One of the main goals of the Coalition of Welcoming Congregations (CWC) is to engage our clergy and congregations in what we call “Sacred Activism”. Sacred activism is to encourage our members to take their spiritual convictions for social justice / public witness outside the walls of their meeting space. February was a busy month for us expressing our point of view in the streets of the Bay Area.
In a synopsis of our activities, they include on February 7 providing the prayers and blessings before and following the 9th Circuit Court’s decision to uphold the unconstitutionally of Proposition 8, clergy and religious leaders leading the march from the 9th Circuit Courthouse to San Francisco City Hall and clergy leading the rally on the steps of City Hall once we arrived. A week later on February 14, clergy and religious leaders participated in the rally on the steps of San Francisco City Hall to encourage the Justices to allow the marriages of lesbian and gay couples to take place right away. Several of the clergy participated in a civil disobedience sit-in at the annual Valentine’s Day marriage counter action where lesbian and gay couples asked for marriage licences and were denied. Eight person were arrested and released for their protest. On February 15, Rev. Roland Stringfellow wrote an article in the Huffington Post about the outreach to African0American churches to encourage the welcoming of LGBT persons and their families. On February 19, an article in the New York Times was published on the actions of our clergy at the Valentine’s Day marriage counter action.
Coming up on March 7th Rev. Roland Stringfellow, along with Kathy Levinson the C0-Chair of the LGBT Finance Committee for President Obama’s reelection, will be sharing the strategies used in CWC’s sacred activism on the Commonwealth Club of California broadcast.
Click on the following links to the read any of the stories mentioned above. If you or your congregation are in the news for your ministry outreach, we want to hear about it! Contact us at www.cwcbay.org to let us know so that we may share it with our other coalition members.
- Article in the New York Times covering CWC’s marriage equality work
- Article in the Bay Area Reporter covering CWC sacred activism
http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=67420
- Article and coverage that was picked up by many national and international media print and television outlets of CWC role in leading the response to the court’s ruling on Proposition 8
http://www.sfbg.com/politics/2012/02/07/san-francisco-celebrates-same-sex-marriage-ruling
- KTVU Fox coverage of the role CWC took in the Valentine’s Day Marriage Counter action and civil disobedience
http://www.ktvu.com/videos/news/san-francisco-same-sex-marriage-activists-arrested/vF5Cd/
- Featured guest on the Commonwealth Club of California broadcast, March 7, 2012, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm.
- Article in the Huffington Post describing the work of Umoja,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-roland-stringfellow/umoja-project-brings-toge_b_1274859.html
