

After being licensed as a Baptist minister and serving as a Religious Program Specialist in the U.S. Navy for ten years, Rev. Robert Griffin completed clergy training for MCC through the Samaritan Institute for Religious Studies. While completing his academic proficiencies, he founded New Light MCC in Hagerstown, MD, and served as that church’s first pastor for almost nine years.

In the fall of 2003 Rev. Griffin resigned as the pastor of New Light MCC and returned to seminary at the Episcopal Divinity School in January 2004. He was the first MCC student at EDS following a newly formed relationship between Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) and the seminary. Rev. Griffin was graduated from the Episcopal Divinity School in 2006 with a Master of Divinity degree.

Currently, Rev. Griffin is pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree at the Florida Center for Theological Studies in Miami, FL, and he is on staff at the Sunshine Cathedral — one church meeting in Fort Lauderdale, FL, and in Jamaica (and establishing a new site in Miami).

A Cathedral Prayer List thank you

To Sunshine Cathedral:

For almost a year now we have offered prayers for Sgt. Karen Josack to return safely from her service in Kaji, Iraq. My heart bled when she was sent there. She’s a 48-year-old mother of two and my son’s second-grade teacher. She is back safely now. I showed her [our prayer list in the SunBurst], and she had been told we were praying for her… She said she took comfort in our prayers and support. She sends her gratitude, and she says she felt happy that we would pray for her in her time of need.

Sincerely,

The Larrable-Elder Family

Endowment fund established

Last Spring we received word that Bill Watson remembered the Sunshine Cathedral in his estate plan. When we received a copy of his instructions, his Last Will & Testament stated that the bequest to the Cathedral is “for an Endowment Fund to benefit the future of the church.”

The Sunshine Community Foundation established this endowment fund at its Board of Governors meeting, and Bill Watson was inducted into the Pillars Society posthumously in June of 2008.

Many of us recall Bill Watson’s leadership in the GLBT community, as he was the founder and publisher of the newspaper TWN, which began in 1977. His newspaper was a voice to oppose Anita Bryant’s prejudice and rhetoric against the gay community.

We honor Bill and remember him for the good work he did in South Florida for everyone’s benefit. We also thank him for the good he continues to do here at the Sunshine Cathedral.

Metropolitan Community Church celebrates 40 years of ministry

On October 6, 2008, Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) will celebrate 40 years of continuous ministry! On October 6, 1968, a de-frocked, gay, Pentecostal minister named Troy D. Perry held the first MCC worship service in his home. Twelve people attended that first service; 40 years later, MCC has a presence all over the world, and Sunshine Cathedral is one of MCC’s most dynamic churches. Your support of Sunshine Cathedral contributes to the work of justice and inclusion that is saving and improving lives all over the world. You can be proud of MCC’s 40-year history. This week say a prayer of blessing for Sunshine Cathedral and for Metropolitan Community Churches all over the world!

We remember Bill Camerino

Born March 11, 1938, and passed away February 1, 1996
Pillars Society bequest: October 2008

Bill was first introduced to the Sunshine Cathedral by Reverend Grant Ford. He was Grant’s chiropractor. Bill started coming to church in January of 1986. He loved the church so much that he constantly brought his friends to services.

Bill’s mother frequently came to church too and so did his long-time companion John Van Boven. Bill and John were known for crying at every service. Many knew Bill as a great chiropractor, but few people knew that he would pray for his patients while they were in his care. That’s how he connected with them.

Bill Camerino was a generous man with a good heart. We are grateful to him and his devotion to the church. His estate honored the Sunshine Cathedral with a bequest which we received in October 2008.

New theological journal

Sharing the Light is the name of our new webcast (visit www.sunshinecathedral.org/stl to watch the current episode). Sharing the Light is also the name of our new theological journal. Today, we are offering the first-ever issue of Sharing the Light Journal. The inaugural issue is free (future issues may be free at Sunshine Cathedral, but people from anywhere can subscribe for only $10 annually). The lead article in this first issue is written by Father John McNeill. The next Sharing the Light will be offered during Advent. Pick up your free copy of Sharing the Light today and tell your friends about this newest resource being offered by Light University and Sunshine Cathedral.

Sunday School begins

We have teachers. We have a curriculum. And we have a starting date. Now we just need children!

Children’s Sunday School will be offered during the second service on the first and third Sundays of each month, beginning today. So help us spread the word to families that we will soon have this wonderful new opportunity for them. Anyone who would like to join the teaching team, simply contact Rev. Robert Griffin (robert@sunshinecathedral.org). All volunteers who work with children must first pass a background check.

The Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus 2008 – 2009 Season

The Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus will present three of its 2008 – 2009 concerts here at the Sunshine Cathedral in the Walt Lawrence & Stephen Lewis Center for Worship and the Performing Arts:

  • Holiday Concert: “A Gift for All” — December 17th, 18th, 19th (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday) at 8:00 pm
  • Seventh annual choral festival: “Songs of My Family” — Saturday, March 14th, at 8:00 pm
  • Spring concert: “Celebrating Life Together” — June 19th, 20th, 21st (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) at 8:00 pm

Season ticket order forms will be available through the end of October in the Simply Divine Bookstore and on the Chorus web site at www.ftlgmc.org. Reserved seats are available in the first eight rows of the side sections at $40 each — for a total of $120 for all three concerts. The center section of the $40 tickets is already sold out.

Another Cathedral member in city government

We all know that Congregant Suzanne Boisvenue serves on the Oakland Park City Commission. We now have another congregant in city government! Cathedral member Justin Flippen has been elected to the Wilton Manors City Commission and has also been chosen as the Vice-Mayor of Wilton Manors. Congratulations, Justin!

We remember William Wood

Born June 25, 1926, and passed away June 19, 2005
Pillars Society bequest: November 2008

William Wood always attended the first service at the Sunshine Cathedral during the latter years of his life. Each Sunday he sat with Rick Killoran, Dave Keller, and Bob Graham.

Bill had several discussions about his estate with Rick Killoran, who was Co-chair of the Pillars Society. He informed Rick that the Sunshine Cathedral was listed as a beneficiary in his Last Will & Testament. He also remembered another favorite charity here in South Florida, The Stonewall Library & Archives.

After his death, Bill’s estate provided for the care and well-being of his partner in life, Philip Gamble. When Philip died earlier this year, Bill’s estate honored the Sunshine Cathedral with a bequest, which we received in November 2008.

Thank you William Wood for your special care and affection.

Cathedral parking

In an effort to make parking easier for our friends with limited mobility and for our first time guests, we are asking all able-bodied Cathedral staff, volunteers, and worship team members (choir, ushers, altar servers, etc.) to please park in the grassy parking area on the southeast side of the Cathedral on Sunday mornings. Thank you for offering this extra hospitality by helping us utilize all our parking capabilities to the fullest as we continue to grow.

New from Sunshine Cathedral Media Ministries

Visit www.sunshinecathedral.org and check out what’s new.

First, you’ll notice the link Sharing the Light. Sharing the Light is our new webcast talk show. We will be recording two episodes each month and each episode will run for two weeks. Be sure to watch each episode and tell your friends about Sharing the Light.

Secondly, under “Links” you will notice that Spirit & Truth is now available in PDF format. If you have friends who live out of the area, you can tell them about Spirit & Truth, and they can download their own copy right from our website.

Of course video/audio sermons are still available on the website. The latest Healing Rays (spiritual leadership lesson) is always on the website, and an electronic version of the SunBurst is on the website. Our regularly updated prayer list (and sample prayer) is also on the site.

Finally, making donations on the website is easier than ever. Just click on Make a Donation and in only a few seconds you can easily and securely make a contribution to the church.

www.sunshinecathedral.org is a better resource than ever before! Visit our site often and encourage others to do the same.

Global Progressive Movement

Jim Adams founded The Center for Progressive Christianity (TCPC) in 1994. You can learn more about the TCPC at their website www.tcpc.org.

What Is Progressive Christianity?

by James Rowe Adams

Progressive Christianity represents a way of following Jesus that is generous in all things, open to all people, and responsive to an ever-changing world. While affirming their loyalty to the Christian tradition, progressive Christians do not claim that their religion is superior to all others.

In defining what we meant by “progressive”, the founders of The Center for Progressive Christianity declared that we are Christians who place more importance on how we treat other people than on what we say we believe. What we actually believe, as opposed to what we think we believe, shows up in our behavior. If we make believing the crucial issue, we limit participation in Christian communities to those who are able to give intellectual assent to a proposition concerning the nature of God.

The Center for Progressive Christianity has two target audiences. The first is Christian congregations, which we urge to open their doors and their hearts to people who do not (or perhaps cannot) accept conventional beliefs and doctrines. The second audience is those individuals who currently have no attachments to organized religion. Some of them identify themselves as spiritual but not religious. Some are people who once belonged to a church but dropped out because they felt that Christianity was deceitful, irrelevant, or oppressive.

We attempt to convince them that they can participate in the life of a Christian church without compromising their intellectual integrity or denying their basic humanity. The number of congregations willing to identify themselves as progressive is growing steadily, and the congregations themselves are enjoying steady growth. Increasing numbers of people who had at one time given up on religion are seeking out such churches.

Progressive Christians are attempting to reverse a trend clearly observable in the developed parts of the world. The church is all but dead in Europe. For example, only 6.3 percent of the people in Britain can be found in church on an average Sunday, and the count would be much lower were it not for recent immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean. The American numbers would be much the same if we were not a nation of immigrants who made religion the focus of their communities when arriving in this strange land.

American progressive Christians are not alone in attempting to reverse the trend. The progressive Christianity network includes independent organizations in Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, South Australia, and New Zealand as well as the United States. Individuals from many other countries have affiliated with one or more of these organizations. All of them look for wisdom from contemporary Bible scholarship, and all are open to insights from other disciplines. Although the religious and political situations in their countries are different, when the representatives of the six national networks gathered, they found that they had similar concerns about the future of the church and about pressing moral issues. They also found that the approaches they were taking were somewhat different.

For example, the word “progressive” does not work in Ireland, so they call themselves the “Open Christianity Network”. The Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity focuses on bringing the implications of contemporary scholarship into church communities, especially in their worship times, one result of which is that it does not put the same emphasis on Jesus as the rest of us do. The Progressive Christianity Network in Britain has more local groups than the rest of us put together. Both The Center for Progressive Christianity in the United States and the Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity have affiliated congregations.

As far as I know, the United States is unique in having political activists calling themselves progressive Christians. These people have a progressive social vision because they have particular understanding of the Christian faith based on the commandment to love one’s neighbor. The two related but distinct meanings of progressive Christianity have caused some confusion, but the concerns of both movements tend to overlap. Advocates for both progressive forms of Christianity see themselves as different from conventional Christians of the sort identified in the media as “Christian”.

Many Americans hold the mistaken notion that conventional — that is evangelical and fundamentalist — churches are thriving, but the rapid growth of conservative churches peaked some time ago, and many of those churches are now in decline. In 2003, the Barma Institute reported that those calling themselves “born-again Christians” shrank by six percent in the previous six years. By way of contrast, the most rapidly growing religiously identifiable group in the United States is the unaffiliated. Last year, the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago reported that 22 percent of people in this country never go to church.

If Christianity survives in this country, the reason will be that progressive churches will have found ways to attract those unaffiliated people.

Jim Adams adapted this article from his contribution to “A TPC Dialogue: What Is Progressive Christianity?” The Progressive Christian magazine, May / June 2008.

Simply Divine’s newest arrival — Sex As God Intended by John McNeill

Sex As God Intended The bookstore is pleased to announce the arrival of Sex as God Intended by John J. McNeill. The book is a “a bold and moving statement of faith and discovery by the former Jesuit priest whose quest for truth and understanding has inspired countless souls and changed Church history forever.” We are proud to have Father John and his partner Charlie as members of Sunshine Cathedral and continue to wish them and his book great success. “This book represents a concise summary of the wisdom culled over a lifetime. Fr. John’s ideas have enriched the faith of thousands, including fellow teachers, religious scholars, ministers, and lay folk.” Congratulation Fr. John!

There are a limited number of books in the bookstore. Should we sell out, click the book image at left. This will take you to amazon.com. By using the Cathedral’s amazon.com link, a percentage of your purchase will be returned to the Cathedral.

Sunshine Cathedral prepares to launch new campus — virtually

The Sunshine Cathedral Virtual Campus will soon be launched as one of the newest campus venues of the Sunshine Cathedral. Currently we have the Fort Lauderdale Campus, a Jamaica Campus — which covers five parishes, and the budding Miami campus.

The Sunshine Cathedral Virtual Campus is intended to be its own online campus reaching out to people who are not able to visit one of the three “physical” campuses. Those who participate in Sunshine Cathedral’s life through the virtual campus will be asked to give time, talent, and treasure just as members who access the physical sites do.

The Virtual Campus will offer people who are struggling to “come out” in other churches a way to feel connected to an affirming and supportive spiritual community. It will also provide worship and education opportunities to people who don’t have access to one of our physical sites. Finally, the Virtual Campus will be one of the ways that we resource all of our sites as well as other churches. We have been asked to work with groups in Guyana and Suriname, and the Virtual Church will be one of the ways that we will be able to resource these countries as they seek to build progressive, pro-gay faith communities. This is one more exciting way that we will be Sharing the Light with the World!

Our Virtual Campus will soon be offering topical “Webinars” by noted leaders and scholars from the fields of theology, politics, and social activism (many such leaders, such as MCC Moderator Nancy L. Wilson, are already scheduled as Webinar presenters); online membership classes; new Light University self-paced courses; seasonal online study groups; social networking opportunities, and more. With the Sunshine Cathedral Virtual Campus we will have the capacity to reach up to 1,000 individuals in any singular “virtual” event no matter where in the world those individuals may be!

To launch our new Virtual Campus, I would like to invite you to join us for our first seasonal event: An Advent Study Group on December 4th, 11th and 18th at 7:00 pm (ET). More information about how to register will be available soon.

If you have questions about the Sunshine Cathedral Virtual Campus please contact Reverend Robert Griffin at robert@sunshinecathedral.org.

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