SAN VALENTÍN Y KINSHIP
¡Bienvenido, febrero de 2022! Sí, muchos de nosotros seguimos protegiéndonos de diversas cepas de COVID, por lo que enviaremos tarjetas o saludos electrónicos de amor y afecto en lugar de dar abrazos y apretones de manos en persona. En las zonas de América del Norte y en muchas partes de Europa, el 14 de febrero destaca los maravillosos rasgos emocionales del amor y el afecto por los demás.
Suelo observar personas, lo confieso. Y no en una forma espeluznante de acosador; simplemente encuentro a la gente fascinante. Me gusta conocerlas, pero también observo a las personas en su entorno social y sus interacciones y reacciones. Creo que puede ser algo alemán que heredé. Algunos de ustedes pueden haber visto casas en un pequeño pueblo alemán y la casa está casi justo en la calle, y en el segundo o tercer piso hay una ventana abierta, y pueden ver a una mujer o un hombre mayor parado, sentado o asomado a la ventana y ver pasar el mundo.
Ese podría ser yo fácilmente, en otro tiempo y vida. A menudo salgo a caminar por un sendero del parque cerca de mi casa y generalmente escucho mi podcast favorito. Si hace buen tiempo, hay otras personas en el camino; y es interesante ver qué grupos demográficos mirarán hacia arriba y sonreirán, saludarán o al menos reconocerán que nos estamos cruzando. Siempre hay algunos que solo miran hacia abajo y no hacen contacto visual. Cada vez que me encuentro con alguien, me pregunto cuál es su historia. ¿Están felices o tristes? ¿Algo les molesta? ¿Se dan cuenta de que estoy pasando junto a ellos? ¿Necesitan una sonrisa amistosa?
F L O Y D P O E N I T Z
president
What do you do as President?
I represent SDA Kinship in dealing with other corporations and businesses, including the signing of contracts. I also sit in an ex officio capacity, without a vote, on all committees except the Nominating Committee. I coordinate and chair membership meetings, Board meetings, and Executive Committee meetings. I maintain communication with the Board between meetings. I report regularly to the membership. I submit to the Board an annual work plan identifying the specific activities and collaborative ventures to be carried out during the forthcoming fiscal year.
What do you hope to accomplish as President?
Kinship has been around for 40+ years. We have established that we exist inside the church, that we belong as an equal with other members; and we have proven from the Bible that we are not broken or a mistake. I would like to see us move forward as an organization and take the next step in being relevant to all of our diverse membership.
Meet Ellen
Hi! I’m Ellen Henderson, a 30-something who loves to read. My favorite genre is queer YA (young adult fiction), but I dabble in other genres as well. I’m excited to keep sharing book recommendations with you. Even if reading isn’t for you, tell your friends about these great books.
UnClobber tells of the personal journey of Pastor Colby Martin as he researches the Bible’s six “clobber texts”—the only places in Scripture that might plausibly address sexual orientation—and comes to a new understanding of how the church can relate to members of the LGBTQIA+ community from a biblical and compassionate framework. Pastor Colby isn't the first to learn this, but his story and biblical interpretation communicates the message in a deep, balanced, and accessible way.
In 2021, SDA Kinship sent over 1,000 paperback and ebook copies of UnClobber to people around the world. We have collaborated with the publishers to ship UnClobber in paperback, not just to the United States, but also to Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. The ebooks are provided through Amazon Kindle, and we can only send them to the U.S.-based accounts. We are not able to send books to other locations in South America, Africa, or Asia at this time, but we are looking for other resources that we may be able to share.
Kinship Families & Friends Zoom Roundtable
The SDA Kinship Families & Friends group desires to support all families working their way through emotional and, possibly, confusing times. We (Carolyn and John) conducted two Sabbath school evaluations. In one class, 42% shared that they had an LGBTQ+ family member, and in the other class, it was 45%. We also estimate that 5-10% don’t know if they have an LGBTQ+ family member, while an additional 5-10% don’t care to admit it.
by Ellen Henderson
This year’s European Kinship Meeting (EKM) was held about an hour and a half outside of Amsterdam in the Netherlands from September 2 to 6, 2021. EKM was made possible by the leadership and coordination of Ruud Kieboom and the financial support of an anonymous donor.
This New Year’s, I'm thankful for a Kinship Connection magazine showing up in my email inbox. It’s a wonderful escape from the world outside. It offers a time to reflect on our chosen family and the many blessings of Kinship friends around the world.
When I first joined SDA Kinship and before I became an active member, the Connection was my monthly lifeline to others who were like me. Most of them had grown up Adventist too, and they understood what it meant to be "different." That was many years ago now, but connecting with others who understand me is still a priority.
¡Feliz año nuevo! A medida que se publica este eNews, damos la bienvenida al 2022... un nuevo año y una nueva lista de posibilidades. Hemos sobrevivido a un año de locos con giros inesperados. Es un consuelo saber que no estamos solos al afrontar lo que nos espera. Como comunidad y de manera individual, hemos enfrentado y superado muchos desafíos. Somos sobrevivientes. Juntos, los LGBTQIA+, familias y aliados de apoyo, somos fuertes y tenemos una voz que se puede escuchar en todo el mundo. Juntos, podemos hacer la diferencia para nuestra comunidad y para aquellos que vendrán después de nosotros.
IT’S CHRISTmust SEASON
Every 365 days we’ve learned to celebrate a truly unknown event—the actual day and location of Christ’s birth. For hundreds of years, biblical and theological archeologists have searched and searched for precise, accurate evidence of when and where our beloved Christ was born. We wish them all well on their valuable searches and look forward to their successful discoveries,…
De todas las palabras que podrían usarse para describir el año 2021, probablemente la palabra "supervivencia" se encuentre entre las 10 principales.
NEW! KINSHIP LOCAL WISDOM SERIES
Do you sometimes feel like a linguistic Neanderthal? Are you confused by the terms post-sexual, non-binary, two-spirit, demisexual, and cisgender? Are you old enough that you once thought gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transsexual were four words that covered all the continuum? Would you like to talk about it in a safe place where we will not think we are stupid, be angry with ourselves while we learn, and yet want to know more about the people who form our community? This chat is for you.
Date: December 12, 2021
Time: 7 PM EST (USA)
- 6 PM CT (USA)
- 4 PM PST (USA)
One of the most visited memorials in Washington, D.C., has nothing to do with a president or other public figure. The Vietnam War Memorial honors the more than 59,000 men and women who lost their lives in that conflict between the years 1955 and 1975.
Do you sometimes feel like a linguistic Neanderthal? Are you confused by the terms post-sexual, non-binary, two-spirit, demisexual, and cisgender? Are you old enough that you once thought gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transsexual were four words that covered all the continuum? Would you like to talk about it in a safe place where we will not think we are stupid, be angry with ourselves while we learn, and yet want to know more about the people who form our community? This chat is for you.
Date: December 12, 2021
Time: 7 PM EST (USA)
- 6 PM CT (USA)
- 4 PM PST (USA)
Our time will include lists of gender/relational terms (including but not limited to demisexual, intersex, pansexual, non-binary, cisgender, transsexual, transgender, post-sexual, polyamorous, bisexual, and all its permutations). We will touch on the nature and need for accurate pronouns. We will also address ways we can be gentle with ourselves if we are not up-to-date.
Happy Kinship Awareness Month!
A couple of years ago, we voted to make the month of October a time to raise awareness of Seventh-day Adventist Kinship International. Since October 11 is National Coming Out Day, we decided to take the entire month to celebrate and affirm who we are. Some of us can do this publicly and others can certainly celebrate in the safe space that Kinship provides for our community.