“Together Again” Kampmeeting
July 14-17, 2022
John & Carolyn Wilt, Directors-at-Large
Families & Friends Coordinators
Welcome to August! Similar to the past months, July seems to have flown by quickly.
Kinship Kampmeeting 43 is now a pleasant memory. I am impressed at the great job the Kampmeeting team did in organizing this special event with inspirational speakers and pertinent topics. We had a variety of subjects presented, but the one that sticks out for me is the theme of “self-care.” Learning to flow with the punches and take care of ourselves so we can better take care of others is an important lesson in life. Just turning on the TV or opening any social media platform blasts us with a lot of confusing messages. It is a daily process of not letting them get under our skin. Together as a community, we can keep ourselves in a healthy space. If you want someone to talk with, pray with, or just to listen to you as you verbalize your concerns, the Kinship board is available to share with you. In particular, our chaplain, Kumar Dixit, would like the opportunity to know more about your spiritual and self-care needs. You can reach him at
Hello all! (This includes those of us who are edging closer to the end of winter and those of us who are sweltering in the heat.)
Between Kampmeeting last month and our European Kinship Meeting (EKM) that will begin on the first day of next month, there have been and are great options to gather with a group. I am glad there are in-person options available for us.
Omissions, Ambivalence, & Contradiction
BY JERRY MCKAY
On July 17, 1984, less than a year after the sexual incident with Colin and my sudden departure from Reading, I was standing on the curb at the airport in Philadelphia waiting for Colin to pick me up. The one-and-a-half-hour drive back to Reading, in combination with Colin’s ability to easily move into deep personal conversation, meant a rapid re-engagement of our relationship.
I stayed with Colin and Sharon at their home for the ten days I was in Reading. Staying in the house where the sexual violation had taken place didn’t trigger any significant negative reaction. That was probably because we had been working through that incident for months. Although Sharon was as warm and hospitable as ever, I felt odd interacting with her while knowing she knew nothing! My history with Colin made such glaring omissions commonplace; the negative or questionable aspects of changing one’s orientation were kept hidden from public scrutiny.
Pride Month is now officially over, and I hope everyone could acknowledge their journey and celebrate what God has created you to be. Whether that was attending or even taking part in a pride parade or event, or just being able to reflect on your personal journey in learning to understand yourself better. Whether you are part of the LGBTQIA+ Rainbow community, a parent or loved one or an ally who loves unconditionally, it has been a journey to get to where you are at this moment. It is never easy to go against the flow of family and society, but you are not alone on this journey. We have a rich history of those who came before us to pave the way for the road we are traveling on. Together, we can work to widen and make the road more solid ahead of us.
For Kinship, this has been a busy month. For me, this culminated in the CALLED conference in Lexington, Kentucky. Although Kinship was not allowed to have an official presence inside the convention, we had a wonderful location in the beautiful park just across the street, where we had a resource and info table set up near a busy crosswalk. This gave us the opportunity to have lots of positive conversations and to share with those pastors and families walking from their hotel to the convention center. We used a nearby Presbyterian church to have two evening presentations on being LGBTQ and Adventist and a panel discussion on how pastors can be more affirming. This conference really gave me hope that a change in attitudes is possible.
Kampmeeting is under TWO weeks away. As we are planning to meet in person, the theme is "Together Again". The Kampmeeting team has worked hard to find diverse speakers and create an inspiring program. We are looking forward to seeing our members again, in person. Please visit the the Kampmeeting site at bit.ly/kampmeeting to get more information about speakers.
Registration is $200, and scholarships are still available. Saturday is Families and Friends day and registration for the day is FREE. Lodging information and other details are available on the website.
How often do you see news flashes, read articles, or are encouraged to reject Pride activities? Too often, those news flashes, articles, and personal encouragements flow from “Christian” sources. They may be news flashes on a church website; maybe an email or instant message from your faith, sharing negative comments regarding a Pride event; and, most blatantly, many groups of Christians physically gather and protest violently and loudly with their own flags and negative signs.
It’s very disappointing to see folks who believe they are Christians behave this way. We remember and believe Jesus never condemned nor rejected anyone because of their differences from others. We are all different from each other, taller, shorter, different skin and hair colors, shaped differently, maybe born missing a body part, autistic. No one is a perfect copy of someone else.
I was in Lexington, Kentucky, recently with Floyd Poenitz and several other Kinship members to create awareness about Kinship at the CALLED Convention for Adventist pastors in North America. On the whole, it was a positive experience with lots of wonderful interactions.
I came away from the experience with the impression that most of the people we met support Kinship’s goals of making the church more inclusive and accepting of LBGTQ+ individuals, their families, and friends. We met a few people who voiced their opposition to the issue of homosexuality, based on a misunderstanding of Scripture, but most people affirmed Kinship’s ministry of inclusion.
WELCOME
“Welcome” has to be one of the warmest, most meaningful words in the English language. Combine it with “home” and you have a phrase that connotes memories of family, belonging, security, and safety.
SDA Kinship Int., Inc. stands for freedom and peace for all people to live their lives without fear. There are many places in the world that are experiencing war and unrest, places where people cannot experience equality and freedom. SDA Kinship prays for and is concerned about members and LGBTQIA+ related issues around the world.
At the time of this writing, we are especially praying for the people of Ukraine; and we condemn the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. I have contacted as many of our Kinship members in Ukraine as I could reach. Those who responded have asked us to please pray for them and their safety. They have either fled temporarily to neighboring countries or have gone to the western part of Ukraine to be safe. The invading Russians will not be kind to queer Ukrainians.
WRITE YOUR OWN SCRIPT
Growing up, we are all given a script. We rarely realize it, but it is a part of our upbringing from our parents and our church “family.” Scripts give us security and a sense of direction. Mostly, life scripts are a good thing and keep us safe. They are necessary.
FROM PYRAMIDS TO WHEELS
Often we connect with families struggling with the sudden awareness that a family member is LGBTQIA+. This new awareness can be stressful and awkward for all the family members. Feelings and emotions can range in all directions, causing confusion and misunderstandings. It’s more common than many families realize until they suddenly are spinning in their own emotional tornado.
Je suis quelqu'un qui observe les gens. C'est une vraie confession. Pas dans le sens du harcèlement moral. Je trouve simplement les gens fascinants. J'aime apprendre à les connaître, mais j'observe aussi les gens dans un contexte social, leurs interactions et leurs réactions. Je pense que c'est peut-être un héritage allemand. Certains parmi vous ont peut-être vu des maisons dans de petits villages allemands. La maison est presque au bord de la rue, et au deuxième ou troisième étage une fenêtre est ouverte, et vous pouvez voir une femme ou un homme âgé, debout, assis ou penché par la fenêtre, qui regarde le monde qui passe.
Cela pourrait facilement être moi, à une autre époque et dans une autre vie. Je vais souvent me promener sur le sentier d'un parc près de chez moi et j'écoute généralement un podcast préféré. Si le temps est clément, il y a d'autres personnes sur le sentier et c'est une expérience intéressante de voir quels groupes démographiques lèvent les yeux et sourient, disent bonjour ou reconnaissent au moins que nous passons à côté les uns des autres. Il y a toujours des personnes qui se contentent de regarder vers le bas et qui n'établissent pas de contact visuel. Chaque fois que je rencontre quelqu'un, je me demande quelle est son histoire. Sont-ils heureux ou tristes ? Y a-t-il quelque chose qui les dérange ? Se rend-elle compte que je passe devant elle ? Ont-ils besoin d'un sourire amical ?
Récemment, le monde a dit au revoir à Desmond Tutu, ancien archevêque du Cap, en Afrique du Sud. Il est décédé le 26 décembre 2021, à l'âge de 90 ans.
Desmond Tutu était un pionnier à de nombreux niveaux, notamment en tant que président de la Commission Vérité et Réconciliation d'Afrique du Sud, après l'élection de Nelson Mandela à la présidence. À l'époque, l'Afrique du Sud était profondément divisée par la race, la politique et la politique d'apartheid qui a dominé le pays de la fin des années 1940 au début des années 1990. Tutu a aidé le pays à surmonter la douleur indescriptible vécue par des millions de personnes au long de cette période.
Bonne année! Alors que cette eNews sort, nous accueillons 2022... une nouvelle année et une nouvelle liste de possibilités. Nous avons survécu à une année folle avec des rebondissements inattendus. C'est un réconfort de savoir que nous ne sommes pas seuls face à ce qui nous attend. En tant que communauté et individuellement, nous avons affronté et surmonté de nombreux défis. Nous sommes des survivants. Ensemble, nous, LGBTQIA+, familles et alliés solidaires sommes forts et avons une voix qui peut être entendue dans le monde entier. Ensemble, nous pouvons faire une différence pour notre communauté et pour ceux qui viendront après nous.
C'EST LA PÉRIODE CONSACRÉE À LA NAISSANCE DU CHRIST
Tous les 365 jours, nous avons choisi de célébrer un événement qui nous est inconnu : la date et le lieu réels de la naissance du Christ. Depuis des centaines d'années, des archéologues bibliques et théologiens ont cherché sans relâche des preuves précises et exactes de la date et du lieu de naissance de notre bien-aimé Jésus Christ. Nous leur souhaitons à tous bonne chance dans leurs précieuses recherches et nous nous attendons à ce qu'ils fassent des découvertes concluantes,...
De tous les mots qui pourraient être utilisés pour décrire l'année 2021, le mot "survie" figure probablement parmi les dix premiers.