|
Spiritual Resources
PFLAG is
not affiliated with any church or religious group. Recognizing that many
of the issues associated with being Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual or Transgendered
originate within religious beliefs, these links are provided for purely as a
resource. Inclusion of these links on this site does NOT infer or imply
any association or recommendation by PFLAG.
Welcoming Churches
| Gay
Jews |
Welcome to the mishpocha!
Orthodox Gay Jews are thriving in New York City and around the world. A
variety of resources serve our vibrant and growing community. |
| HeartStrong,
Inc. |
HeartStrong, Inc., exists to provide truthful
information and support to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and
allied persons who have attended, are attending, employed by or associated
with religious educational institutions through support, education, and
advocacy. HeartStrong, Inc., is a non-sectarian outreach
established to provide educational resources, compassion and understanding
to GLBT and allied persons adversely affected by the influence of
religious educational institutions. |
| OrthoDykes |
The
purpose of this site is to provide a home on the Internet for Orthodox
Jewish lesbians. At the moment, there are OrthoDykes groups in New York,
in Israel and on the Internet. |
| Orthodox
Gays |
The purpose of this site is to provide a home on the
Internet for Orthodox Gay Jewish Men. We have a sister site called OrthoDykes,
which is for women only. |
| Religious
Tolerance |
We are an multi-faith
agency of five volunteers in the U.S. and Canada who follow five
different religious beliefs (Agnosticism, Atheism, Christianity,
Wicca, and Zen Buddhism). Our group is not affiliated with any religious
organization. We mainly rely on the revenue from banner ads, our readers'
donations, and sales
of CD-ROMs of our web site, to enable us to continue our work. |
| Shepherd
Initiative |
The Shepherd Initiative is a coalition of faith
communities and individual Christians who believe that discipleship with
Jesus Christ can be compatible with a person's homosexual orientation and
opposite gender identity. Members also agree that informative
discussion about the fundamental nature and outward expression of this
orientation and gender identity is important for Christian communities.
The organization represents a diverse group of Christian
traditions including: Anglican, Baptist, Congregational, Episcopal,
Evangelical, Lutheran, Mennonite, Metropolitan Community Church,
Presbyterian, Quaker, Roman Catholic, Unitarian and United Methodist.
The Shepherd Initiative is directed by an all-volunteer board comprised of
heterosexual and homosexual Christians.
The organization works in memory of Matthew Shepard who
was brutally murdered in 1998, and whose death exposed the destructiveness
of homophobia.
P.O. Box 82001 Columbus, OH 43202
info@shepherdinitiative.org |
| Soulforce |
"Soulforce is an interfaith movement
committed to ending spiritual violence perpetuated by religious policies
and teachings against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT)
people."
Spiritual Violence: Spiritual
violence is the misuse of religion to sanction the condemnation and
rejection of any of God’s children.
Misusing religion and/or God to support society’s bias against
sexual and gender minorities also inappropriately justifies psychological,
legal and physical violence against them.
Some zealots blatantly articulate spiritual violence against gay,
lesbian, bisexual and trangender people when they scream “God Hates
Fags.” Mainline churches
may be less blatant and more sophisticated, but they are no less guilty of
spiritual violence. It is
just as violent spiritually when pastors and parents—quoting
scripture—condemn and reject members of their congregation and their
family. When this happens,
God’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender children also feel
condemned and rejected by their Creator as well. |
| Soulforce
Chicago |
Soulforce Chicago has its monthly meeting
at the New Spirit MCC Church (542 S. Scoville) in Oak Park from 6:30-
8:30pm.
We meet on the 2nd Sunday of every month. |
| Steps
to Recovering from Bible Abuse |
This
web site is intended to give encouragement and hope to the multitude of
homosexuals and others who have suffered from unrelenting attacks by
religious leaders. Jesus taught that God loves and accepts you as
God's children, just as you are. Being gay does not cut you off from
God. |
| Teach
Ministries |
To Educate
About the Consequences of Homophobia. The slow
miracle of transformation. After the suicide of her daughter in
February of 1997, Mary Lou Wallner found herself faced with a spiritual
journey to try to comprehend the events of their stormy mother-daughter
relationship and the implications of her refusal to accept Anna's
homosexuality. Following are excerpts from a talk Mary Lou gave at the
Lynchburg, Virginia meeting of 200 of Jerry Falwell's congregation and 200
of Mel White's Soulforce members. This historical meeting was convened to
try to tone down the anti-gay rhetoric rampant in the Falwell camp.
You may order copies
of Mary Lou's book, The Slow Miracle of Transformation from their
website. |
| The
World Congress of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Jews |
The World Congress of Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Jews: Keshet Ga'avah consists of more
than 65 member organizations in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada,
France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Mexico, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden,
the United Kingdom, and the United States. The World Congress holds
conferences and workshops representing the interests of lesbian, gay,
bisexual, & transgender Jews around the world. The focus of these
sessions varies from regional, national, continental, to global.
The Hebrew subtitle Keshet Ga'avah
– Rainbow of Pride – emphasizes the importance of Hebrew and of
Israel to the World Congress. |
|
