• PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

• I’ve been thinking recently about just what Kinship means to its members. What does Kinship do, and who benefits from Kinship’s existence? In fact, it made me think about what it would be like to do a  Kinship version of It’s A Wonderful Life (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650/).

I’ve been thinking recently about just what Kinship means to its members. What does Kinship do, and who benefits from Kinship’s existence? In fact, it made me think about what it would be like to do a  Kinship version of It’s A Wonderful Life (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650/).

Strategic planning for any organization can be daunting, but it’s a necessary thing for the growth and health of that organization. In past strategic planning sessions for Kinship, we’ve talked about how much an all-volunteer organization can do, how we can encourage more members to be involved and to lead, what our goals are regarding the Adventist denomination, and what our goals are regarding our members and their needs.

HAPPY MAY TO ALL KINSHIP FAMILIES & FRIENDS

Wow, it’s springtime already! Our wildflowers are springing up in the foothills, green grass is bursting out for our deer to enjoy, and the male turkeys are busy attracting some girlfriends.

We have sent out almost 900 copies of UnClobber to LGBT people AND to families and Adventist Church leaders.

We thank you for your support of this project, and we are aiming to have more conversations and create change in ourselves, our families, and our local communities.

Click the image to play the video.

The struggle for equality, whether based on sexual orientation, gender, race, religion, or economics, has been part of the human experience for thousands of years. Those of us who have supported the rights of LGBTQ individuals have seen remarkable progress over the last several years. Gay, lesbian, and transgender lawmakers serve at nearly every level of state, local, and federal government. LGBTQ individuals are featured in films, in concert halls, and at athletic venues. We can celebrate this progress.

But as we enjoy the progress we’ve seen, we have to admit that resistance to sexual, racial, religious, and ethnic equality is growing and becoming increasingly violent. In many places bigotry, prejudice, and ignorance are conspiring to rob people of their God-given right to equality.

MONTHLY EVENTS

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT I DON’T KNOW?

That philosophical question burst out of my frustrated lips as I struggled with a complex differential equation in an advanced engineering mathematics course. My professor stared at me, and I figured I had just failed the course. Mathematics was not one of my strong subjects.

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Click the image to play the video.

EKM2021 will be held in a natural environment in the little community of Westelbeers, between the cities Eindhoven and Tilburg in The Netherlands.

As Carolyn and I explored “variations,” we discovered that every one of us is “varied.” She and I have different heights, different body shapes, distinct personalities, and even different behaviors. We are greatly varied.

 Life at Quest Learning Center

BY JErRY MCKAY

At 7:30 a.m., March 16, 1983, I boarded a bus bound for Reading, Pennsylvania. Six hours later, I was back at the Ottawa bus station!

Expecting problems with border security about my stay in the United States, Colin had prepared two letters. The first letter read:

WE EXTEND OUR SYMPATHY…

It is with great sadness that we inform you that Deborah Anne Elliott passed away on January 25, 2021 at the age of 65. Deb was Yolanda Elliott's sister and had been battling multiple sclerosis for many years. Deb served as Kinship's accountant at one point and through the years she was always supportive of Yolanda as she served in her many Kinship roles, including currently serving as President. Deb lived in the home with Yolanda who spent many hours each day lovingly taking care of her sister.

Our sincere and deep condolences to Yolanda and the family and friends who loved Deb dearly. We know this is a great and painful loss. Please keep Yolanda in your prayers. If you wish you, can drop her a note to express your sympathy. Yolanda, we surround you with love and caring.

SDA Kinship is a community. But what is a community? The definition says: a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.

I frequently say, when asked, that one of SDA Kinship’s goals is to build community. The challenge is that we are a very diverse group with layers and layers of “uniqueness” and diversity that we bring to the community table. So what is the characteristic that we have in common? What the church sees as the brokenness of our orientation and gender, we see as a blessing.

“Learning” is an interesting and complex process. All living creatures learn as they grow and mature. If you think about that process, it’s easy to recall watching your pets learn to find food, chase toys, or hide from you when you are looking for them. Also think about yourself or your children as you learned to walk, talk, play, read, and even think and make decisions. 

So learning is really gathering information or experiences to make, hopefully, excellent decisions. Where are those decisions made? All decisions originate in our brain and transfer to the muscles, organs, and emotions to protect us and help us survive. Yes, some reactions appear to develop naturally through our genetics, but we develop and learn most of them as our brains and ourselves mature.

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT  

When so many people around the world had such an atrocious 2020, it’s a bit daunting to come up with an inspiring New Year’s message for my Kinship family.  Not one place on this globe has been unaffected by the pandemic, much less the all-too-common bigotry and hate.

When so many people around the world had such an atrocious 2020, it’s a bit daunting to come up with an inspiring New Year’s message for my Kinship family.  Not one place on this globe has been unaffected by the pandemic, much less the all-too-common bigotry and hate. The last year makes us wonder and think of the song, “Where is the Love?” by the Black-Eyed Peas. Listen to the song here. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpYeekQkAdc&ab_channel=BlackEyedPeasVEVO]  To read the lyrics, click on this link. [https://genius.com/Black-eyed-peas-where-is-the-love-lyrics]

But now that 2021 has arrived for all of us, I’m again hopeful for the future. The production of the coronavirus vaccines gives me hope that if we all do our part by receiving the vaccination when it’s available, and also by continuing to wear masks, socially distance, and wash our hands, we will finally be able to see each other, meet together and, as Kinship is very well known for, hug each other again!

LOOKING BACK INTO 2020

Carolyn and I hope this finds you enjoying the Christmas and New Year’s holidays despite the virus. We pray you could connect in person or through digital media with your special family members.   We also hope you all created some positive and beneficial memories as you traveled the unpredictable paths of 2020.

HOLIDAY GREETINGS FROM THE PRESIDENT 

Holiday Greetings  {cbtag:firstname|info:receiver}!

        December 2020 eNews

MESSAGE FROM THE TREASURER

As we move into the holiday season at the end of this very difficult and stressful year, I am thankful. I am thankful for all of you who have been part of SDA Kinship's 40-year journey. So many members, friends and allies have been part of the Kinship community during these four decades. You have made it possible for Kinship to provide its message of acceptance and love to many, many people all over the world. 

As we move into the holiday season at the end of this very difficult and stressful year, I am thankful.  I am thankful for all of you who have been part of SDA Kinship's 40-year journey. So many members, friends and allies have been part of the Kinship community during these four decades. You have made it possible for Kinship to provide its message of acceptance and love to many, many people all over the world.  As someone who was part of the organizing meeting in September, 1980, I am in awe that Kinship has continued to provide knowledge and support to our Adventist LGBTQ community and its allies.  It was only possible because of the many, many people, both alive and gone, who have been part of this effort. 

As treasurer, it is of course part of my duties to remind you to consider supporting Kinship financially.  Kinship, like every person and organization, has been affected by the pandemic.  While donations have been down during 2020, our inability to hold in-person meetings has also reduced our expenses. Our hope is that life in 2021 will start to return to normal for all of us and that Kinship will be able to do more face to face outreach in addition to its online and other virtual programs as the year goes forward. And, for that, we need your support.

        November 2020 eNews

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT  

October has quickly slipped away and November is upon us.  Here, in America, one of my favorite holidays is Thanksgiving. I enjoy it because it’s one holiday when we count our blessings. Of course, as I think about it, it feels sacrilegious to celebrate Thanksgiving. I’ve come to think of Columbus Day as Indigenous People’s Day. And it’s hard to think of Thanksgiving without realizing I was taught that it celebrates people who survived in a new land only to take that land away from the people who were here first, Native Americans. I don’t have the power to correct anything in our past. But what I do have the power to do is to live in a way that supports good in the world today. I believe my faith calls me to do that.

October has quickly slipped away and November is upon us.  Here, in America, one of my favorite holidays is Thanksgiving. I enjoy it because it’s one holiday when we count our blessings. Of course, as I think about it, it feels sacrilegious to celebrate Thanksgiving. I’ve come to think of Columbus Day as Indigenous People’s Day. And it’s hard to think of Thanksgiving without realizing I was taught that it celebrates people who survived in a new land only to take that land away from the people who were here first, Native Americans. I don’t have the power to correct anything in our past. But what I do have the power to do is to live in a way that supports good in the world today. I believe my faith calls me to do that.

Many LGBTQ+ folks have celebrated their successful “coming out” to friends and their families. It’s probably a process and event they had thought about and worked on for many months and years. Hopefully, they had created a network of friends and other LGBTQ+ folks that helped them - even coached them - on the scary but desired event. Their understanding and supporting friends were valuable allies for that major and probably emotional time.

Yes, it was a “successful event” for the LGBTQ+ member. They wanted to do it, they needed to do it, and they had their personal courage and friends’ and allies’ support to fall back on to if it didn’t work out as desired.  

The loss of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg made the last few weeks tough, not just for the women of the United States, but for all of us. Justice Ginsberg was an extremely thoughtful and intelligent presence on the Supreme Court who expanded the civil rights of women in the United States, promoted the equality of men and women, and conducted herself with grace and determination on the highest court in the land. Her legacy will live on in spite of a concerted effort to undermine her efforts. I appreciate what she has done for women and, as a woman not married to a man, I could not have independently owned a home and business if it were not for her work as a civil rights lawyer, judge, and Supreme Court justice. 

Although my heart is heavy because of her passing, I have reason to hope. In just a few short weeks, we the people here in the United States have the opportunity to have our voices heard in the November 3 election. We can speak up in support of whichever party and leaders we decide is best for us individually and for our country. As a non-profit organization, we do not advocate for any particular party, so I will just say, please make the effort to vote if you’re eligible. Get out there and vote and be heard!

October is an exciting month! It is a month of change. You can feel the weather changing from summer to fall. The air at night is cooler and just feels fresher.

Here in Texas, it is normally a time to enjoy the State Fair of Texas and all that goes with an outing to Fair Park—tons of unhealthy foods to sample, new cars to check out, carnival folks trying to get you to try their games (and lose your money). For a German, Oktoberfest is an event to be social and, again, associated with overindulgence in food. It’s a time when I can wear my Lederhosen in public and not be embarrassed.

Tenho estado muito desanimado ultimamente, como muitos de vocês me disseram que estão. Com tudo o que está acontecendo no mundo e em meu país, os Estados Unidos, é fácil ficar desanimado.

Alguns de vocês me seguem na minha página pessoal do Facebook e noTwitter, onde posto alguns comentários  políticos para familiares e amigos. Eu reconheço que algumas de minhas postagens podem ofender algumas pessoas fora desses círculos. Mas o que mais pretendo expressar em qualquer uma das postagens nas redes sociais é o meu desejo de que todos nós tratemos uns aos outros com bondade, compaixão e empatia… e clame absolutamente quando e onde for necessário.

Saudações de Discovery Bay, no estado de Washigton, estamos sentados em nosso timeshare  (uma espécie de acomodações para férias programas) contemplando as águas calmas de Puget Sound. Está mais quente que o normal, mas pelo menos o ar está livre de fumaça. Saímos da Califórnia na semana passada em meio a uma densa fumaça e incêndios.