Know your Neighbor:

"I am a child of a loving Creator, a daughter or a son of the Soulforce at the center of the universe."~ Soulforce Creed about Myself ~

goodsoil.org wants you to know that they they are about prevailing. They are united and full victory is the only victory thay will accept. They believe many things like "A Simple Majority Should Prevail." By that they mean votes at an assembly. They know themselves that they are actually a tiny but vocal minority, so they are actually part of Soulforce and are chewing their way through the dry rot of liberal maniline protestanism. Get to know them:

"What is goodsoil.org all about?
goodsoil.org is the official website of the collaboration to overcome the policy and practice of discrimination within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) against lgbt clergy, same-sex marriages and covenanted relationships.

It's About Transformation: Throughout all of goodsoil's efforts before and during the 2005 Churchwide Assembly, our primary concern is the transformation of all who participate. We are children of God, loved as we are, committed to justice in the name of Christ. We act with integrity and authenticity, proclaiming our message of freedom in Christ with boldness, experiencing the power within that will manifest itself wherever we are through whatever we do, the power graciously given us by the God who loves us unconditionally.

It's About Evangelism and Revival: Our goodsoil work is one that proclaims our wholeness and develops power for the work of justice. Our outreach is to all, inviting the coming together and sharing of our lives as children of a loving God.

-- We invite glbt clergy held captive by their fear to leave the dark of their closets. We commit ourselves to active support of these sisters and brothers and to all who step out of their closets.

-- We proactively give witness at ELCA meetings at synodical and churchwide levels and develop personal contacts with voting members and church-wide leadership.

-- We intentionally align ourselves with the justice-seeking efforts of youth, young adults and persons of color in the ELCA and invite them to become actively involved in our work and leadership.

It's About Shining a Light on Injustice: As we carry out our witness and proclamation we boldly expose the untruths and lack of integrity demonstrated by ELCA leaders and imbedded in ecclesiastical structures and procedures. We do not ignore or deny the injustice implicit in the ELCA's carrying on of business as usual. We encourage our g/l/b/t/ colleagues to step away from participating in the activities that implicitly perpetuate the spiritual violence done to their g/l/b/t sisters and brothers.

It's About Pastoral Care: We recognize the spiritual violence done to g/l/b/t persons and the pain experienced by many who work for justice in the ELCA. We also acknowledge the distress of many who struggle to hold on to the beliefs that hold them captive. We provide places and opportunities for healing at all CWA meetings. We invite the ECP roster to take leadership in this work.

It's About Full Participation and Fairness: The voice of our church is heard through legislative decisions made by the Church Council and the Churchwide Assembly. All ELCA members -- especially those of us who are sexual minority persons -- deserve the opportunity to participate fully in the life of this body of Christ.

The vote on Full Participation must not be delayed: Decisions regarding full participation of glbt people in the church should not be delayed or postponed beyond the 2005 Churchwide Assembly. We actively resist any effort to delay a vote at 2005 CWA on the ordination/blessings of relationships issues mandated for study by the 2001 CWA.

A Simple Majority Should Prevail: We urge the Church Council to rescind the proposed 2/3 vote requirement at CWA and to allow a simple majority to decide g/l/b/t-affirming changes to the ELCA's positions on ordination and the blessings of same gender covenanted relationships.

Roster Discrimination Against GLBT Clergy Must End: We seek the removal of all language that prohibits or limits the rostering or continued service of ELCA clergy in same-gender covenanted relationships or who wish the possibility of entering into such relationships.

Blessing Covenanted Same-Gender Relationships is a Pastoral Right: We actively resist any proposal to take away the authority of ELCA pastors to perform blessings of same-gender covenanted relationships. We support the church-wide development of liturgies and rites for ELCA pastors and congregations to use in blessing these relationships."

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