Dear Power of Pride,
I so much appreciate your real-life views from out-of-the-closet gays who are still active in communities of faith.
LONGTIME DREAM CRUSHED
I grew up in a Roman Catholic home, and had always dreamed of becoming a priest.
I was CRUSHED when the pope said, No more gays can enter the priesthood!
For the first time, I began to look seriously at other religions. Just recently, I stumbled across the Adventists. Do you think that might be something for me?
Todd
!!YOUR ANSWERS FROM POWER OF PRIDE – GAY ADVENTIST NEWS!!
Dear Aspiring Priest,
WHERE GAYS FIND A SPIRITUAL HOME
Absolutely. The Adventists have a large number of gays in their ranks, and their leadership (both in and out of the closet) is positive towards the Community!
Mr. Cliff Goldstein fills a key position at their world HQ: “I edit the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guides (the “Quarterly”), the official denominational teaching publication for the world SDA Church; the publisher is the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.” (Clifford Goldstein, Graffiti in the Holy of Holies: An Impassioned Response to Recent Attacks on the Sanctuary and Ellen White, Pacific Press Publishing, 2003, p. 12)
This important Adventist leader has come right out and said:
“I’m sure Jesus looks approvingly on ‘loving, monoganamous, and committed’ homosexual sodomy, don’t you?”
As you might expect in a huge, worldwide church, not every member is up to speed yet. So don’t expect welcome and full acceptance in every congregation you visit.
SEVERAL PINK UNIVERSITIES
You will feel most comfortable attending a church close to one of their California universities. In particular, the Pacific Union College church should suit you just fine.
“Pacific Union College is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a world-wide Christian community that runs one of the world’s largest Protestant school systems. The college is owned, operated and subsidized by the regional division of the Adventist Church, the Pacific Union Conference.” http://www.puc.edu/about-puc/about-our-adventist-faith
In the recent battle for gay marriage rights in California, the 
pastor there, Elder Tim Mitchell, took a strong stand for the rights of the Community. He correctly noted that it was a matter of religious liberty.
So go ahead and enroll in the theology program there. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the gay-friendly atmosphere of love and acceptance you’ll find!
But not to sleight the communication department, either. The professor there, Ms. Michelle Rai, is a well-known friend of the Community (see at left).
After the big defeat, they had this to say:
“It is with great disappointment that we acknowledge the results of Californians’ vote in favor of Proposition 8 to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry.” http://adventistsagainstprop8.org/
PACIFIC UNION COLLEGE NOT ALONE
Another Adventist school with rock-solid credentials is Loma 
Linda University, where Juhyeok Nam is an associate professor. http://www.llu.edu/llu/faculty/
directory/portfolio_activity.php?uid=jjnam&catid=19
He has made some HUGE breakthroughs in Bible interpretation!
“As I read the Bible – the Word of God – I find that there are many statements we Adventists do not take literally or apply directly to our lives today.” Juhyeok Nam http://progressiveadventism.com/2008/12/02/
why-i-disagree-with-paul/#more-582
There are those irritating passages against graven images, idolatry, and the like. Sure some of these provisions just happen to be in the ten commandments, but when you’re into progressive Adventism, the Bible can sometimes be a burden!
KETTERING COLLEGE OF MEDICAL ARTS: THE BIBLE IS A BURDEN
“The Bible is at once a revelation and a…burden.” (Charles Scriven, Comment of 30 June 2008 at 5:38, http://www.spectrummagazine.org/podcast/2008/06/24/test)
“Charles Scriven is president of Kettering College of the Medical Arts and chairs the Adventist Forum/SPECTRUM board.” (Alexander Carpenter, Reconstructing Seventh-day Adventism – Charles Scriven, 26 June 2008, http://www.spectrummagazine.org/podcast/2008/06/24/test)
“Owned and operated by Kettering Medical Center, KCMA is an integral part of the educational mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.” http://www.kcma.edu/AboutUs/sdaInfo.html
Now what passages might these learned Adventist academics be talking about as so burdensome?
LOMA LINDA UNIVERSITY: GAYNESS IS COOL
“I can choose not to apply specific teachings of Scripture”
“I do not think that the full expression of the homosexual identity is sinful.”
“I find homosexuality and heterosexuality – both as orientations and expressions – as morally equivalent and neutral.” Juhyeok Nam, supra
Dr. Nam “is an associate professor of religion at 
Loma Linda University
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Nam
Dr. Nam correctly identifies the issue as one of normalcy:
“Some seem to believe that “normalizing” homosexuality will lead to the end of faith, religion and culture as we know it.” “If our faith, religion and culture really depended on a particular definition of normalcy in sexual orientation, then perhaps they need to receive a major corrective surgery. “ Juhyeok Nam
http://progressiveadventism.com/2008/12/
02/why-i-disagree-with-paul/#more-582
which has found resonance in the Community:
“There are too many of us who are not sick, or inverted, or perverted, or even ‘effeminate,’ but who just have a knack for falling in love with people of our own sex. When we have been damaged, it has not been due to our homosexuality but to your and our denial of it. The burden of proof now is not on us, to show that we are not sick, but rather on those who insist that we would be better off going back into the closet.” Posted by: Pacific Union College Professor Alexander Carpenter reference
Even after the crushing defeat in California this year, Juhyeok Nam is not giving up. He’s placing his hopes on education:
“It is my sincere hope that changes will be made (in my lifetime) to these statements in the direction of grace, acceptance, and normalization of homosexuals and same-sex marriages. Clearly, this change will not happen overnight by some administrative vote coming from the General Conference, and it shouldn’t, for it should not happen by force or intimidation. It ought to and will happen through a shift in the thinking of
the laity, especially in the younger generations of our community. Education is, therefore, so crucial – whether at church or at school.” Juhyeok Nam, supra
An education of the sort you can find at Pacific Union College, Loma Linda University, and, of course, at La Sierra. Its all a matter of getting your GAY & LESBIAN INFO — where the flag is flown with PRIDE!
HIGHLY RELEVANT:
Get the latest from Pacific Union College and Loma Linda here – A Special Lesbian Wedding
From the corridors of power – The new General Conference gay liberation theology
Pix:
http://www.atoday.com/files/uploads/cliff_goldstein_pic_.gif
http://psysr.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/gay-flag.jpg
http://www.topnews.in/files/gay-rights.png
http://adventistsagainstprop8.org/
http://www.sligochurch.org/images/gallery_photos/OSR/DSCN0416_edited.JPG
http://h0bbes.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/julius.jpg
http://www.pinkpoint.org/images/mediapage/personal_remembrance.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3104/2571483989_54bd5d9053.jpg
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