Steve Kimball: This is My Story, This is My Song

This personal narrative came out of the Believe Out Loud Congregational Workshop that Integrity held at Christ Church: Norwich in the Diocese of Connecticut in June, led by Province I Coordinator Marie Alford-Harkey and Neil Houghton.  Effective storytelling is a powerful evangelism tool, and one of the modules of the workshop.

I have had a conscious and personal relationship with God through Jesus since 1975. This relationship has been a life changing experience. Most of the influence of the transformation was from those whom I met during the charismatic movement of the 70’s from various protestant evangelical churches. I was enthusiastic about sharing the love of Jesus and His salvation with anyone I might encounter along the way.

Steve Kimball

There was however, one segment of the population that I didn’t witness to. That was the gay population. I didn’t give it much thought since I had read various passages that seemed to denounce the gay lifestyle. I migrated to Christ Episcopal Church from the Church of the Resurrection. My wife was still at the Church of the Resurrection. She told me about a lesbian couple that had started to attend there. I still didn’t think much about it, since they were at the Church of the Resurrection, and I was at Christ Episcopal Church. After all, wasn’t the gay lifestyle frowned upon by Christianity?

That very night, I had one the most vivid visions of my entire life. Jesus stood at the foot of my bed, and told me that there were two women that he would like me to meet. I didn’t have to ask who, but I did ask “What about scripture?"

Jesus answered, “I know what I authored. You must learn to love as I have taught.”

I knew what I must do. I went to speak to each of the women separately, and then together. I had to be honest with where I was and how Jesus told me to “get with it.” Both women were very gracious and loving. Not only did they teach me what love really is, they showed me what had been missing from my witness for these many years; a total and complete acceptance of ALL people, regardless of their sexual preference, ethnicity, etc. I was now free to love without any hindrance.

Welcome Sign outside Christ Church: Norwich

My desire to share Christ’s love has increased lately. To help me prepare for that sharing, I attended a Believe Out Loud workshop recently. This workshop is designed to aid us in welcoming and incorporating all people into the church community, being specific about including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender folk into that incorporation. It was informative, and spiritually nourishing. I now consider myself an evangelical Christian much more prepared to share Christ’s love with ALL people.
 
Steve Kimball is a school bus driver and a member of Christ Episcopal Church in Norwich, CT, where he is a youth advisor and evangelism coordinator.  This article originally appeared in the July edition of the parish newsletter, Thameside Thinking, as does a recap of the Believe Out Loud Congregational Workshop the parish hosted recently.

Rainbow Presence Easter 2007

What is Rainbow Presence?

On Easter, April 8, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, transexual, and supportive allies in The Episcopal Church will wear a sign of the rainbow to Church. This Rainbow Presence will be a visible witness to The Episcopal Church's Welcome of all the children of God and the value of their ministries in church and in the world.

Why do we need this witness?

The Communique of the Primates' Meeting in Tanzania laid out steps to be taken by the Episcopal Church, specifically by the House of Bishops, by September 30, 2007. We do not agree with the course of action recommended in this Communique as it calls for sacrifice of the ministries and loving relationhships of gays and lesbians for an illusive false Unity. We also do not believe the bishops should take these steps given the clear decisions made by General Convention in its Constitution and Canons.

What will Rainbow Presence reveal?

Rainbow Presence will be a visible sign to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Episcopalians that they have a community of support. It will show what will be lost to our church if we bow down to the requests of those who do not yet know blessings of God's love for all. It will give a human face to an "issue."

What can you do?

Wear something that shows your support: a pin, a scarf, a stole, hat, button or some other piece of rainbow apparel. Links to buy items are at Rainbow Presence. Also available: cards to put in the collection plate for rectors and vestries of churches where it is not safe for people to be open about their identity.

Spread the word about Rainbow Presence. Add the logo and link to your blog. Rainbow Presence emerged from a grassroots group of people who felt the need to "do something" to represent the true heart of The Episcopal Church. We are a welcoming, worshipping church, gathered in all our diversity to give praise to God and to do the work of being Christ's hands in the world.

Here is the core of our statement from the Rainbow Presence web site:

We agree that:

The Episcopal Church must understand what is being asked of it—especially in terms of its lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender members. The Episcopal Church needs to know who its lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender members are in order to know who is being asked to pay the price of unity in the Anglican Communion. Until lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender members of the Episcopal Church have full and equal access to all the sacraments and rites of the church, lesbians/gays/bisexuals/transgendered people are essentially second-class members of the Episcopal Church.

We acknowledge that:

No matter what course of action the Episcopal Church decides to take, faithful Episcopalians will feel it necessary to leave the Episcopal Church. Some of us may be among those who leave the Episcopal Church.
There are lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender people who live in places where making themselves visible is unsafe and even life threatening.

We affirm the presence in the church of our lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender sisters and brothers who preceded us, giving of themselves and their gifts while remaining invisible as lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender people.


Ann Fontaine and Jeffri Harre for the organizing group of Rainbow Presence, email: rainbopres at yahoo.com