Rev. Johnny writes:

The Lutherans made a risky move recently. 82 LGBT ministers and seminarians outed themselves to their religous community. The result of their brave act of solidarity and resistance is a resolution that urges bishops to refrain from disciplining pastors who are in "faithful committed same-gender relationships." It is true that this is not a statement of full inclusion of queer people, but I believe it is a good start. If I had my way queer people of every faith tradition would come out at the same time - October 11th, 2007 (National Coming Out Day) . What would religious leaders do then? They might crucify us. It's happened before. But, the Rule of Heaven may just be made manifest here on Earth; the oppressed may have victory over their oppressors not through acts of violence but through truth-telling and acts of mercy. Even if the only result was that each faith tradition resolved to urge their authorities to not discipline their ritual leaders who are in "faithful committed same-gender relationships" I would call that a solid step toward victory.

What can we do today? Today we can help a woman named Vicki Pedersen, one of the 82 LBGT Lutherans who outed themselves. If you are or were you a Lutheran; if you are ecumenically minded, if you are committed to justice; and/or if your are a distributor of information, then please read the request below. And if you have a blog or an email list, please pass this along. It is my honor to introduce to you, Pastor Vicki Pedersen.

And it is my honor to introduce you to Pastor Vicki through Rev. Johnny's blog.