Evanston Campus forum to explore Church's stance on sexuality
Episcopal News Service. May 14, 2007 [051407-04]
Two Northwestern University campus groups that once might not have been expected to come together -- a Christian campus ministry and an undergraduate Lesbian Gay Bisexual & Transgendered (LGBT) group -- plan to hold a unique discussion.
The May 17 gathering "might prove a shared moment of destiny," according to a news release.
The Episcopal Campus Ministry and the Rainbow Alliance at Northwestern University will co-sponsor "Beyond Us and Them: How the Episcopal Church's Embrace of LGBT People is Invigorating its Proclamation of the Gospel." The event will be held at nearby Seabury Western Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.
The Rev. Liz Stedman, chaplain to Canterbury Northwestern, the Episcopal ministry on the Evanston, Illinois campus, said in the release that in the Episcopal Church there is a "growing clarity and conviction that we are on the right path -- that God is calling us here, and that our actions stem from an authentic reading of the Bible."
"This raises important questions that this forum will attempt to address questions that may have ramifications well beyond the Anglican Communion," she said.
The forum will be the capstone event in Rainbow Week, an annual week of activity sponsored by Rainbow Alliance, Northwestern's undergraduate LGBT organization.
"The Northwestern University Rainbow Alliance is very proud to have "Beyond Us and Them" as a part of our Rainbow Week 2007 events. Rainbow Alliance believes that the Episcopal Church is on the brink of significant change that stands to impact the very foundation of world social politics," said Jason Eby, a member of the Rainbow Alliance Executive Committee. "Many ask, what is the role that religious institutions should play in LGBT human rights? It is our hope that the Episcopal Church is entering crucial dialogue in order to reconceptualize what it means to be Christian, what it means to be an American, and what it means to be human."
The news release said the event will address questions such as:
- How is the Episcopal Church's growing embrace of LGBT people affecting the identity of the church and its proclamation of the Gospel?
- What is the significance of recent events (including the consecration of an openly gay bishop) for individual Episcopalians and their parishes?
- Does all this matter to anyone outside the Anglican Communion? Is it important to the lives of LGBT people, and to their quest for justice?
The program will include Stedman's personal narrative of her journey to priesthood as a lesbian. She will offer her story as an avenue for reflecting on the evolution of the Episcopal Church and the evolution of her own thinking both about the church and about her relationship to God, according to the news release.
Following Stedman's remarks, a panel will explore the questions raised above. Panelists will include: Dr. Richard Kieckhefer, professor of Religion and History, Northwestern University; Dr. Ruth Meyers, academic dean and Professor of Liturgics, Seabury-Western Seminary; Kelby Harrison, doctoral student in Philosophy, Northwestern University; and Katie Nakamura, Northwestern undergraduate (Music '07) who is discerning a call to priesthood in the Episcopal Church.
More information about the forum can be found on Canterbury Northwestern's website.