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Making Room: Spiritual Alternatives
for Lesbians & Gays: Part II
Last time I related some religious
organizations that have emerged within mainline
traditions. Several other organizations fall
roughly into that category, among them
Dignity, the Unitarian Universalist Lesbian and
Gay Community, the First Existentialist Church
and the Metropolitan Community Church.
Dignity is a national organization of gay
Catholics, their friends and families. There is an
active local chapter that meets at the Shrine of
the Immaculate Conception, 48 Martin Luther
King Drive, SW (near the capital and next door
to Central Presbyterian Church). Mass is
celebrated every Sunday at 11 a.m„ brunch
afterwards at various locations. There are
currently about 27 active members in the local
Dignity chapter and of that 75% are men, 25%
are women. Dignity has experienced an
upheaval since last spring's papal pastoral letter
on homosexuality which forbade their use of
church property (among other equally abusive
things). Since that time many have dropped
away in anger and disappointment.
Recently the group has begun to rebuild its
membership and has been working closely with
two supportive priests. Prior to the time they
were asked to leave church property they had an
outreach to the homeless, volunteering at the
night shelter at St. Anthony's. Currently
members volunteer to help serve the weekly
Saturday meal for the homeless at the Shrine of
the Immaculate Conception.
Last spring Dignity orchestrated the Circle the
Church protest (circling Christ the King, here in
Atlanta) in response to the pope's 'pastoral' letter
concerning homosexuals. Coming out of that
protest is a working relationship with the
Diocese's AIDS Taskforce (though no
movement yet about use of church property).
Dignity Atlanta has been working with the task
force on a recent service of healing in which
members served as lay ministers at the mass.
For more information call: 874-1694.
The Unitarian Universalist Community of
Lesbian and Gays includes members of the
various Unitarian congregations of Atlanta and
others who are not affiliated with the fellowship.
Many gay men and lesbians affiliated with the
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship when they
became disallusioned (or rejected) by more
orthodox traditions. The group, which meets the
second Thursday of the month at the Unitarian
Church on Cliff Valley Way, originally met
more as a social than a religious group. It is
now in a transition period which seems to be
moving toward a more spiritual emphasis.
About 30% of the members are women. For
many years they have put out a newsletter which
lists a comprehensive calendar of events in the
Atlanta gay and Lesbian community.
For more information call: 634-5134.
The First Existentialist Church in Candler
Park is affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist
Fellowship and differs from other UUA
fellowships in its existential emphasis. One
member interpreted that to mean that all spiritual
joumies are honored and seen as very personal,
and therefore can be channeled in a variety of
ways. This is evident in the style and scope of
worship there. All Jewish holidays are
celebrated as well as many pagan holidays.
Members come from a gamut of traditions and
are able to find space in which to express
themselves spiritually. Two major holidays that
are also celebrated by the church are Susan B.
Anthony's Birthday and Martin Luther King,
Jr.'s Birthday.
Roughly 65% of the congregation are
lesbians. The First Existentialist Church serves
a great portion of the Candler Park community:
ALFA, BWMT and the Atlanta Feminist
Women's Chorus all meet at the church
regularly. The church is committed to providing
space for lesbian and gay activities. This spring
the 'E' is sponsoring the Candler Park Festival
which will bring a variety of performing and
visual artists to the Park and die church. The
church is located at 470 Candler Park Drive.
For more information call: 378-5570.
MCC (Metropolitan Community Church)
started about twenty years ago as an altemadve
Christian setting for lesbians and gay men.
The Metropolitan Community Church has
grown to an international body with
congregations throughout the U.S., Europe,
Canada, Mexico, Australia, and Africa.
Locally there are two congregations: MCC
of the Blessed Redeemer and All Saints MCC.
The membership is predominandy male,
though in recent years more lesbians have
attended and funcuoned in leadership roles.
MCC of the Blessed Redeemer, in existence
for 16 years, is located at 800 North Highland
Avenue. Services are conducted at 2 p.m
Sundays and 7 p.m. Wednesday evenings.
They run a coffee house for the homeless on
Friday and Sunday evenings with a service
Sunday evening. Chuck Larson is the new
pastor. For more information call: 872-2246.
All Saints MCC is a somewhat newer
congregauon that meets at Grant Park
Aldersgate United Methodist Church. Services
are held at 5 p.m. Sundays. About one third of
the members are women, with strong
representation of women in leadership roles.
The church provides spiritual counseling and
hospital visitation to PWA's. Each second
Sunday a special donation is taken up for AID
Atlanta. They have recently instituted a
deacon's closet for indigent PWA's.
Opportunities are available for participation in
a variety of teams including couple's groups,
singles groups and social outings as well as in
committees that oversee the ongoing work of
the church in its many facets. The pastor is
Steve Fund. For more information call: 636
3507.
The possibilities within the community seem
almost limitless. In the past two articles I have
only begun to scratch the surface of alternatives
for spiritual/religious expression. As in other
areas of our lives, we have found it necessary
to 'come out without maps' as spiritual beings,
to make our way by trial and error, questioning
the assumptions of the culture in which we
were raised all along the way.
Next time I hope to look at some alternative
traditions including the Vedanta Society of
Atlanta, Science of Mind and the Church of
Religious Science. Later: ex-gay ministries.
-Connie Tuttle
Kurt Rahn, Director of the Atlanta Chapter of NAPWA, accepting the Georgia Chapter
of the National Association of Social Workers Stone Soup Award. Rahn was given the
award March 23,1988, "in recognition of significant individual contribution to the
betterment of the human condition in Georgia communities." Pictured with Rahn is
NAPWA Atlanta Chapter Board Member, Chris Minor.
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