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Autumn 2009 • Katalyst|1
in their home church. Some will belucky enough to hear from one of you what it means to be involved inreconciling work. Others will keeppraying for that connection still un-aware of this vital faith movement of inclusive United Methodists.Even as we celebrated at Justiceand Joy, we knew we needed to comedown from the mountaintop andkeep doing the valuable one-on-onework spreading the word and to also
fi
nd new ways to reach more of thosewho are in need. I’m so excited ourblogging and Facebook communitiesare thriving. Additionally, I’m look-ing forward with great anticipationto a new web tutorial and introduc-tory curriculum coming out in 2010.Maybe we can make it “viral”— wordof mouth keeps rede
fi
ning itself.Tens of thousands are still longingto hear. Who will bring the word tothem? That’s you and me and all of us together…The
fi
elds are ready forthe harvest.
WWW.RMNETWORK.ORG
KATALYST
NEWSLETTER OF RECONCILING MINISTRIES NETWORK
VOL. 26 NO. 4AUTUMN, 2009
I’ve Needed YouSeeing Beyond
 By Rachel Harvey
Fall is my favor-ite season…andwardrobe. Fromthe vibrant colorsof mums that oftengrace the steps of homes and churches,to the sounds of leaves crunchingbeneath my feet. I love the smellof apples baking into pies and thetaste of apple butter on toast. Ilook forward to the soft landinga pile of leaves provides and thesolid seat of a hay bale on a hay-ride…I love it all! As I think back about my experi-ences of fall, I realized that eventhe parts I’m not so fond of holda memory of things I love. WhileI remember waiting all eveningat an auction to get the best priceon a
fl
at of mums, I also remem-ber the joy my brother and I hadimpersonating the auctioneer.The hours we spent raking leavesafter school balanced out whenwe’d take breaks to jump in thehuge piles we’d created. Now thatmy Nana has passed and my momlives hundreds of miles away Itreasure the hours spent peelingapples and rolling dough for piesconsumed in one sitting. I had tothink long and hard to
fi
nd somepart of baling hay that I enjoyed,I’m not fond of sweating, liftingheavy, scratchy, awkward rect-angles…but I do love community. As much as I fought the activity,baling hay was a way our familycame together and the meals weshared after a long day in the barnprovided a deep communion thatheld us together for a long time.
Continued on Page 6
Opening Worship at Justice & Joy. More photographs from Convo on pages 4-7.
 By Rev. Troy Plummer
“Why didn’t I know about you? I’veneeded you.” This oft heard refrain— as folks discover Reconciling— en-genders hope for the new one whohas found longed-for community andchallenge to those of us who seekto make sure no one is left out of Christ’s inclusive church.Word of mouth is great. It has thehighest rate of engaging new personsin the life of our church and move-ment. The new Believe Out Loudcampaign celebrates RMN’s 25 yearsof ministry. It both strengthens localwork for inclusion in Annual Con-ference teams and builds the largermovement for equality. It is built onthe wisdom of knowing we changewhen we know one another. It is or-ganized, intentional grassroots wordof mouth at its
fi
nest! Yet, there are tens of thousands of United Methodists longing to hearof God’s inclusive love for lesbian,gay, bisexual, and transgender folk
 
2|Katalyst • Autumn 2009
RECONCILING MINISTRIES NETWORK 
 
mobilizes United Methodists of allsexual orientations and genderidentities to transform our Churchand world into the full expression of Christ’s inclusive love.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Helen AndrewRachel Birkhahn-Rommelfanger Vincent CervantesRev. Daniel DissLawrence T. DuncanRev. Duane A. EwersElizabeth A. FimbresWill E. GreenWill J. GreenEsther Villarreal HouserDavid MauzyRev. David MeredithDr. Randall MillerRev. Holland MorganRev. Joshua M. NoblittRev. John OdaElizabeth OkayamaRev. Dr. Karen OlivetoRosario QuiñonesRev. Dr. Bruce RobbinsSally SparksRev. Dr. Derrick SpivaMonica L. SwinkJoy T. WattsRalph A. WilliamsChristina Wright
LEGAL COUNSEL
Jennifer Soule
RMN STAFF
Meg Carey
 Business Manager
Rev. Carl Davis
 Director of Development
 Antony Hebblethwaite
Communication/Technology Manager
Stephanie Harris
 Admin & Donor Relations Associate
Rachel Harvey
 Associate Executive Director
 Audrey Krumbach, M.Div.
Field Organizer
Rev. Troy Plummer
Executive Director
Spotlight: The Village Church
While over 500 members of the RMNcommunity gathered for worship atthe YMCA of the Rockies, membersof The Village Church in Toledo,Ohio gathered for a simple prayerservice in the parking lot of their fu-ture church. As we joined our voicesin song, they raised their voices for justice, voting to join both the Recon-ciling Ministries Networkand the Open and Af 
fi
rm-ing Churches of the UCC.Why, you might ask, werethey in a parking lot?The Village Church isa new church plant of the West Ohio AnnualConference. Dreamingof a community whoselove extended beyondtheir walls, they met inthe parking lot becausethey didn’t have the leasefor their building andplanted
fl
owers as a signof their commitment togrowth and appreciationfor all God’s beauty.For over a year, Rev.Cheri Holdridge and ateam of lay people havebeen laying the groundwork for a progressive justice focused congre-gation in NW Ohio. “The VillageChurch has been committed to thevalues of RMN even before The Village was a church! Inclusion isabsolutely a part of our DNA” sheshared. Rev. Holdridge has beena pastor in the West Ohio annualconference for 20 years; part of thattime was spent with the communityat Central United Methodist Church,the oldest Reconciling congregationin Ohio. The Village Church’s choiceto be a new church plant rooted inthe inclusion of all God’s children isnot one they make alone.In the past three months, three newchurch plants have begun the pro-cess of becoming Reconciling congre-gations. The intentional decision of these churches to start from a placeof inclusion calls our church to liveout the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thisis exciting news for both our commu-nity and church!Welcome Village Church! We cel-ebrate your courage to live authen-tically and welcome you into thefamily of which you were alwaysa member. Check out The VillageChurch at their website www.vil-lageohio.org or
fi
nd them onFacebook!!!
New Reconciling Communities
Congregations
Saint Paul UMC 
of Everett, WA 
Trinity UMC 
of Lafayette, IN
St. Nicholas UMC 
of Hull, MA 
UMC of the Terrytowns,
Terrytown,NY 
Chestnut UMC and New Light Com-munity
of Portland, ME
Urban Village Church
of Chicago, IL
The Village Church
of Toledo, OH
Community
Lebanon-Sweet Home Reconciling Group, Southern District
of the Or-egon-Idaho AC
 village
the
church
You’re invited to the launchof the Village Churchon
Sunday, October 25at 10:30am
at3992 Monroe St.and Central Ave.
Pastor Cheri Holdridge
villageohio.org
CHANGING THE WORLD
RAISING KIDS WHO ARE
 
Autumn 2009 • Katalyst|3
nizing and storytell-ing. This training wasparticularly designedto offer something forboth new and expe-rienced ReconcilingUnited Methodists.Because we are train-ing in 50 Annual Con-ferences, we are hopingto involve 1000 Recon-ciling United Method-ists in Annual Con-ference teams. Thesepeople will becomeBOLD Teams, and eachteam will host a gath-ering, for a total of 250across the connection! At each BOLD Gather-ing, silently supportiveUnited Methodists will be invited to become Believe OutLoud Disciples who
Commit
to the Reconciling move-ment,
 Pledge
$10 per month to the movement, and
Share
 their reconciling story to two other people. Visit the campaign website at www.rmnwitness.org.This year, ReconcilingUnited Methodists willBelieve Out Loud ina national grassrootscampaign to grow themovement for fullinclusion of all personsthrough stories, teamsand gatherings.More than 41% of Unit-ed Methodist clergyand lay leaders person-ally feel that transgen-der, homosexual, andqueer persons shouldbe fully welcomed butdo not publically sup-port the movement forfull inclusion.Therefore, this year’sCalled to Witness campaign is a grassroots effort to in-vite our silent supporters to Believe Out Loud by orga-nizing in teams to plan small gatherings or parties. Inorder to equip RUMs for this work, Annual ConferenceTeams (ACTs) will plan where national trainers fromRMN will offer skills for team building, strategic orga-
Called to Witness 3: Believe Out Loud
The National Believe Out LoudTraining Teamat Justice & Joy.
Believe Out Loud Disciples are people who:
 
Commit
–
Sign a Reconciling United Methodist (RUM) card.
Share
– Tell their story to at least two other people and ask them to join the movement.
Pledge
– Donate a monthly contribution to the Reconciling Ministries Network.
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