News and Announcements
MLP: 219th General Assembly (2010)
Our friends at More Light Presbyterians have set up a blogsite with information about overtures related to ordination and marriage/civil unions. We encourage everyone to use this fine resource. You can find it at: http://www.ga219.org/.
A Great Day for the Church Where All May Freely Serve
There is much to rejoice about in actions taken by presbyteries around the country today!
- Scott Anderson, our friend and colleague in ministry, shares this news:
Friends:
I have some good news to share! By a vote of 81-25, the Presbytery of John Knox approved me for ordination to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament this morning. It was a great experience, with fine leadership on the part of the Presbytery, and a grace-filled debate that proved once again that Presbyterians can disagree without being disagreeable.
Blessings,
Scott Anderson
- Marriage Equality
The Presbytery of Chicago approved an overture on civil marriage: that would allow ministers to preside over same-sex civil marriages; in addition, the overture would authorize sessions to allow for the use of churches for such marriage ceremonies. Heartland Presbytery also approved an overture on pastors participating in same sex civil marriages.
- Ordination Standards
Overtures were approved by wide margins in National Capital, East Iowa, Chicago, and Heartland Presbyteries similar to that passed out of the 218th General Assembly which became Amendment 08-B. Approval of these would remove the offensive and exclusionary language currently in section G-6.0106b of the constitution of the PC(USA).
TAMFS is thankful and grateful for the hard work of bringing justice to the church that is being done by individuals, congregations, and presbyteries everywhere.
Presbyterian Welcome Lenten Blog Project
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days…
In the season of Lent, we remember the desert for 40 days. We remember ancestors wandering in the desert for forty years. We remember Jesus’ pilgrimage, led by the Spirit. In our tradition and in our lives, we see that sometimes 40 minutes or days or weeks or years in the desert is a choice we make, and sometimes it happens against our will. Sometimes we go there to be refreshed, while at other times we frantically and fruitlessly search for the exits.
In the season of Lent, Presbyterian Welcome invites you to participate in a special blogging project.
To participate, simply complete this sentence:
“I find hope in the wilderness when…”
Please attach your name and affiliation as you would like it to appear on the blog, or let us know if you want to post anonymously, and email it to presbyterianwelcome@gmail.com by February 15th.
A Celebration of Virginia West (Ginny) Davidson in the Round
On a bright, blue sky, radiant day in mid October, at the age of 93, Virginia West Davidson left this world. With each day that passes we remember the gift she is and was for so many of us who cherished her feisty feminist grace-filled way of reaching deeply into our lives. She called us out into the best of who we are.
That All May Freely Serve is honored to invite you to an afternoon celebration of the life of Virginia Davidson, at her beloved Downtown United Presbyterian Church in Rochester, New York, on April 10, 2010. Please join us as we listen in on herstory! Virginia’s dear friends and feminist scholars, Johanna Bos and Sylvia Thorson-Smith will share some reflections, and U.P.S. (The Unrepentant, Practicing Singers) will share some feisty feminist music. We’ll hear from some of Virginia’s own writings, and have time to celebrate her legacy by sharing our own fond memories.
Ginny Davidson (center) with Janie Spahr (left) and Sylvia Thorson-Smith
Join us as we gather in a wide circle of welcome and remember Virginia, who loved most to sit down at a round table, where all voices would be heard and each beautiful face affirmed.
April 10, 2010 at 2:00 p.m.
Downtown United Presbyterian Church
Celebration Hall, Second Floor (wheelchair accessible)
121 North Fitzhugh Street
Rochester NY 14614
A light reception will follow.
Virginia’s family has asked that memorial gifts in her honor be given to That All May Freely Serve, for which we are deeply grateful!
TAMFS Urges everyone to help the Haitian people
Donate to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
In Haiti, There is Anguish
In Haiti, there is anguish that seems too much to bear;
A land so used to sorrow now knows even more despair.
From city streets, the cries of grief rise up to hills above;
In all the sorrow, pain and death, where are you, God of love?
Welcome to our new website!
We are so glad that you’ve chosen to spend some time with us. Here are some words that we hope will add to your experience here. Our Board used them to begin a recent convening service of worship:
Call to Worship
Let us join in the stillness and quiet within.
Breathe in, breathe out.
We notice with gentleness and compassion thoughts, bodily sensations, feelings.
Breathe in, breathe out.
As we are present to our inner wisdom,
we are also connected with the deepest wisdom in each other.Breathe in, breathe out.
May your day be filled with the grace and peace
that is harbored in the Spirit’s design for you.
TAMFS at the 2010 General Assembly
We are proud of what the Presbyterian Church can be: A Church that is alive. A Church where we discover Jesus, and find together God’s path to redemption and reconciliation. A Church that welcomes all people, and celebrates each one. A Church that does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other category or status.
This is the Church we want – the Church we need. We believe that this year, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which has excluded LGBT persons for the last 35 years, will shake off the past and follow Christ into a new day of love, justice, and welcome.
But we cannot be this Church without you. It’s going to take all of our joy, creativity, laughter, wisdom, love, and hospitality to make it happen.
Join us as the PC(USA) gathers for its General Assembly in Minneapolis, MN on July 1-10, 2010 to help usher in a new era of the vital, relevant, exciting, and welcoming Presbyterian Church. That All May Freely Serve (TAMFS) is bringing together a team of 25 persons, between the ages of 18 and 30, who will be a demonstration of the Church we hunger for, and will inspire, amuse, challenge, love, and call the Presbyterian Church to be the Church alive. If you would like to be a part of this historic work, please fill out the application below by February 12, 2010. Together we can forever change the Church to be a place of welcome for all!
TAMFS Friends Get Together
Minister Coordinator Lisa Larges, New Church Revolution’s Heather Grantham, and TAMFS Board Member Sonnie Swenston got together recently in San Francisco. This picture was taken at Noe Valley Ministry where Lisa is a member and Heather is on the staff.
Sonnie, Lisa, and Heather
Scott Anderson
TAMFS is rejoicing that our friend Scott Anderson recently learned that the way is now clear for his final examination before John Knox Presbytery on February 20th leading towards his (re)ordination.
Thanks be to God!
Scott Anderson
In Memoriam: Virginia West Davidson
Virginia West "Ginny" Davidson
Virginia West Davidson, former Vice Moderator of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, Moderator of the 1978 Task Force on Homosexuality and the Church and founding member of That All May Freely Serve, died peacefully at her home in Rochester, New York, on October 19, at the age of 93.
Virginia, known as Ginny to family and friends, attended Brick Presbyterian Church–now the Downtown United Presbyterian Church–in Rochester NY, where she was confirmed as a member 80 years ago, in 1929. She attended the University of Rochester and then Wellesley College, from which she earned her B.S.
During World War II, she worked for the American Red Cross, traveling to London to help set up Red Cross centers for soldiers. She married S. Wilson “Davie” Davidson in October 1945 in the Taylor Chapel. Ginny and Davie raised four children: James, John, Eleanor, and Peter. After the children were off to college and careers, Ginny and Davie moved downtown in 1973 to become a part of the redevelopment of the city they loved.
Ginny’s involvement with her church increased too. She was elected Moderator of the Genesee Valley Presbytery and attended her first General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church U.S.A. in 1974. There (much to her surprise) she was asked to serve as Vice Moderator and to travel the country especially to encourage women’s leadership. In 1976 she chaired the Task Force on Homosexuality and the Church. Then, at a time when most people retire, she enrolled at Colgate Rochester Divinity School, where she earned a Masters in Theology.
Virginia West Davidson was a founding member and Moderator of That All May Freely Serve, which advocates for all those who are disenfranchised in the church, promoting a church which celebrates its diversity and welcomes the gifts of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members.
Together with her close friend, the Reverend Janie Spahr, she traveled the country for over a decade changing people’s minds by changing their hearts, and sharing the great good news that all are welcome in the household of God.
Virginia was a recipient of Presbyterian Women’s Woman of Faith Award, as well as the Distinguished Alumna Award at Colgate Rochester Seminary, and the Witherspoon Society award, among others.
Her family has asked that any gifts in Ginny’s honor be given to That All May Freely Serve, for which we are grateful.
Insofar as organizations bear the imprint of their founders, That All May Freely Serve is exceedingly blessed to count Virginia West Davidson among its co-creators. Her erudition, dignity, passion, compassion, and faith came together in a woman who called the church to its highest ideals – to love, cherish and celebrate the gifts of all God’s people.