Join with Soulforce to encourage your friends, the members of your church/faith group or other membership organizations to join Soulforce in St. Louis by downloading or copying prewritten promotional materials and publishing them in your bulletin or newsletter. Feel free to use the materials in the way that best suits your needs.
Promotional Materials are provided in both Adobe Acrobat format and a text version for those of you who wish to copy and edit these materials. For the text version, highlight the text that you wish to copy and then paste into your own text document and edit as needed.
Journey to St. Louis recruiting brochure
For this brochure to look good and fold correctly, you’ll need to download the PDF file and take (or email it) to a copy center and have it printed directly from the file onto 8 1/2" x 14" paper. The brochure can be printed onto regular-sized paper, but it won’t fold properly, and the print itself will be smaller and harder to read.
- Journey to St. Louis recruiting brochure – PDF (only) file 389K
[church/faith group goes to this section]
Use these as many times as you can within your church/faith group publications.
- brief announcement:PDF or text version
- short article:PDF or text version
- longer article: PDF or text version
- church bulletin insert: PDF or text version
[membership organization goes to this section]
Use these as many times as you can within your membership organization or other publications.
["BRIEF" FOR CHURCH NEWSLETTER]
Gandhi Grandson to Lead Workshop
Arun Gandhi, Mahatma’s grandson, will offer training in the techniques of nonviolence at the Soulforce Institute of Nonviolent Social Change,June 7-9, in St. Louis, MO.
For more information, visit www.soulforce.org or contact Karen Weldin, co-chair, Journey to St. Louis, at 1-877-705-6393 or (918) 452-2761 or via e-mail at karen@soulforce.org.
["SHORT" CHURCH NEWSLETTER ARTICLE]
Help to Confront Discriminatory Southern Baptist Policies
The policy of the Southern Baptist Convention calls homosexuality a "very poor and sinful choice" and homosexual relationships "always sinful, impure… and perverted." Those words lead to ruined lives, divided churches, suffering and even death.
Soulforce, an interfaith movement committed to ending spiritual violence perpetuated by religious policies and teachings against GLBT people, is confronting the SBC’s discriminatory policies at the SBC’s annual meeting, held this year in St. Louis.
The "Journey to St. Louis" will include the training in nonviolence techniques taught by Arun Gandhi, Mahatma’s grandson, and civil rights leaders from the ’50s and ’60s (June 7-9) and then applying those techniques to bring truth and justice to the Southern Baptists (June 10-11).
Interested? Contact Karen Weldin, co-chair of the Journey to St. Louis, at karen@soulforce.org, 1-877-705-6393, or (918) 452-2761.
["LONG" CHURCH NEWSLETTER ARTICLE]
Optional First Paragraph:
Our church has taken important stands for justice in the past. Now we have the opportunity to support an action to help change the hearts and minds of leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) during the SBC annual meeting in June.
Help to Confront Discriminatory Southern Baptist Policies Gandhi’s grandson to lead workshops in St. Louis
The Southern Baptist Convention continues to wreak havoc on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) individuals and their families both inside and outside the church with policies that call homosexuality a "very poor and sinful choice." The SBC also describes homosexual relationships as "always sinful, impure… and perverted." Those words lead to ruined lives, divided churches, suffering and even death.
Soulforce, an interfaith movement committed to ending spiritual violence perpetuated by religious policies and teachings against GLBT people, is again confronting the SBC’s discriminatory policies at the SBC’s annual meeting, held this year in St. Louis.
The "Journey to St. Louis" will include the Soulforce Institute for Nonviolent Change, June 7-9, which will include training in the principles and techniques of nonviolence taught by Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, the Rev. Dr. Mel White, co-founder of Soulforce, and civil rights leaders from the ’50s and ’60s.
"Sharing Our Stories," in which Baptists will describe their faith journeys, will be held the morning and afternoon of June 10.
That evening, Soulforce’s "24 Hours of Justice" will begin with continued training in the techniques of nonviolence and direct action, and resume the next day with prayerful vigils at the America’s Center, where the SBC annual meeting is being held.
There are a variety of ways to participate in this important event, including helping to publicize it, signing up to participate or making a financial contribution.
Want to hear more? Contact Karen Weldin, co-chair, Journey to St. Louis, at 1-877-705-6393 or (918) 452-2761 or via e-mail at karen@soulforce.org.
[CHURCH BULLETIN INSERT]
Soulforce invites you on a Journey to Justice St. Louis, Missouri, June 7-11, 2002 … including the Soulforce Institute for Nonviolent Change followed by "Twenty-Four Hours of Justice"
Soulforce is an interfaith movement committed to ending spiritual violence perpetuated by religious policies and teachings against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Southern Baptists teach that homosexuality is a "choice … a very poor and sinful choice" and describe homosexual relationships as "always sinful, degrading, and perverted." These words lead to ruined lives, divided churches, suffering and even death.
Be trained in the nonviolent principles that Gandhi and King used to work for justice. Apply the principles to bring the truth about homosexuality to the Southern Baptist Convention.
For more information, visit www.soulforce.org or contact Karen Weldin, co-chair, Journey to St. Louis, karen@soulforce.org, (877) 705-6393 or (918) 452-2761.
[MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATION ARTICLE]
Soulforce to Confront Discriminatory Church Policies at Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, June 7-11 in St. Louis
Soulforce, an interfaith movement committed to ending spiritual violence perpetuated by religious policies and teachings against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, will continue to challenge discriminatory church policies at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in St. Louis, June 7 – 11, 2002.
Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and founder of the MK Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, will be keynote speaker and a workshop leader, along with the Rev. Dr. Mel White, co-founder and executive director of Soulforce, during the Soulforce Institute for Nonviolent Change. The Institute, which will offer training in the principles of nonviolent resistance, will be held June 7-9.
"Sharing Our Stories," in which Baptists will describe their faith journeys, will be held the morning and afternoon of June 10. That evening, Soulforce’s "24 Hours of Justice" will begin with continued training in the techniques of nonviolence and direct action, and resume the next day with prayerful vigils at the America’s Center, where the SBC annual meeting is being held. The purpose of these vigils is to put a face and a name on the suffering that Southern Baptist discriminatory policies and teachings have caused to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals and their families. There is the possibility of a direct action on June 11, with acts of civil disobedience and arrests (people are always free not to take part in the arrests).
Hundreds of Soulforce supporters, from many spiritual paths and denominational affiliations, have taken part in vigils, trainings in nonviolence and direct acts of civil disobedience at national denominational conventions over the course of the last few years, including those of the United Methodist Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Episcopal Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), and U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
This will be the third year that Soulforce has been present at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. The actions at the SBC have taken place after attempts have failed to dialogue with Dr. James Merritt, president of the SBC, and other SBC leaders.
As an ever-expanding movement, Soulforce is asking people of all faith paths to come together in St. Louis to show Southern Baptist leaders that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals can live with honesty and integrity and be healthy, whole, and happy children of God.
Already, many people have come to realize the importance of supporting one another in confronting Christian homophobia, regardless of faith or creed. Advocacy groups from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, including the Extraordinary Candidacy Project, Lutherans Concerned/North America, Wingspan, and Lutheran Lesbian and Gay Ministries, have pledged their support and commitment for this action. Individuals from PFLAG, Equal Partners in Faith, Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis, and former Southern Baptist ministers and other free and faithful Baptists are joining together with many others to support one another in this important event.
Over the past two years, Soulforce has helped mobilize and motivate thousands of people to action, and those who have participated say their lives were transformed by the experience. For more information, contact Karen Weldin at karen@soulforce.org, (877) 705-6393 or (918) 452-2761. To register to participate in the event, visit the Soulforce website at https://soulforceactionarchives.org.
If you need help or have questions about how to use these promotional materials, please contact Laura Montgomery Rutt at laura@soulforce.org or (717) 278-0592.