Registration and scholarship applications for the 2017 Proclaim Gathering will open this Saturday, April 1st. You can register here.
The Proclaim Gathering brings together publicly-identified LGBTQ+ rostered ministers and candidates from across the church. ELM friends make it possible for seminarians and rostered leaders experiencing financial hardship to attend by providing funds for scholarships – you gave close to $10,000 in scholarships last year, and you can help again this year! Give now.
We’ve moved the Proclaim Gathering to a new time – in the summer – and this year we’ll be in the heart of Chicago. Our 2017 Gathering will be at the Cenacle Retreat Center from July 16th-19th.
The theme this year is Healing the Violence. Local speakers from the Chicago area will help Proclaimers name the violence, explore pathways of healing, and then send them back out into ministry with some practical tools. And, we’ll have plenty of inspiring worship, relationship building with colleagues, and space for leaders to be their full and fabulous queer selves. By the end of it, we send these leaders out renewed and ready to provide ministry to people who deeply need it.
We keep registration affordable so money is not a barrier to attending. Your gift of $100 – or more if you can do that today– will help us provide scholarships to all who need them. You can provide a full scholarship with a gift of $395. We’ll send you a card from the Gathering to express our thanks!
Asher O’Callaghan can’t wait for July 16th, when the 2017 Proclaim Gathering begins! The Gathering has been one of the highlights of his year since 2012. Asher’s favorite hobbies include surfing, discovering craft beers, and writing short bios in the third person.
Finding New Perspective at Pendle Hill. Photo by Amalia Vagts
by AmaliaVagts
ELM Executive Director
The ELM Board of Directors gathered March 9-12,2017 at Pendle Hill, a Quaker retreat center just outside Philadelphia, PA. We spent the bulk of our time engaged in work that board member Mike Wilker referred to as, “discerning where God has led us in the past and where God is calling us in the future.”
The time was rich, collaborative, challenging, and clarifying. One piece of our work was creating what our facilitators Lisa Negstad and Michael Bischoff referred to as “Simple Practices.” Almost immediately, we changed the heading to “Explicit Practices.” We like to turn words on end. And the new name seemed more “us,” which was the purpose of this exercise.
Of the seven or so practices that made it into the final working list, the one we all agreed on immediately was this: “We laugh together.”
It struck me, as it has many times in my work with the LGBTQ+ faith community, that laughter and joy are so often at the center of our work. Our work is often not easy. At times, it is completely discouraging. The journey has been long. Sometimes the future is unknown. And yet – time and time again, we find ourselves breaking into laughter, into song (and oh yes, even into dance thanks to the Fitness Marshall).
And it seems fitting that if someone happened upon a document that said “Explicit Practices of LGBTQ+ Lutherans,” they’d open it to read “We laugh together.”
Our time together spanned four days. We were thankful and encouraged by an afternoon in conversation with Lenny Duncan and Rev. Lura Groen, co-conspirators from #decolonizelutheranism. Lisa Negstad and Michael Bischoff guided us during a day-and-a-half session about the future direction of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries. In addition to the Explicit Practices, we worked with our belief statement to make sure it better reflects our current work. We were nourished by the wonderful surroundings and people of Pendle Hill and each other. We were led by God. We spent a significant amount of time discerning where God is calling us – a direction Mike described as, “beautiful, compassionate, and fierce.” This important work continues and we’ll invite you into conversation with us as it unfolds.
We look forward to more work – and laughter – with you.
AmaliaVagts, executive director of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, has been known to laugh in the face of adversity, and, on occasion, at totally inopportune moments. She does not plan to cease this behavior anytime soon.
The Board of Directors of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries announces that Executive Director Amalia Vagts will conclude her role in July 2017 and begin the process of becoming a minister of word and sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The Rev. Dr. Elise Brown, board co-chair, notes:
When Amalia announced her decision to attend seminary to the board last October, it received the news with joy and gratitude. Amalia’s leadership and collaborative spirit have strengthened programming, created connections inside and outside of the Lutheran church, and built a strong financial foundation for ELM as she proclaimed the ways the church is blessed by LGBTQ+ clergy and seminarians. Her leadership and work have been a great gift. While difficult to say goodbye to such a talented executive director, supporting Amalia in her deeper sense of call and vocation is thrilling for the board.
Vagts’ last day of work will be July 31, 2017. The Rev. Brad Froslee, board co-chair, says a search process will begin at the end of March with the plan to have a new executive director in place in July.
In sharing her news with the board, Amalia writes:
Photo credit: Emily Ann Garcia
I have been transformed by the experiences I have had these past ten and a half years. You invited me into your living rooms, sanctuaries, offices and hearts and shared your sorrows, joys, and stories with me. Thank you. Our work together has changed my life. The people who make up Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries as friends, board members, and the Proclaim community are truly faithful and fabulous. I feel a sense of deep fulfillment and clear that my calling is now leading me elsewhere. I will leave feeling confident that Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries is healthy, adaptable, and ready to receive your next executive director. It is impossible to imagine my life without the people who make ELM what it is and I’m thankful that I don’t have to! With joy, I will continue to wholeheartedly support ELM as a donor and friend and connect in new ways as a future Proclaim member. And for now, I’m getting back to work for the next five months!
Vagts’ tenure at ELM has been a time of great growth and change for the organization. She has overseen the expansion of ELM’s three programs, strengthened connections with donors and supporters, and has worked closely with congregations, synods, and bishops across the country. Brown shares, “The passion and faith Amalia brings to this work is unsurpassed. She is thoughtful, forthright and quick to add both deeper insights and moments of levity. That unique combination of gifts has served ELM very well over these 10 years. She has been an extraordinary leader during an extraordinary time.”
During her more than ten years with ELM, Vagts has been instrumental in the changes in ELM and the church. She was hired as the development director of Lutheran Lesbian and Gay Ministries in October 2006. Shortly after that Vagts co-facilitated the merger of LLGM with the Extraordinary Candidacy Project. In 2008, ELM hired Vagts at its first executive director.
Through Vagts’ leadership and skill, ELM doubled the number of extraordinary ordinations and calls to publicly identified LGBTQ+ ministers before the ELCA’s policy change in 2009. That year there were 46 members of the Extraordinary Roster–a community of resistance and hope that provided prophetic witness and pastoral leadership in communities often ignored and oppressed by the church and society. Today, the Proclaim community has 245 members, and continues to grow.
As board co-chairs, Brown and Froslee are working with the full board to appoint a Search Committee and will lay out the next steps for succession in the coming week. Additionally, the board will host gatherings across the country to allow those who have worked closely with Amalia to celebrate and honor her work.
ELM gives thanks for a gifted leader who has given her heart and soul to the work of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries to proclaim a place of welcome, grace, justice, and leadership in the Lutheran church and far beyond. Through her, God has unleashed the proclamation of the gospel.
Froslee says, “ELM vibrantly responds to God’s love and call to justice. It’s a gracious, strong, and creative ministry. We’re looking forward to the future and the new leader.”
If you’ve been following the LGBTQ+ movement during the past few decades, you’ve probably noticed several changes in the language we use. A few decades ago, many would use gay and lesbian to refer to our community. Then bisexual was included creating the acronym LGB. And not too long after that, transsexual was added to the mix, thus LGBT. Now, the word transsexual is usually replaced with transgender, and the letter Q has also been added for queer. Which brings us to LGBTQ—the acronym ELM has often used.
Most of these changes in language have taken place over the course of years and there’s been a lot of deliberation about what language fits and what doesn’t. So with that in mind, we’d like to invite your feedback on the most recent addition we’ve made.
In recent months, some of you may have noticed that we’ve begun using a + at the end of LGBTQ in many of ELM’s publications. The + is meant to symbolize the many queer identities that might not be fully represented by the words lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. Identities like intersex, two-spirit, or asexual, just to name a few. It reminds us to greet the new identities we encounter with open minds. It reminds us of how our language itself is evolving, and how we too are evolving with it.
The point to changing our language isn’t to make people feel uncomfortable and confused. The point is to recognize that language stands for something. The words we use are meaningful. Language is power. Words can actually create possibilities that didn’t exist before.
Take me for example. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked, “How old were you when you knew you were transgender?” Older than you might guess. Because I didn’t become familiar with the word transgender until I was in my 20s. Until then, I simply had never heard a word that described my experience of my gender. When we have no words to express our experiences, we are kept alone and silent.
The internet was the first place I found the word transgender. When I read about the experiences of other trans people, it felt like being named. With one word, experiences I had never been able to express before were affirmed. With one word, my experiences no longer kept me isolated but joined me together with others. In a very real sense, the word transgender made me possible.
These letters stand for something. They stand for people—for POSSIBILITY. Without words to name who we are in the world, we’re left silent and alone with our experiences. We want to celebrate the on-going naming and claiming of new identities in our community. We want to acknowledge that the process of naming and claiming these experiences is part of our DNA as a community.
Does the + help us do that? Ideally, it helps affirm the on-going evolution of queer identities in our communities. However, it may minimize identities like intersex, asexual, or two-spirit by lumping them all into a symbol. We invite your feedback.
For a few high-quality, user-friendly lists of what each of these words (and many others!) means check out these resources:
Asher O’Callaghan is grateful for all the ways that visibility gives birth to possibility. He didn’t know he could be a queer Lutheran pastor until he met a queer Lutheran pastor. He’s grateful for all the folks whose public witness as LGBTQ+ faith leaders creates space for queer faith.
National Proclaim Gathering 2017 July 16 – 19, 2017
by Asher O’Callaghan
ELM Program Director
During these turbulent times, the Proclaim Community will be gathering this summer in Chicago around the theme “Healing the Violence.”Proclaim, a professional community of 245 publicly identified LGBTQ+ Lutheran people doing and pursuing rostered ministry, is committed to bringing good news and positive change to the world.
So during these violent times, how can LGBTQ+ ministers lead communities of healing? How can we and our communities give public witness to the violence in our world and God’s vision for healing? Through a number of hands-on workshops filled with practical tools and strategies, we’ll work to develop responses to these questions that we can adapt for use in our ministry contexts.
The program will focus on current happenings, including the Black Lives Matter movement, the 2016 elections, immigration, and environmental destruction. We’ll reflect on a number of specific events like the shootings in Charleston and Orlando, and the sharp increase of homicides in Chicago (where our retreat will be held). Lutheran responses like the ELCA’s social message on “Gender-based violence” will be considered.
In addition to bearing witness to the violence around us and in our own lives, Proclaim will also explore different pathways of healing: the arts, activism, prophetic preaching, communication strategies, and more. Building community with one another, of course, is also a pathway to healing. So there will be time to worship, socialize, relax, and have fun with one another as well.
After all, we believe that God’s will for the world is not merely to bring an end to violence. Luther’s Small Catechism teaches us that the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” means that not only are we are not to murder our neighbors, but we also must “help and defend them in every need and danger of life and body.” God wants us to heal into communities that help and defend one another. Communities where people can thrive. Together we will be exploring how we can become what the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called “beloved community”.
The Gathering is open to all members of Proclaim – visit www.elm.org/retreat to learn more. It’s been occurring annually in one form or another since the early 1990’s. ELM friends make it possible for all to attend by providing funds for scholarships – you gave close to $10,000 in scholarships last year! In a few weeks, we’ll invite you to give in support of our scholarship fund for the 2017 gathering.
Asher O’Callaghan is the program director of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries. Proclaim is one of the programs of ELM. There are two other programs: Ministry Engagement and Accompaniment. In the Ministry Accompaniment program, we help congregations get ready to call an LGBTQ+ rostered minister. In the Accompaniment program, we walk alongside LGBTQ+ candidates so they won’t have to go through the sometimes convoluted processes of candidacy, seminary, and interviewing for a first-call alone.
ELM Program Director, the Rev. Asher O’Callaghan, preaches at Extravaganza!
by Asher O’Callaghan
ELM Program Director
This past weekend, about 600 adult youth ministry workers descended upon the city of Louisville, Kentucky for the 2017 Extravaganza. If you’re unfamiliar with the Extravaganza, it is an annual 4-day event for adults who work with youth in congregations of the ELCA. According to the ELCA Youth Ministry Network which does a fabulous job of putting on this event:
It is for the professional and the volunteer. It is for the old and the young. It is for the urban, the suburban and the rural. It is for pastors, it is for laypeople. It is for all who share in the adventure we call youth and family ministry.
The event features a whole bunch of workshops, speakers, worship, music, renewal, and networking. See why it’s called an extravaganza???
According to Miriam-Webster, there are two definitions of the word “extravaganza”. The most frequent way that I’ve heard this word used is to indicate “a lavish or spectacular show or event.” The other definition (of which I was previously unaware until I consulted the dictionary) is: “a literary or musical work marked by extreme freedom of style or structure and usually by elements of burlesque or parody.”
As far as I’m aware, there was no burlesque at this event, but there was an extreme freedom of style and structure that it was refreshing to experience at a church related function. It was organized and structured but unconventional. Within one worship service, you might find: a contemporary Christian praise song, a Lutheran camp song complete with all the motions, a reading from Scripture, a quote from Beyonce, a ritual, and a game. It was truly amazing… Kind of like youth ministry.
So of course there were several Proclaimers involved in it! Proclaimers Brenda Bos and Paul Clark both served on the planning team. Becca Seely and I served as speakers and worship leaders. And Proclaimers Sara Cogsil, Laura Kuntz, Matt James, and Jeff Ogonowski were all in attendance. Since there were a number of Proclaimers in the same place at the same time, Steven Renner hosted a Regional Proclaim Meet-Up at the Troll Pub Under the Bridge. And Lutheran rapper and LGBTQ ally, Dave Scherer, aka AGAPE*, even joined us to break bread.
We’re all taking something different away from it. Becca is walking away with “a lot of hope for the church and the world – not because of our youth, whom I trust are full of passion and giftedness, but because of the adults, many of them volunteers, who are so committed to sharing the gospel of God’s unconditional love with youth and empowering them to live authentically and change this world for the better.” As a seminarian, Jeff is taking away three credits in youth and family ministry, along with, “a deeper understanding of fundraising, protection policies, self-care, and the value of continuing education for all youth leaders”. Laura commented, “I feel like I was soaking in creativity and energy from all the wonderful leaders at the Extravaganza. This helped spark my own creativity and gave me ideas and energy for daily ministry.” My take away is passion – when we do our work with passion, we bring out the passion in others.
Asher O’Callaghan (pictured with Becca Seely) is grateful for those who are working in youth ministry and are reminding us all that church can actually be FUN!
Amalia likes to expand her view by getting out there!
I’m headed for the wilderness! (and the city and the sea).
During the month of February, I will be taking a month of study and renewal leave in Mexico. Not only is the practice of sabbath part of our religious tradition, it is also a concept that is supported by many in the field of social justice work. Doing hard work in life-giving ways is a central value for ELM. Two years ago, we were introduced to the concept of the 4-day work week at Rockwood Leadership Institute and after six months of conversation and exploration, we made this our practice. Eventually, Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries hopes to offer a full-fledged sabbatical for long term staff.
But for the time being, we all agreed that a month made sense for ELM and me right now. And after ten years in the role, I’m looking forward to the chance to think in new ways for a spell. I’ll be spending the month in Mexico, primarily on the Yucatán Peninsula, traveling with my partner, David. I am looking forward to opening up my daily routine, spending time in another culture, and stretching myself figuratively and physically. I will be taking two weeks of language and culture classes and combining it with two weeks of vacation. In addition, I’m planning to focus my reading and reflection on two main subjects: love and prayer (and a little dash of dancing).
Two quotes to guide me:
[S]o our customary practice of prayer was brought to mind: how through our ignorance and inexperience in the ways of love we spend so much time on petition. I saw that it is indeed more worthy of God and more truly pleasing to [God] that through [God’s] goodness we should pray with full confidence, and by [God’s] grace cling to [God] with real understanding and unshakeable love, than that we should go on making as many petitions as our souls are capable of.
Asher, Christephor, and the ELM Board will be keeping things going strong while I’m away. Being part of a collective effort has been one of the greatest joys of my work with ELM. And it’s always good to be reminded from time to time that things go on just fine without us when we take time away. I’m incredibly grateful to the Board, Asher, and Christephor, and all of you for your support during this time.
Amalia Vagts is Executive Director of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries and has served with the organization since October 2006. Amalia’s last day in the office is Thursday, January 26. She will return to work on Wednesday, March 3.
Thank you for being part of another extraordinary year! The donations are still flowing in, but I am excited to say that we have achieved our 2016 goal! It is equally exciting to look back over the past year’s achievements we have made as a community on which to build an even more incredible future in 2017.
April brought the 2016 Proclaim National Gathering – Kindling the Flame – in Northern California. The 3-day event was kicked off with a gathering of our ELM/Proclaim instigators: the seven faithful and fabulous ones who were instrumental in the origins of ELM. Stories were shared and energy renewed for the ongoing journey.
In preparation for a greater presence at Synod assemblies this year, we produced (as part of our Ministry Engagement arm) two compelling communication pieces. First, a beautiful, full-color, 11×17 poster, that boldly proclaims who and what ELM is all about, and second, a sleek six-minute video that encourages congregations in ways to get ready for an LGBTQ leader. Our new communications materials made the job of telling ELM’s story at Synod assemblies across the country even easier!
In May, ELM and ReconcilingWorks were invited by the Southwestern Washington Synod to participate in an education event, presenting companion sessions on the theme “Welcoming LGBTQ+ People to the Pews and the Pulpit.”
The summer began with the announcement that Rev. Jen Rude, intrepid Program Manager since 2013, extraordinarily called pastor, and fierce LGBTQ advocate, was called to serve Pacific Lutheran University in Washington. We sent her off with a grand celebration and deep gratitude for her service with ELM.
Summer 2016 also brought an event that will forever be etched in our LGBTQ collective minds: the impossibly tragic mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Rev. Ángel D. Marrero, proclaim member and pastor to Santuario Luterano in Waltham, MA, gave a most poignant reflection as a gay Latino pastor.
Our 2016 Joel R. Workin Scholar was named. The honor fell this year to ELM’s own Christephor Gilbert, who shared a new way to think about grace.
ELM jumped at the chance to talk to ELM friend and Lutheran playwright, Tom Jacobson, right before the premiere of his new work Captain of the Bible Quiz Team in Los Angeles to rave reviews.
The end of a busy summer brought new joy and new energy as we welcomed our new Program Manager, Rev. Asher O’Callaghan, to the team, and promoted Christephor from Operations coordinator to Communications and Development Coordinator.
Always looking for the Spirit on the cutting edge, ELM was present at the first #decolonizelutheranism conference, held in Chicago at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Proclaim was in full force at this event, with pastors like Tita Valeriano, Lura Groen, and Andrew Nelson as organizers and keynote speakers.
Speaking of keynote speakers, ELM’s very own Asher O’Callaghan was tapped to present at the 2016 Why Christian? Conference, also in Chicago, where he represented with the up-and-coming of religious leaders like Nadia Bolz Weber, Onleilove Alston, and Rozella White.
Our seminary teams fostered community and sharing all around fabulousness at our seven Lutheran seminaries and affiliated theological schools.
The brain-trust of ELM, our delightful and dedicated board members, gathered together in Chicago at the Nicholas Center for an in person board meeting, where we laughed, prayed, and dreamed about the future of ELM and our strategic vision.
And as the year came to a close, we realized that the work was just beginning, work that must now unfold within a new political climate in the united states, one that has already proven to be a tenuous and tension-filled area where it is even more important to proclaim the inclusive message of the Gospel, a message that ensures everyone – regardless of one’s multiplicity of identity- has a privileged place at God’s table of grace.
While the months ahead may seem daunting, we know that it is all possible with you, ELM’s ardent supporter at our back! ELM donor and playwright Tom Jacobson recently said, “This is not business as usual. We’re living in extraordinary times and we need extraordinary leaders.”
Thank you for your extraordinary support which provides us the resources to carry on this much needed work.
“And so I reached out . . . and to paraphrase the Beatles: I got by with a little help from my friends.”
Guest blog by Analyse Triolo
Proclaim Member and Vicar, Trinity Lutheran Church, New York City
Christmas hurts. It has for almost as long as I can remember. I guess that happens when you lose numerous loved ones around the holiday season. As a teen, the disconnect from the joy and cheer of Christmas felt isolating at times; it felt like I was the only one not enjoying the seemingly endless Christmas music, earning me the nickname Grinch on numerous occasions.
This year is going to be the hardest Christmas yet. I lost my Mom on September 4th of this year, just days before starting my internship at Trinity Lutheran Church of Manhattan, on New York City’s Upper West Side. When my supervisor, Rev. Heidi Neumark, offered me the opportunity to lead a Longest Night Service, sometimes called a Blue Christmas Service, I jumped at the chance without thinking, then immediately wondered if I had the emotional capacity to write the whole service from scratch. And so, I reached out. I reached out to ELCA clergy and my classmates on internship, and to paraphrase the Beatles; I got by with a little help from my friends.
Fellow proclaim members Rev. Brenda Bos, pastor of Christ Lutheran in San Clemente, CA and Rev. Bill Beyer of Grace Lutheran Church in Thiensville, WI shared some of their experiences leading Blue Christmas services with me. “We started the Blue Christmas tradition in 2015,” said Rev. Beyer.
We had a large number of people in our congregation who had been affected by loss of one kind or another. Some had experienced death, some rejection, and some were experiencing loss of another kind. So many people had come up to me and said words to the effect of, “People just don’t know how hard the holidays are.” While many are rejoicing and singing carols there are a significant number of people in our lives who are in pain. They keep that pain silent because at this time of year it is about love, family, peace, and happiness. But that is not the reality for many . . . Blue Christmas honors that pain.
They went on to talk about what congregants found meaningful in the service. Rev. Bos wrote:
We light four candles, with one pastor reading a prayer as we light the candles, remembering those we’ve lost, recalling pain, naming our loss of direction in our lives, claiming hope. The Christ Candle is in the center, lit last, to remind us Christ is the center of our lives. A slightly different take on the Advent wreath. My parishioners tell me that was the most meaningful part.
Rev. Beyer added that in his first Blue Christmas service worshipers were invited to place blue carnations in a vase in memory of loved ones lost, which remained up during other Christmas services, a very memorable and meaningful experience for those who were grieving.
Their reflections reminded me just how important ritual is, perhaps even more so when more complex and difficult emotions and experiences need to be named. As I finished writing the liturgy for my first Longest Night Service to be held on December 21st, the longest night of the year, what I was expecting to be a really painful process became therapeutic, bringing some peace to what will be a difficult time for me. It is my hope that this service will bring some of that same peace to others as well.
AnalyseTriolo, sometimes known as The Vicar of Manhattan, is trying to learn to navigate the worlds of internship and approval simultaneously while still trying to figure out why everyone is telling her she’s an adult now. She holds a Masters in Divinity from the Wake Forest University School of Divinity, a Masters of Arts in Ministry from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, and is told she’s a Master Crafter too! If you know of a job opening be sure to let her know!
Join us. Give in support of faithful & fabulous LGBTQ+ people whose public witness as pastors, deacons, and seminarians is enriching and transforming our church.
Betty Workin, longtime supporter of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries and advocate for LGBTQ+ inclusivity in the Lutheran church passed away on November 22, 2016, following a two and ½ year battle with cancer. We extended our deep sympathy and prayer to Betty’s spouse, Ray, and to their two living sons, Leon and Lowell, and their families. We also extend sympathy and prayers to the many “adopted” sons that Betty and Ray brought into their lives when rejected by their own families for their sexual orientation and AIDS diagnoses.
Of the many incredible conversations I’ve had over the years with friends of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, one of the most wonderful evenings I’ve spent was with Betty and Ray when the Rev. Jen Rude, Jim Kowalski (former ELM Board Member) and I visited last summer. We spent the afternoon hearing stories about her son Joel (who passed away in 1995), and Betty showed us some of the many scrapbooks she’d made over the years with clippings from Joel’s life, including many front page stories when he came out during seminary.
Ray and Betty Workin and their three sons.
In one of those articles in “The Forum,” on March 20, 1988, the reporter described one of Joel’s reasons for publicly identifying as gay: “‘If he couldn’t’ speak honestly with his parents,’ Joel said, ‘they might spend the rest of their lives in conversations no more meaningful than commenting on the weather.’”
Many of us in the Lutheran LGBTQ+ and allies community count Joel Workin among our saints, and it is a testament to Betty and Ray’s love for their family and commitment to the gospel that pushed them to seek understanding and a change of heart, leading to a lifetime of authentic relationship with their own family and many others. Uncompromising support from his mother and family was central to Joel’s ability to challenge the existing polity of the ECLA as one of the first openly gay Lutheran seminary students and candidates for ministry.
After his death from complications from AIDS, Joel’s family and friends opened a scholarship fund in his name and created a living memorial by gathering Joel’s many essays and sermons into the book, Dear God, I am Gay – Thank You! Many who have followed in Joel’s footsteps have found this book to be a profound text for study and personal prayer. Joel’s legacy lives on in people like Proclaim members, the Rev. Joe Larson, who presided at Betty’s funeral and the Rev. Terry Hagensen, who was part of the historic Extraordinary Roster and delivered the homily at her service.
One of Betty and Ray’s sons, Leon, wrote:
Thank you to all that have donated to the Joel R. Workin Scholarship Fund both in tribute of Betty and in ongoing support. It is a mission that was, and continues to be, important to Betty and all of us and we are grateful for the incredible support. All the prayers and warm wishes have been encouraging in this time of grieving and loss and remind us of the wonderful life that Betty led and her walk with our Lord, Jesus Christ.
In a sermon delivered in April of 1986, on Mark 9:10-17, titled, “Those People,” Joel preached powerfully about Jesus’ association with those people, focusing most specifically on people with AIDS. Joel proclaimed, “Others may say you are one of those people, but God says, ‘You are one of my people.’”
Betty Workin wasn’t afraid of those people. She will be remembered by the compassion, strength and love she showered on her son Joel and others who were cast aside for being gay and having AIDS. She claimed them when others would not – God’s all-encompassing love reflected through her actions.
AmaliaVagts is looking forward to many rounds of “Workin Poker” over Christmas with friends and family, having taught it to many after learning it from Betty and Ray during her visit to their home in 2015.
Join us. Give in support of faithful & fabulous LGBTQ+ people whose public witness as pastors, deacons, and seminarians is enriching and transforming our church.
Asher O’Callaghan can’t wait for July 16th, when the 2017 Proclaim Gathering begins! The Gathering has been one of the highlights of his year since 2012. Asher’s favorite hobbies include surfing, discovering craft beers, and writing short bios in the third person.
