From Soulforce’s website.

Rodney Powell is a gay, African American, who has lived in Hawaii since 1976 with his partner of 30 years. While a … all » medical student at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee during the years 1957-61, as a student protest leader in the African American Civil Rights Movement, Rodney had the privilege and honor to learn and apply the philosophy and strategies of love and nonviolence under the guidance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other dedicated ministers of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In this interview, Rodney shares his thoughts on the Soulforce Equality Ride.

Though, Overflow Mag has experienced a recent revival of attention through it’s coverage of Soulforce’s visit to Wheaton, this site is not just about the Equality Ride.
The mission of Overflow is:

“We are alternative voices seeking to share the overflow of our hearts with the Christian College Community.”

Overflow originally started by students at Wheaton College seeking to make known some Christian views and opinions that where not being given enough thought and attention at their school. We are now seeking to expand the efforts to include all college’s that fall into the category of “Christian.”
Overflow, as a publication, is not seeking to take sides on any of the issues presented. It might occassionally appear as such, in that only one side of an issue is usually the “alternative.” We are interested in posting any view that is not being loudly proclaimed, or assumed by the “Christian community” (and generally speaking we are talking about within the USA).

If you are interested in writing for Overflow, please send your article or proposal to Ariah Fine

From the Soulforce Website:

Eastern University has embraced academic freedom and the importance of the discussion of GLBT issues with commendable enthusiasm. Eastern administrators have worked with Soulforce Equality Ride members to come up with a day of mutually agreed upon activities that are sure to be productive and thought-provoking. Members of the Equality Ride will be housed by Eastern staff and students during their time in St. David’s. The Eastern University campus and the Soulforce Equality Riders will have an excellent learning experience during our visit.

From the Soulforce Website:
******************************************
SOULFORCE PRESS RELEASE: April 21, 2006
For Immediate Release
Contact: Richard Lindsay, 646-258-7193
richard@equalityride.com
******************************************

(WHEATON, IL) - Equality Riders wrapped up two days of dialogue with the students, administration and faculty of Wheaton College today. Riders were welcomed to the campus, where they spoke in classes, presented and shared meals with students.

Wheaton was, in many ways, the inspiration for the ride. While he was an undergraduate at Northwestern University, Equality Ride co-director Jacob Reitan met a closeted gay Wheaton student in Chicago. When the discussion turned to the evangelical school’s policy on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, the student told Reitan if he came out, he could be expelled from the school.

“I told him I thought it was a horrible policy, and it should be changed,” Reitan said. “But then he looked at me and said, ‘Actually, I think it’s a good policy. I think it’s a sin to be gay.’”

Reitan was taken aback, and promised to bring a group of LGBT-affirming Christians to Wheaton to present a different message.

“Coming to Wheaton is the fulfillment of a dream,” Reitan said. “We’re here to keep a promise I made three years ago, that I would bring a group of LGBT people to Wheaton who affirm their sexuality and know God loves them as they are.”

Reitan continued, “We are very thankful to Wheaton College, President Duane Litfin and Provost Stan Jones for welcoming us to campus. They worked with us admirably to plan this visit and the presentations and discussions went smoothly and fairly.”

A highlight of the two days of dialogue was a panel discussion in the school’s gymnasium, which drew around 1500 students, faculty and community members. The college, whose most famous alum is Billy Graham, has a strong academic reputation and the discussion was spirited and wide-ranging. Soul Force panelists Jacob Reitan, Richard Lindsay, and Jay Johnson discussed subjects with the Wheaton panel ranging from biblical exegesis, theology, psychology, sociology, law, politics and Christian ethics.

A central part of the forum was the issue of academic freedom. The school’s administration explained to the Equality Riders that Wheaton’s community covenant, which restricts homosexual behavior, is a statement of faith that applies to all students, straight or gay. Wheaton administrators stated that any students standing in support of the goals of the Equality Ride would be risking disciplinary action.

“It is unacceptable for an institution of higher education with a reputation like Wheaton’s to suggest that a student could not, after study, thought and prayer, come to the conclusion that homosexuality is not a sin without risking expulsion,” Reitan said.

In addition to his academic training in philosophical theology and position at the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA, Jay Johnson provided the personal experience of being a Wheaton alum and son of a Wheaton faculty member.

Johnson’s motivation for sitting on the panel with Soulforce was more than academic. Johnson said, “I was thinking about what it was like for me to be a scared, closeted student at this school and how much it would have meant to me to hear someone say I could be gay, I could be Christian, and I could have a wonderful life.”

After the presentations and formal dialogues were over, Wheaton students gathered with Equality Riders and other community members at a local restaurant for dinner and informal discussion. As their time together drew to a close, Equality Riders went through the now-familiar ritual of breaking off the intense conversations that had started over dinner, exchanging hugs and e-mail addresses with students and heading for the bus. Before the bus headed back to the hotel, some Wheaton students took a brief tour of the bus and even donated jars of food for the Equality Ride hamster, Ryder.

“We’ve made so many new friends at every stop,” said Equality Rider David Coleman. “It’s like we’ve planted seeds everywhere we’ve been and we’ll just have to wait to see which ones bear fruit.”

For more information on the Equality Ride stop at Wheaton college, see: www.equalityride.com/wheaton.

The Soulforce Equality Ride is a journey to change the heart and mind of America on the issue of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality. Following in the footsteps of the Freedom Rides of the 1960’s, the Equality Ride uses principles of non-violence to confront military and religious colleges and universities with policies banning enrollment of LGBT students. The Equality Riders reflect on the lessons of history, which have shown past religion-based discrimination against women, people of color, and religious minorities to be an unacceptable abuse of the sanctity of religion. At each of the 19 schools on the 51-day bus tour, the young adult ambassadors of the Equality Ride bring this simple message to students, faculty and administrators: Learn from history; end religion-based discrimination.

Kayla Boswell writes about her time at Wheaton:

I was visibly flustered and to the point of giving up completely after conversing with Wheaton’s president over lunch. His life experience as a pastor counseling gay people has only brought him in contact with drug using, promiscuous, disease ridden, broken individuals. Understandably, this is his idea of what all gay people are like. He did not seem to understand that this reality is a sad product of the environment which their policy creates. When I told him that as an individual in the Christian Gay Community, all we ask is for the privileges that straights receive concerning relationships: straights’ relationships are valued, acknowledged, celebrated, and the Christian community holds its members accountable to the commitments they have made before God and the community. Gay relationships are ignored, thought of as “not real relationships,” our partners are often labeled as our “friend” or “roommate,” and we do not receive the accountability to stay committed, monogamous, and faithful as do our straight counterparts by our Christian communities of faith. I believe this is the main cause for promiscuity and premarital intimacy before marriage or union within the gay community; if no one else is watching or caring about our relationships, it’s that much harder for us to do so as well.

To read more about her experience at Wheaton and other college’s visit her blog.

Overflowmag.com has a hotline number (775-370-6924).
This weekend we are looking for Students, alum, staff, and others who have attend the Soulforce events at Wheaton College to call in and leave a one minute message about your thoughts, opinions and just general impression of how things went.

I’ll be posting an audio compilation of the feedback we get here on the site.

So, PLEASE call in and leave your thoughts:
(775-370-6924)
*remember there is a one minute time limit.

Continued from part 4 of A letter to a church.

My intention in writing this letter is that it will help you to
understand one person’s prayerful journey to accepting his sexuality
and the man God intended him to be. I realize too that many readers
will consider me a sinner and will react to my story with the “Love
the sinner, hate the sin” response. With that in mind, the most
loving response I can imagine would be for those taking this stance
to consider the following: “Perhaps, God has called some of his
children to be gay. Perhaps the traditional teachings of the Church
are based on years of prejudice and misinterpretation of God’s
word.” Then within that framework of openness, prayerfully study
the Scripture in light of the cultural context in which it was
written and study the meaning of these often-cryptic words in the
original Greek.

In my years at Park Community Church I have established many
friendships that God has truly used to help me grow and be
transformed into His image. However, I feel deeply convicted that
God is leading me elsewhere now. I have found a new church home
where all of God’s children are welcome; a church where my two
beautiful children can grow and thrive in the love of Christ and
witness me flourish in my faith. Now every Sunday morning I stand
shoulder to shoulder with my fellow Christians and cite the Apostle’s
Creed in a loving, accepting community:

I believe in God the Father Almighty
Maker of Heaven and Earth,
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord.
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost
Born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell;
The third day he rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
>From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead;
I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church;
The communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body; and life everlasting.
Amen

I realize that there are many out there who believe that the Kingdom
of Christ does not include God’s homosexual children, and these
judgments have resulted in many homosexuals leaving the Church and
rejecting the claims of Christ. I, however, boldly stand firm in the
face of these judgments and projections, standing firm in God’s
promise outlined by the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:37-39:

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who
loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither
angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any
powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ
Jesus our Lord.

My hope one day is that Park Church will be a place where all of
God’s children will be welcomed, and challenged to live Godly lives
regardless of their sexuality. Until that time, however, it is with
great sadness that I respectfully withdraw my name from membership at
Park Community Church.

In God’s Love,

Todd Zimmerman

Continued from part 3 of A letter to a church.

I studied and read arguments from both sides of the debate. On both
sides of the debate, I saw truths outlined and I saw God’s words
manipulated in order to fit a preexisting bias. I sifted through the
arguments and let the Scriptures be the guide, willing to accept a
life of celibacy if that is what God had intended. As I studied, I
was most disheartened by the nearly universal theme on the
traditional Christian argument that equated homosexuality with
recreational sex and fetishism, an argument that was clearly meant to
instill fear and disgust amongst the readers. Like these authors, I
agree that this is not the way that God has called us to express our
sexuality, whether in a heterosexual or homosexual context. What I
did find lacking from the traditional arguments was a biblically
based rationale for prohibiting loving, monogamous, same sex
relationships. What I came across were distortions of the original
Greek texts that were reminiscent of how the Church at one time used
the Scriptures to condone racism and slavery, condemn inter-racial
marriages and turn its back on issues like domestic violence.

In the midst of my reading, I came across one influential work
entitled, The New Testament and Homosexuality by Robin Scroggs. The
author, a heterosexual New Testament scholar with no apparent hidden
motivation, set out to study the classic Scriptural references to
homosexuality in light of the cultural context in which they were
written. The conclusion? There is no biblical mandate against
consensual, monogamous, loving, same sex relationships. For me, this
conclusion was even more justifiable in light of the fact that Christ
himself never mentioned or condemned homosexuality.

So I don’t know why I’m gay. What I do know is that my sexuality is
an integral part of my being, and it is not a choice, conscious or
otherwise. What I have learned though is that as a gay man, I am
pleasing to God. Several weeks ago, I heard a sermon on the
following passage from Jeremiah, Chapter 18.

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, “Arise and go
down to the potter’s house, and there I shall announce my words to
you.” Then I went down the potter’s house, and there he was, making
something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay
was spoiled in the hand of the potter, so he remade it into another
vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.

Through this sermon, I learned that there is not one design for God’s
children and that God created other vessels that are equally as
pleasing to him. As a result, my relationship with God is now
stronger than ever. Stronger because I now see myself as God has
truly intended me to be and for the first time in my life, I see and
feel that I am pleasing to God.

I am deeply saddened however, to see how countless Christian churches
continue to reject many of God’s children. It is not surprising that
rates of depression and substance abuse are higher among homosexual,
which I believe to be in part attributable to the fact that
homosexuals are frequently marginalized by society, and told by many
Christian churches that they are evil, and thus not worthy to enter
the fold of Christ. During my reading, I was particularly offended
to see many of the traditional arguments use the high rate of
depression and substance abuse as an argument for why homosexuality
is evil, failing to see this as a call to compassion, to bring those
hurting and marginalized by society to find peace and comfort in the
love of Christ.

…to be continued tomorrow…

Recently a great many alumni received an email from President Litfin. I’ve noticed a number of responses from people on their blogs, and thought it would be good to consolidate those here and provide a central place for students, faculty and Litfin himself to read the responses.

I write to ask you for your prayers.

On Thursday and Friday of this week we will be visited by a group of homosexual activists traveling on a bus tour across the United States to various Christian college campuses. Their agenda is to draw negative media attention to institutions who maintain an historic biblical stand on the issue of homosexuality. This, of course, Wheaton does. (See Wheaton’s Community Covenant ) Hence our place on their list of targeted institutions.

We did not invite these visitors to our campus. But since they are intent on coming anyway, we decided to make a virtue out of a necessity by turning their coming into a teaching opportunity for our students. Given the ongoing changes in our culture, today’s students are potentially facing a lifetime of confrontations over the issue of homosexuality. What should be their Christian response? We have endeavored to prepare our students to respond to these visitors with the biblical balance captured in the injunction to “speak the truth in love.”

Wheaton’s provost, Dr. Stan Jones, a psychologist who has done extensive work in the area of human sexuality, has prepared a biblical rebuttal to the false teaching of this group. (See “CACE Resources on Homosexuality ”) These and other written materials, along with various scheduled meetings and chapels, have been devoted to helping our students understand the many issues and shape a balanced Christian response. This process has been highly educational for all involved.

After this event is over, we will let you know how it went. In the meantime, please pray for us, asking that God will be glorified, His truth will be upheld with grace and humility, and our Christian witness to a watching world will be an effective one.

Thank you.

Duane Litfin
President
Wheaton College

Please post your response in the comment section below.

Continued from part 2 of A letter to a church.

I felt a wave of peace flow through my entire being. I felt like
Harry Ashfield, the small boy in one of my favorite short stories,
The River by Flannery O’Connor. In this allegory, Harry is a boy
searching and struggling for meaning and purpose when his sitter
takes him to the river for a baptismal service. The preacher
baptizes Harry and then tells him, “You count now.” Afterwards, the
sitter takes him back to his loveless home where everything is a
joke, and upon awakening the next morning, Harry dreams of the
river. So he returns and finds the riverside healing place now
deserted. He bounds into the water, takes a gulp and stands there
trying to decide what to do next. One thing for sure he isn’t going
to fool with preachers this time. He’ll baptize himself and find this
Kingdom of Christ where he thinks life will be so much better than it
is back home. He ducks under the water and tries to stay there but
the river pushes him back. He tries again,

“…and the same thing happened. The river wouldn’t have him.”

He decides it’s just another joke. He gets angry, kicks out at the
river and the next thing loses his footing,

“…and the waiting current caught him like a long gentle hand and
pulled him swiftly forward and down. For an instant he was overcome
with surprise; then since he was moving quickly and knew that he was
getting somewhere, all his fury and his fear left him.”

In my life, I tried desperately to be heterosexual only to be “pushed
back” like Harry in the water. As I continued my struggling against
what God had intended for me, God, in the midst of my brokenness,
pulled me with his gentle hand into the life that Christ had intended
for me. Like Harry who stopped struggling once the hand of God
gently pulled him under, so too my struggle ended and my fury and
fear left me.

Tears streamed down my face.

With my newly gained acceptance of whom God had intended for me to
be, my struggle was now intellectual as I sought to reconcile my
sexuality with my understanding of the Scriptures. So I prayerfully
studied the Scripture in the hopes of gaining clarity on this complex
and emotionally charged issue.

…continued tomorrow…