Note: This is an archived version of Soulforce Resources from the old website.
SOULFORCE BOOKS
Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay And Christian In America
The Rev. Dr. Mel White
SOULFORCE VIDEOS
Working to Change Minds and Hearts Through Videos that Reflect the Spirit of Nonviolence
- The Verdict is In: Not a Sickness, Not a Sin
- There’s A Wideness in God’s Mercy (29 minutes)
- The Rhetoric of Intolerance (29 minutes)
- How Can I Be Sure That God Loves Me, Too? (24 minutes)
- The Trials of Jimmy Creech (29 minutes)
You have our permission to copy these videos and send to your friends.
NEW "Homosexuality & the Bible" Video Available
The Rev. Ken Martin is a biblical scholar, Soulforce volunteer, and the pastor of MCC Austin at Freedom Oaks, one of UFMCC’s ten largest churches. Once a Southern Baptist professor and pastor, Ken Martin has spent the last thirty years helping victims of biblical abuse understand how and why the Bible has been misused to caricature and condemn sexual and gender minorities. His life-changing presentation of "Homosexuality and the Bible" is now available on video.
Dr. Mel White, Soulforce Executive Director, says this about Ken Martin’s video: "I have been hoping Ken would make this tape for years. He was my pastor during those tortured ‘coming out’ days when I was a victim of biblical abuse. Ken’s understanding of these passages, his humor, and his gifts as a communicator brought truth to life and answered questions that had plagued me since childhood. This isn’t razzle dazzle, but solid Bible teaching which the Spirit of Truth will use to help end your fears and set your spirit free."
If you are interested in a copy of this 80 minute video, e-mail your snail mail (postage) address to Ken at RevKMartin@aol.com. He will send you more information and an order form.
ANNOUNCING THE PUBLICATION OF:
Rise Above the Law
The Appeal to the Jury
The United Methodist Church’s Trail of Jimmy Creech
November 17, 1999
Introduction by Marilyn Alexander
"I have chosen to make no defense in this trial. I have chosen to make no plea of guilt nor innocence because I believe that this law is unjust, is immoral and illegitimate. It has as its only purpose the persecution of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people – its only purpose. It doesn’t protect the Church from anything. It is demeaning and a sacrilege" … from Rise Above the Law
Rise Above the Law is limited to an edition of 200 numbered copies hand-printed from Perpetua type on Zerkall Book paper. There are 60 pages and the page size is 5 契 x 7 契. The books are casebound with purple Japanese cloth. The price is $40.00 (Nebraska residents add $2.60 sales tax). $4.00 shipping. Please include delivery instructions along with your check or money order.
The Swing Bridge Press
3031 Lafayette Avenue
Omaha, Nebraska 68131
(402) 345-4080
SOULFORCE RESOURCES YOU CAN OBTAIN FROM LOCAL SUPPLIERS
Instead of going to the movies tonight, rent GANDHI from your local video library or borrow it from your local public library. View and discuss it with your friends.
Richard Attenborough’s Film "GANDHI" Video by RCA-Columbia Pictures (Winner 9 Academy Awards, 2 video tapes, 187 Minutes)
While you are at your video source, check to see if they have the following PBS series on hand. If they don’t, urge them to buy it. If you want to add a deeply moving series to your own collection, buy it yourself. Try to watch one video each week for the next six weeks.
PBS’ Home Video Series:
"EYES ON THE PRIZE- America’s Civil Rights Years"
- Part 1: Awakenings (1954-1956),
- Part 2: Fighting Back (1957-1962),
- Part 3: Ain’t Scared of Your Jails (1960-1961),
- Part 4: No Easy Walk (1961-1963),
- Part 5: Mississippi: Is This America? (1962-1964),
- Part 6: Bridge to Freedom (1965)
On your Journey into Soulforce these are TRAVEL BOOKS TO CONSIDER. These are the primary sources for our Journey into Soulforce. You might go to a used (or a new) bookstore to add Gandhi and King to your personal library or see if your local library has or can obtain a copy for you.
- Gandhi, M.K., My Experiment with Truth: An Autobiography, Beacon, Boston, 1956
- Gandhi, M.K., Satyagraha in South Africa, Navajivan, Ahmedabad 14, India, 1928
- King, Jr., Martin Luther, The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Edited by Clayborne Carson, IPM/Time Warner, New York, 1998
- Washington, James M., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., HarperCollins, New York, 1986
The following two books have been a tremendous help to me in understanding how "soul force" was taught and applied during the African-American struggle for civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s.
- Branch, Taylor, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-1963, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1988 (Pulitzer Prize)
- Branch, Taylor, Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963-1965, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1998
The following book is the most amazing story of the Rev. Dr. Jim Lawson, Dr. King’s almost forgotten aide who taught "soul force" to the young black activists who led the "sit-ins" and the "freedom rides" and were in their courageous actions the real force behind ending segregation.
If you only buy one book (besides the Gandhi/King bios) buy this one. Dr. Lawson is one of my mentors. He is now a distinguished United Methodist clergyman in Los Angeles who risked his ordination recently by co-celebrating a lesbian Holy Union in Sacramento.
- Halberstam, David, The Children, Random House, New York, 1998
The following are wonderful books that simplify and apply Gandhi’s teachings but are not easy to find. (For you grad student types only.)
- Bondurant, Joan V., Conquest of Violence: The Gandhian Philosophy of Conflict, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1965
- Dhawan, Gopinath, The Political Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad-14, India, 1962
- Erikson, Erik H., Gandhi’s Truth: On The Origins of Militant Nonviolence, Norton & Co., New York, 1969
- Jones, E. Stanley, Mahatma Gandhi: A [Christian] Interpretation, Abingdon, NY, 1958
The biographies of these men and women also inspire and inform our "Journey"
- Young, Andrew; An Easy Burden: The Civil Rights Movement and the Transformation of America, HarperCollins, New York, 1996
- Lewis, John (Congressman), Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement, Simon & Schuster, 1998
- Dorothy Day, (The founder of the Catholic Workers Community), The Long Loneliness, NY, Harper & Row, 1981 or Loaves and Fishes, San Francisco, Harper & Row, 1983
Additional Reading:
Wink, Walter, Engaging the Powers
Fortress Press, 1992
ISBN:080062646X
Get the entire "Powers…" Series by Dr. Wink
Yoder, John Howard, The Politics of Jesus
Eerdmans Publishing, 1994
ISBN: 0802807348
Yancey, Philip, The Jesus I Never Knew, (1995)
Zondervan Publishing House;
ISBN: 0310385709
Yancey, Philip, What’s So Amazing About Grace (1997)
Zondervan Publishing House;
ISBN: 0310213274
Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth
The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America and The Alliance of Baptists have jointly developed a resource whose purpose is to encourage local congregations to undertake intentional conversations on the subject of sexual orientation and Christian faith and to support those churches in their efforts.
The Baptist Peace Fellowship offers many helpful resources. We recommend especially their treasure-trove of information: Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth: A Resource for Congregations in Dialogue on Sexual Orientation, Edite by LeDayne McLeese Polaski and Millard Eiland.
Link to their Resources – PDF File 144K
Provided in Adobe Acrobat format
Although much of the published writing on Soulforce is by men, we must always remember the women who have lived and died doing "soul force" in our time. That their stories haven’t been widely told is another example of the injustice women have suffered through the centuries and to this day.
We are in this together, woman or man, hetero or homo, bi or trans, old or young, every race, every color, every creed, every nationality, able bodied or differently abled. The world is crying out for a force mightier than violence. I think we’ve found it.
Welcome to the "Journey into Soulforce."
Bon Voyage!
