• What Spiritual Gifts do Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans People have to discover and share? 
• Is there a place to share these gifts in the institutional church?            
• Can the church be a safe place for GBLT people?
• How do we discover or create space where the spirits of all people can be nurtured and soar?                             

Come explore these issues with us, as St. Hilda’s Anglican Church hosts a weekend focussing on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) people in the church.

St. Hilda’s is a place of welcome for everyone, as one of the few Anglican parishes that openly and proudly blesses the committed relationships of same-gender couples.

Whether you are straight, queer, or questioning, we invite you to join us for this weekend of education, exploration, and celebration!

          Saturday, July 25 - 7:00  - 9:00PM

               Speakers:

Anita Fast:*  Called To Be Queer:  (Dis)Locating The Church On The Edge

Neil Fernyhough:*  Spiritual Intimacy:  What The Church Can Learn From The Radical Faerie Movement

Jeffery Priess: * The Church, The Queer(ed):  Finding Solidarity In The Gender Identity Disorder.

Each presentation will be 20 minutes, followed by a half-hour moderated question and answer session.

 A wine-and-cheese reception in the parish hall follows.

*  Anita Fast (MTS) began developing a queer theology from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective for her Master's thesis in 1999.  Since then she has given numerous workshops and lectures on the topic.  She is employed at Vancouver School of Theology as Registrar, and is active on the Board of the Brethren/Mennonite Council for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Interests in Canada, and the Working Committee of the Interfaith Summer Institute for Justice, Peace, and Social Movements.

*  Jeffrey Preiss is a graduate of Vancouver School of Theology (MATS) where he now works in the Admissions Office.  His thesis explored the construction of masculinities in the early church.  Jeffrey continues research in the area of gender and queer theory.  He has most recently been a guest speaker for the Centre for the Study of Canada at Thompson Rivers University’s conference “Navigate the Labyrinth: History Philosophy, and Politics.”  Jeffrey is now working on a  second masters (Educational Studies) in which he will focus on gender and queer theory in relation to university policies of gender inclusion.

*  Rev. Neil Fernyhough, M.Div., Th.M. was ordained an Anglican priest in 2000, and is currently priest-in-charge of St. Hilda’s in Sechelt.  His graduate work has been in New Testament ethics; and he has begun doctoral studies on the role of conscience as an ethical guide in the work of St. Paul.  He is active in the Anglican Church of Canada, currently serving as co-chair of the Diocese of New Westminster’s Ecumenical and Multifaith Unit, and is a co-founder of The Widening Circle, a group dedicated to upholding the inclusive heritage of Anglican Christianity.  His current research interests include finding points of contact between contemporary west coast folk spiritualities and Christianity.

                Sunday, July 26

10 am:  Contemporary Worship Service

A contemporary service of praise, worship, and music, including Holy Communion for those who wish to partake.  We will be focussing on thanksgiving for the individual gifts we have as human beings, including the gift of diversity in sexual and gender identity.

Our guest preacher will be Rev. Markus Dünzkofer, rector of St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Vancouver’s West End.

7 pm:  Movie Night –

For the Bible Tells Me So

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajBR0dq0XXk.

This award winning documentary reveals how people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child or family member.  Offering healing, clarity, and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity, this landmark film “boldly takes on a loaded topic and examines it both intellectually and emotionally; the result may well leave you blinking away a few tears” (Seattle Times).