VICE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Hi, Kinship Family! In the midst of so many challenges, I hope you are doing well.

I am recently back from our 21st European Kinship Meeting. Switzerland is breathtaking, and the kindness of our hosts filled my heart. I am writing about them for our Building Safe Places newsletter that will be sent out later this month.

This week we had our first Declobbering the Clobber Texts Zoom discussion. Tom is a wonderful facilitator. He provides information while inviting us to share our ideas, thoughts, questions, and opinions. We had people from seven countries and lots of backgrounds. It’s a rather rollicking group! October 15 will be our discussion of Leviticus and the texts there that have been used to clobber people of the Alphabet Rainbow. If you would like to join us, you can register using this link.

October 8 (2 PM Eastern Time US) – Gender for Geezers will have a Zoom conversation about the complicated journey of respectfully understanding, addressing, and describing various members of our Rainbow community.

This workshop started because some older Kinship folk were so confused by all the pronouns and descriptors they were being asked to use, they gave up. They are friends of mine. I called them geezers. I began to explain to them what we will talk about. The name stuck.

We will look at brain chemistry. We will look at the difference between sex, gender, and pheromones. We will look at and learn about different names for how we describe ourselves and what pronouns we prefer to use. I would like this to also be a place where people can say they are confused, ask questions, and share their journey.

If you would like to join us, you can register using this link. I am looking forward to seeing you!

October 16 (2 PM Eastern Time US) – Nourishing Safe Communities: Healing Injured Ones

This is the first of three Zoom conversations. They look at specific components that make families, churches, organizations, and communities safe and nurturing to the people who are part of them. We will discuss three basic foundations: safety, nurturing, and skill building. Then we will look at and discuss ten aspects of these foundations: safety (in its many forms), boundaries, appreciation, the responsibility/ entitlement balance, celebration and mourning, reciprocity, accountability, communication, and ways to use power for the good of others. Nourishing Safe Communities is a collaborative conversation. I would like for you to bring your wishes and concerns. If you would like to join us, you can register using this link:

Finally, a wish for prayer: Using our By Request program, we have intrepid people who invited their entire church to a discussion of the Bible’s clobber texts this month. To say that the invitation caused some discussion in that congregation is an understatement. We would appreciate your care and prayers if you are a praying person. I’ll let you know next month what happens.

Meanwhile, take good care of yourself, for you are valued and valuable.

— Catherine Taylor, Vice President