Please come join us on October 23, 2007 at 7:00 PM at Stonewall Columbus Center on High in Studio One upstairs.
This is our kickoff Faith adventure and we hope that this will open the door to quarterly faith events and discussions. We have some excellent leaders who will walk us through the journey to begin our effort in achieving spiritual wellness and reconciliation with our many faiths.
Thank you to our honored faith experts:
REVEREND DOCTOR SUSAN K. SMITH: In these turbulent, heartbreaking days such as we are living now, where even believers are challenged to hold onto the immutable truth, the unyielding fact that God has not surrendered the throne, there is, solely because of Jesus the Christ, Reverend Dr. Susan K. Smith. Perhaps because this season is the foreshadowing of the “last days” that as she not only answered the call: go ye therefore, feed my lambs, feed my sheep, in the uttermost parts, in season and out, but also is building a ministry model of discipleship for the 21st century. She is called, chosen, and trusted by God to handle His word.
It is not the best of times, nor the worst; neither can this be called the season of discontent. Yet, now, there seemingly exists an infectious apathy that is ebbing and creating a wilderness in the hearts minds and spirits of many people. Through her literary talents, love of learning, lover of Biblical history, and prowess in elocution, she continuously reveals the mysteries in the Word of God to all especially the fragmented members of the Body of Christ with unmistakeningly clarity and a boldness that is essential for these latter days. She brings a balm of Gilead to heal the brokenhearted.
She is a minister of the gospel to the entire body of Christ. The work she does through ministry—media, classroom, books, workshops, evangelism outreach, and particularly the pulpit, is especially targeted to those persons purposefully excluded in our communites by vigilant gatekeepers of injustice, racial snobery, economic disparity, religious bigotry, and politics. One of her monnikers of living faith in action is “what can we do to help”. This is repeatedly evidenced in her work in South Africa, the Samuel Dewitt Protor Katrina hearings on the national travesty of ambivalence for the people in New Orleans, prisons, interfaith board of the Children’s Defense Fund, her local community, and recently Jena, Louisiana for the Jena six.
Her gender and race are phenomenal gifts from God. Reverend Smith, like many women called by God takes those gifts, receives them in to herself, multiplies them under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit, and gives them back in an abundance, to the entire Body of Christ, and causes God the Father to smile and have ‘bragging rights.” As a child of God first, and an African American second, she is required to pursue everything with excellence and scholarship. This is exemplified in everything she does: a parent of two phenomenal young adults Caroline and Charles. As an author, From Calvary to Victory, Forgive Who? and a children’s book Carla and Annie . Also in educational pursuits: Dr. Smith earned a Doctorate in Ministry 1992 from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. She attended Yale Divinity School where she earned her M. Div. and Studied African American history. And, as pastor of Advent United Church of Christ for nearly two decades!
Several individuals have sowed richly into her life. They include, the late Samuel Dewitt Proctor, Dr. Charles Booth, John Blassingame, and of course her “father in the ministry” Reverend Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. senior pastor of Trinity UCC in Chicago, Illinois. The vessel that stands today, is the “potters’ clay” handcrafted into an eloquent creation of Jesus the Christ.
REVEREND HEATHER RITTENHOUSE: Rev. Rittenhouse is an ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches/USA. Originally ordained in 1997, her ministry credentials were stripped once she came out as lesbian. Following a protracted struggle, she successfully regained her credentials in 2003, thereby becoming the first GLBT clergy to be reinstated in the ABC/USA after being defrocked. She has served on the pastoral staff of First Baptist Church, Granville, Ohio, and currently is the Council Chair of the Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists. She is a native of central Ohio.
MARK MATSON: Mark has been long-engaged in the process of reconciling his Christian faith with his sexuality. Born and raised in the Roman Catholic tradition, Mark graduated from The Catholic University of America and later began studies for the priesthood. Although he left the seminary to pursue his first love, he completed a Masters in Theological Studies at Boston College. He served as President of the Columbus Chapter of DignityUSA, which has labored for full inclusion of all gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons in the world’s largest Christian denomination through education, advocacy and support. Following the murder of Matthew Shepard, he rallied kindred spirits in Columbus in eleven different Christian traditions in the led to the establishment of the Shepherd Initiative. SI sponsored two conventions in Columbus on reconciling Christianity and Homosexuality that attracted over 600 people from 37 states. Shepherd Initiative became a regular presence of faith support at the annual Stonewall Columbus Gay Pride Parade. This year, Mark was elected President of DignityUSA at their national convention. He was born and raised in Colorado, but after 25 years, considers Columbus to be home. He and his partner Chris live in Powell. He is VP of Human Resources for a Columbus engineering firm.
TONY MARCONI: Tony holds undergraduate degrees in history and sociology and a Masters in Education from George Washington University. He is a full-time educator, a member of the North Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Lewis Center, and a long-time advocate and activist for LGBT rights. He has been an active member of the Delaware Gay Straight Christian Alliance for six years, and, along with his life partner, Martha, was part of a coalition of representatives that helped found Equality Ohio. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Equality Ohio, and in his “spare time” gives lectures on the subject of homosexuality and the Bible.
Center on High in Studio One
1160 North High Street
Columbus, Ohio 43201-2411
Phone: 614-299-7764
Web: stonewallcolumbus.org
Parking is available behind the center.
