WE EXTEND OUR SYMPATHY…
It is with great sadness that we inform you that Deborah Anne Elliott passed away on January 25, 2021 at the age of 65. Deb was Yolanda Elliott's sister and had been battling multiple sclerosis for many years. Deb served as Kinship's accountant at one point and through the years she was always supportive of Yolanda as she served in her many Kinship roles, including currently serving as President. Deb lived in the home with Yolanda who spent many hours each day lovingly taking care of her sister.
Our sincere and deep condolences to Yolanda and the family and friends who loved Deb dearly. We know this is a great and painful loss. Please keep Yolanda in your prayers. If you wish you, can drop her a note to express your sympathy. Yolanda, we surround you with love and caring.
MESSAGE FROM THE VICE PRESIDENT
SDA Kinship is a community. But what is a community? The definition says: a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.
I frequently say, when asked, that one of SDA Kinship’s goals is to build community. The challenge is that we are a very diverse group with layers and layers of “uniqueness” and diversity that we bring to the community table. So what is the characteristic that we have in common? What the church sees as the brokenness of our orientation and gender, we see as a blessing.
Just listen to our stories. Stories from LGBTQIA+, parents, and allies. We are survivors. We come together in our Facebook groups, or WhatsApp groups, and other social media to share our journey, find commonality, and to get and give encouragement. When one member is hurting, because we have felt hurt and understand that, we all hurt together. When a member is rejoicing, we all rejoice together. Together we are stronger. Our voices are stronger.
Let’s make 2021 the year of building community, keeping our theme Loved and Affirmed in mind, and sharing our stories. If we aren’t welcome in certain communities, let’s invite them to our community and show them what it is like to be Loved and Affirmed.
Floyd Poenitz
Vice President
SDA Kinship Int., Inc.
KINSHIP WORSHIP
Join us on February 5 for Kinship Worship - an inspirational program for us, by us. We have an amazing program for you and your friends. Please share this with your friends!
Kinship Worship will stream live on our Facebook page and Youtube Channel on Friday, Febuary 5 at 8 pm ET and will be available on-demand afterward. Watch the January Kinship Worship program here.
KINSHIP NEEDS YOUR HELP
- Communications - Writing articles, creating videos and content for social media, and translating content into other languages. Review our website, social media content, and provide feedback on messaging and content.
- Hospitality - Working with Member Services to engage Kinship member subgroups such as demographic (age, gender), locations, and topic (spiritual, artists, former Adventist).
- Advocacy - Finding external resources and collaborating behind the scenes to support efforts to engage church leaders and members in our community.
Join the Kinship Board. This year the positions open for election are:
- President
- Secretary
- Director of Church Relations
- Director of Women’s Interests
If you are interested in volunteering or running for a Kinship board position, please visit www.sdakinship.org/volunteer or email
Join us for a Volunteer Q & A Zoom Meeting on February 10, at 7 pm Central Time Zone (CT).
https://zoom.us/j/91233903382?pwd=WGhLcVVaZjJCUUZsb0tkUFNlRmE4dz09
THE UNCLOBBER PROJECT
What does the Bible really say about LGBT+ Issues?
Many Adventist members and pastors interpret a few texts in the Bible and use those to reject and condemn LGBT+ people. UnClobber tells of the personal journey of an evangelical pastor who researched each of the six “clobber” texts in the Bible; and, after understanding the original context, he became LGBT+ affirming. We aim to engage and change hearts and minds within the church by providing pastors, teachers, and church leaders with a copy of the book, UnClobber.
If you have struggled to reconcile your LGBT+ identity with the Bible or your faith, this book is also for you. If you would like your pastor or a religious family member to learn how to interpret those verses, this book can be for them. We have already sent 300 books to people throughout the United States, and we are looking to send out 2,000 more.
How To Support the Project
Order a free book today at www.sdakinship.org/unclobber
Donate to help Kinship cover some of the costs (www.sdakinship.org/donate). It costs $10 to print and send each book.
Connect with others: some LGBT+, some Adventist pastors, who are also reading the book to share your thoughts and ask questions about the material. bit.ly/unclobberfacebook
Pray that people will allow the Holy Spirit to open their hearts and minds and that it will result in more loving actions within the local churches, schools, and communities, toward the LGBT community.
Join Us every second Saturday on Facebook Live. Our first event will be on Saturday, February 13. We will talk about the project, tell people how to get involved, and answer any questions you may have.
FAMILY & FRIENDS ZOOM MEETING
Good connections are valuable for all organizations – and Kinship Family & Friends wants to connect with all willing families and friends.
Join us for a Zoom meeting on Sunday, February 21, 2021, at 9:30 AM PDT / 12:30 PM EDT.
John & Carolyn Wilt
FAMILY & FRIENDS
FLEXIBLE LEARNING
“Learning” is an interesting and complex process. All living creatures learn as they grow and mature. If you think about that process, it’s easy to recall watching your pets learn to find food, chase toys, or hide from you when you are looking for them. Also think about yourself or your children as you learned to walk, talk, play, read, and even think and make decisions.
So learning is really gathering information or experiences to make, hopefully, excellent decisions. Where are those decisions made? All decisions originate in our brain and transfer to the muscles, organs, and emotions to protect us and help us survive. Yes, some reactions appear to develop naturally through our genetics, but we develop and learn most of them as our brains and ourselves mature..
John & Carolyn Wilt
VIRTUAL KINSHIP KAMPMEETING 2021
SAVE THE DATES
Weekends of July 10 & 24, 2021
Details to follow!
EUROPEAN KINSHIP MEETING
EKM2021 will be held in a natural environment in the little community of Westelbeers, between the cities Eindhoven and Tilburg in The Netherlands.
Our excellent and energetic guest speaker is a Seventh-day Adventist scholar at one of our colleges in Europe. To protect his position in the church, the name of the guest speaker is not disclosed until at the meeting. But be assured you will be blessed and uplifted by his presentations.
EIGENTIJDSERF is surrounded by nature but is certainly easily accessible from the direction of Eindhoven, Breda, and Tilburg. Parking is free and charging electric cars is possible. We will also try to set up a pickup service to meet you at the station in Tilburg or Eindhoven. Eindhoven airport is a hub for low budget flights.
The conference center offers special diets if we know in advance. The atmosphere is peaceful and friendly.
Pricing: €400 (double occupancy) and €450 (single occupancy)
The first 25 registrations before May 1 will receive a €50 discount!!
Ruud Kieboom
European Coordinator
NEW! CHAPTER 23 OF JOURNEY
Most of what characterizes my life today—work, family, and faith—looks little like what I thought it would when I graduated from college in 1980.
Naturally, people want to know when and how I first became aware of my orientation. Others are interested in my spiritual experience and how my faith and my orientation intersect and perhaps collide. Many questions revolve around my reparative therapy journey and how that impacted my belief in God and my relationship to the church.
I am often asked about the pivotal moment I decided to stop trying to change my orientation and the events that led up to that moment. Related to that decision is the question of short- and long-term consequences. I’ve been asked about where I see God in the whole journey—before counseling, during counseling, and since accepting my orientation.
And, finally, others want to know about my relationship, how it has evolved over the years, and the impact it has had on my life.
This is my story.
Next Chapter:
Chapter 23 - Robert & Reading
Previous chapters:
Chapters 1-22
CONNECTING VIA WHATSAPP
SDA Kinship continues to work to connect our members in communities where they feel most comfortable.
In this time of quarantine and staying home, WhatsApp groups are a good way to stay connected.
If you have any questions, please send a WhatsApp message to Floyd at +1 214 718 8177, telling me who you are and what groups you are interested in connecting with.
Here are just a few of the WhatsApp groups that I can recommend:
Kinship Main International Group
Kinship Spiritual
Kinship en Espanol
Kinship Brasil (these are in Português, one for men and one for women)
Kinship France (this is a new group for members who communicate in Français)
Kinship Russia (this is also a new group connecting members who communicate in Russian) Если вы говорите по-русски и хотели бы стать частью нашей русскоязычной группы SDA Kinship, напишите мне в WhatsApp.
Jeśli mówisz po polsku i chciałbyś być częścią naszej polskojęzycznej grupy związanej z SDA Kinship, wyślij mi wiadomość na WhatsApp.
There are also numerous demographic groups for chapters, regions, and countries.
Send Me a message on WhatsApp to get connected.
Floyd Poenitz
Vice President, SDA Kinship
DON’T FORGET TO USE AMAZON SMILE
AmazonSmile is now available as an app. A great way to support SDA Kinship at no cost to you and you can do all your shopping online from the app. You can find it in the App Store for IOS or Google Play for Android.
When making purchases on Amazon.com, remember, if you use smile.amazon.com, Amazon will donate 0.5% of the eligible purchase price to the non-profit that you select! As we provide support and representation within the LGBTIQ community, every penny counts!
When first visiting AmazonSmile, customers are prompted to select a charitable organization from almost one million eligible organizations. To browse or shop at AmazonSmile, customers must first select a charitable organization. Please select Seventh-Day Adventist Kinship International Inc.
REGION AND CHAPTER EVENTS
Many local in-person events have been postponed or canceled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Join any of the online video chats or events as we find new ways to stay connected. Check our main Facebook group for Kinship members and/or region/chapter groups for announcements and links to the Zoom events.
KINSHIP AUSTRALIA / NEW ZEALAND
Sabbath School without Walls
Lead by Kinship member Ross Cole
2:00 pm Australian EST
KINSHIP BRASIL
Sábado às 10h00
Hor. Brasília
Ocorrerá
KINSHIP COLOMBIA
Devocionales del Sábado
10:00 Hora Colômbia / Peru
REGION 2 - MARYLAND / DC AREA CHAPTER
Stay tuned for more exciting updates in our next eNews edition!
REGION 8 - SACRAMENTO CHAPTER
WHAT: Sacramento Kinship Chapter Check-in
WHEN: Feb 7, 2021 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Sacramento Chapter monthly virtual meeting happens on the 1st Sunday of each month:
SPECIAL GUEST: I am very excited that Sharon “Rocky” Roggio will be joining us! She is producer/director of 1946themovie.com
Do you know #whathappenedin1946? The word “homosexual” was mistakenly added to the Bible. A new documentary is being created to tell this story and set the record straight. We need your help. Learn more at 1946themovie.com and follow @1946themovie.
Cheryl Christopherson
SDA Kinship Sacramento Chapter
REGION 9 - INLAND EMPIRE CHAPTER
Kinship Sabbath School is a group of LGBT+ and allies who meet on Sabbath at La Sierra University Church in Riverside, California. It's a safe and affirming space, and we welcome all people!
Although the church is closed, join us online from 10-11 am PDT! For details, check the Facebook page or email