Fish out of water documentary Sept 12, 2:30, First Nazarene

Subject: Documentary Film "Fish Out of Water" to be shown  Sunday, Sept 12, 2:30, First Nazarene

As we do each academic year, All God's Children opens its almost weekly schedule of conversations and presentations on LGBT issues and faith on the Sunday following Labor Day.

Sharon and I are grateful to the senior pastor of First Church of the Nazarene in Point Loma for permission to continue this conversation into its fourth year on the church's campus, adjacent to the campus of Point Loma Nazarene University.

(I have attached a long paragraph below that describes the various participants in the conversation over the last three years.)

This academic year will open with a fairly new documentary film, Fish Out of Water , made by Ky Dickens, a young woman who attended Vanderbilt University as a person of faith and a leader among her peers, but also one who knew she was gay. Her coming out to her friends at Vandy her senior year did not go well, so she decided to mount an inquiry about scripture and homosexuality, her friends' chief hangup. The film is her gift to us, parallel to the letter she wrote her best friend who had turned against her after she learned Dickens was gay. The result? Her friend apologized and asked Dickens to continue the conversation. http://www.fishoutofwaterfilm.com/

Invite others to attend with you!  Many of you know that AGC was begun primarily for PLNU students and staff (thus its location). This is still our chief emphasis.  Remember that I am enjoined by the PLNU administration against making blanket invitations to persons on the university campus who are not already affiliated or who are not engaged with me on a similar topic. Therefore, if you work or study at PLNU, I hope you will help get the word out about the AGC schedule in general and about this Sunday's program in particular. Consider this your critical contribution to make sure those who desire such a conversation find out about it!

We are working on the schedule of programs for the rest of this semester and will announce them a week or two ahead as they are confirmed.

Upcoming AGC Programming:

• Sept 19 - Dean Nelson, local journalist and professor; author of God Hides in Plain Sight
• Sept 26 - A closer look at the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah (How do various Bible scholars interpret it?)
• Oct 3 - In Good Conscience, screening of a documentary film about the life and work of Sister Jeannine Gramick http://www.ingoodconscience.com/site/reviews.php ; http://www.ourladyswarriors.org/dissent/nugent.htm
  
• Oct 10 - Mark Trotter, retired pastor, First United Methodist Church of San Diego
  

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All God's Children at First Nazarene (AGC) meets almost weekly (except during some university breaks) Sundays, 2:30-4:30, at San Diego First Church of the Nazarene, 3901 Lomaland Dr., Ellipse building, main level, Bowes Conference Room. All are welcomed. Sessions are dedicated to an open discussion of LGBT issues and faith. Participants are asked to respectfully listen to and engage in a variety of contributions to discussion in a spirit of honest inquiry. Moderators ask participants to honor the announced program topic and to be courteous to speakers.

Who attends AGC?  In the last three years we have found that a wide variety of persons have participated in the conversation, and a few have testified that they have been greatly helped by the association. Among those who attend are alumni of PLNU and of other Nazarene universities, some of whom still glory in the fact that a conversation like this is ongoing near a Nazarene university and at a Nazarene church. Friends of AGC who are associated with the local PFLAG chapter or who are our fellow parishoners at First United Methodist Church in Mission Valley, also attend. Then there are also persons who sometimes see a flyer about a presentation when they visit the LGBT Center in Hillcrest or who find out by word of mouth and ask that their names be added to the email list. Most persons who attend do not come out to the group, whatever their identity. This is never expected. A few persons do declare their orientation and talk freely about their struggles--gay, straight, trans, etc. We hear over and over that a majority of LGBT persons who grew up in the church and still love the church feel ostracized. Some of these persons seem to find help at the AGC sessions. Many people who attend are simply inquisitive. They know about Prop 8, and maybe they know somebody who is gay, or they carry a spiritual burden because they believe the church is not doing a good job regarding LGBT issues. They know ministers who are condemning of gay persons, and they are prayerfully trying to reassess how they as Christian persons should behave toward their brothers and sisters.

We do appreciate your prayerful support.

Phil (and Sharon) Bowles