Happy month of May!
There has been so much happening in the past few weeks. If you haven't joined in with the presentations, I hope you will check out our YouTube channel and catch up with the recordings there. Both the Washington Adventist University summit and the Adventist Peace Fellowship summit were inspiring, enriching, and filled with wonderful presentations and sermons. I highly recommend spending some time soaking in the presentation. Adventist Today had Kinship's own Ron Lawson for their Sabbath Seminar present on Colin Cook's Quest ministry—one that supposedly could change attendees from gay to straight. Of course, that was false advertising. It was quite an eye-opening presentation. These and many more can be found on our YouTube channel: //www.youtube.com/@SDAkinship" data-cke-saved-href="https://www.youtube.com/@SDAkinship">https://www.youtube.com/@SDAkinship.
Of course, not all the news is positive. We still hear the horrible stories in which folks are rejected by their families and church community after coming out. The new Ugandan anti-gay bill that is on the Ugandan president's desk waiting for his signature is one of the most horrific bills for the queer community. Sadly, the president of the Adventist Church in Uganda is on the committee pushing this bill into law. So many people have no clue what it means to be LGBTQIA+.
I see this not only in places like Uganda but in most countries around the world. People condemn queer folks because they can't really wrap their heads around the topics we represent. The most important thing we can do right now is to speak up. Let folks (your friends, your church leaders, and anyone who will listen) know what is happening and why it is morally wrong. The more attention we bring to this bill that ignores human rights, the more likely we can save lives and make a difference there. Other African countries are watching this and considering a similar bill for their country. This is not acceptable.
After the COVID-19 pandemic throwing everyone for a loop, SDA Kinship is back on track and is busier than ever. We have new members joining us each week and our volunteer leadership staff is being stretched in trying to cover all the things that need to be done. We have several key positions open that need to be filled by a team of individuals—a team so that all the responsibilities are not on one person. These positions are:
- Women’s Director (helping to create a safe space for women)
- Youth Director (suggesting programming and resources that are meaningful to Kinship members under age 35)
- Director of Development (If you have experience writing grants, please contact me. More funds means more programming for everyone.)
- Men (We've never had a Men’s Coordinator before, but we need someone to welcome new guys to Kinship and to suggest programming)
- Non Binary (having someone to work with the trans coordinator to help better educate Kinship on what the challenges are of being non-binary)
If you would like to work helping to welcome new members, suggesting programming for these demographics, pointing them to resources, etc., please let me know. We are flexible with how much time you have to devote to doing this each week; and, with a team, you can work with others to divide up the workload. Together, we can create the safe community we deserve.
— Floyd Poenitz, President
@KinshipPrez (on Twitter)