Message from the president

Wow! It has been a HOT summer! Most of the month I have been on vacation with my husband Jeff in Italy. The heat has been really crazy and earlier than usual this year. From social media posts, I've seen that many of you have been traveling as well and have also commented about the heat. Many Pride events around the world took place the past few weeks as well. If you participated in any of them, or even just watched them on YouTube, I hope they brought you a feeling of belonging to a bigger community that supports and affirms you.

We are ending up our Italian in Rome and then flying home on Sunday. On Monday, I'm flying to St Louis to officially/unofficially represent SDA Kinship at the Adventist General Conference session. Kinship is not welcome to have an exhibit in the exhibit hall, but I'll be walking around and talking to exhibitors and attendees about SDA Kinship and raising as much awareness as possible. If you will be there, please let me know so we can make contact.

Some of the time Steve Chavez, Kinship's Director of Church Relations, and I will be hanging out with several of the "not welcome" entities in the Spectrum Lounge across the street from the convention center. It will be a connection point to connect with allies and others who are more open minded and supportive. I'm looking forward to talking to allies from around the globe there.

After the GC session, I'll be getting ready for Kinship Kampmeeting in Riverside, California. If you haven't already registered to attend, please do so ASAP at kampmeeting.com where all the details are including a link to discounted room prices at the host hotel. It will be a wonderful time for Kinship members to relax, be authentic, meet other queer Adventists and family members. We have a great lineup of speakers and topics and plenty of time to get to know other attendees. The dates are Wednesday evening July 30th to Saturday evening August 2nd. Make plans to arrive earlier on Wednesday and depart on Sunday after the programming is over.

I hope to have a Kinship Zoom Townhall meeting between GC and Kampmeeting. The date is yet to be determined, but I hope you will try to join us. Send me any questions about Kinship you'd like to have answered during the meeting.

I look forward to seeing you or hearing from you soon!

Floyd