******************************************SOULFORCE PRESS RELEASE: June 24, 2008For Immediate Release Contact: Paige Schilt, Media DirectorCell: 512-659-1771paige@soulforce.org ****************************************** On Father’s Day 2008, a group of LGBT and straight-ally families attended services at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. The next day, a smaller group of about 8 families met with pastors and other staff of the influential mega-church […]
american family outing
Chicago Tribune, "Willow Creek Welcomes Gay Rights Advocates"
by Manya Brachear Can the terms gay and evangelical coexist? More evangelical Christians are trying to grapple with homosexuality without straying from traditionally held views that same-sex relationships violate God’s word. A private conversation between leaders of a gay-rights advocacy group called Soulforce and Willow Creek Community Church on Sunday could mark a significant turning […]
Chicago Tribune, "Gay Christians Meet with Rev. Bill Hybels"
Gay Christians meet with Rev. Bill Hybels and others at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington Soulforce urges understanding on a tour of mega-churches across the nation By Robert Mitchum and Manya A. Brachear | Tribune reporters 9:17 PM CDT, June 8, 2008 For Dotti Berry, healing the rift between religious conservatives and gay-marriage […]
Gay Dads to Celebrate Father’s Day at Saddleback Church
******************************************SOULFORCE PRESS RELEASE: June 4, 2008For Immediate Release Contact: Paige Schilt, Media DirectorCell: 512-659-1771paige@soulforce.org ****************************************** (Lake Forest, CA) This Father’s Day, June 15, a group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) and straight-ally families will spend their holiday in a way that is simultaneously extraordinary and profoundly commonplace: they will attend services at Saddleback Church, the […]
Bishop Long Meets with LGBT Families: A Story of Family Reconciliation
******************************************SOULFORCE PRESS RELEASE: June 2, 2008For Immediate Release Contact: Paige Schilt, Media DirectorCell: 512-659-1771paige@soulforce.org ****************************************** (Atlanta, GA) — Bishop Eddie Long, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia, attended a Sunday meeting with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) families. The meeting, which also included New Birth elders and staff, was part of a […]
New Birth to Meet with LGBT Families
******************************************SOULFORCE PRESS RELEASE: May 30, 2008For Immediate Release Contact: Paige Schilt, Media DirectorCell: 512-659-1771paige@soulforce.org ****************************************** (Atlanta, GA) Steve Parelli is a former Baptist minister. His partner, Jose Ortiz, also studied for the ministry and spent several months as a Southern Baptist lay minister. Since meeting and falling in love at an "ex-gay" support group in Manhattan, the […]