We have Moved!

The community of Spirit of Truth will begin to meet at our new location 

located in the basement of 

St Paul Reformation Lutheran Church at 100 North Oxford Street, St. Paul, MN 55104

beginning this Sunday 9-30-12 at the usual time. 

During this transition time we will work on how to get doors open and coffee ready, so as to create a convenient atmosphere for all. 

Please join us tomorrow or next week to check out the new space.

This is what the outside looks like... I know its very churchy... 

don't get distracted by the facade. 

Fall Updates

Spirit of Truth is alive and well, we have just been a summer time lull. Please put these on your calendarsCo-creation meeting this Sunday the 16th following the 11:10 Prayer Gathering. Sunday the 23rd we will have a slightly different schedule. In the morning we will join folks from St. Matts for perhaps the final baptism in the old church. Afterwards we will join St Matts on a short march to meet the congregation of St Paul Reformation. We will join the two churches in worship followed by a potluck gathering and tabling in the afternoon. Spirit of Truth will table, introducing ourselves to the community at St Paul Reformation. 
After the 23rd it is possible that we will start meeting at their building, as soon after, St Matts will be closing.

 

July Updates

Hey Everyone, there are tons of amazing things going on this month, but I would like to draw your attention to a few upcoming SoT events.  First off, we have our weekly Sunday Gathering at 11:00 Every Sunday.
Second, Next week (Wed July 11th) and each Wednesday in July (18th and 25th) after that, we will be having public Prayer Vigils for Love at Loring Park, food and fun included. 
Lastly we will be having some fun community events coming up, Yoga on Sat July 14th at 10:30 AM, and Art Night Thursday July 19th at 6:30 PM. Both at St Matts.

Beautiful speech on why Catholics can vote NO

So that we are all on the same page, this is a timeline of our Summer Marriage Equality campaign events.

This year at Pride (June 23-24) we are hoping to give out lots of information, bumper stickers, buttons, maybe even t-shirts. We are also hoping to do some face painting.

Then as a follow up in July, we will be doing a series of public Prayer Vigils for Love in MN (July 11th, 18th, 25th). These events may include music and food, but  will primarily serve as a public testament to people's deep hopes and dreams for MN. We will pray for our loved ones, for our state and to for the people who have had their hearts closed by fear and hatred.  We will come together in Loring Park, to celebrate, to lament, and to create a better MN.  

Please Mark your calendars and join us!

Art by Andrew, made at SoT art night

Almost June Updates

Hey its been quiet on the blog front for awhile, but Spirit of Truth is staying active.
We recently had a series of one to one's within the community leading up to our May 27th co-creation meeting in which we solidified a plan for the next few months and called for new members to join the leadership council. The New leadership council will meet this Saturday to discuss roles and responsibilities but this is the game plan for Spirit of Truth as a whole for the next few months.

The PLAN

A) Pride Celebration

This year's Pride celebration will have an up and coming faith and activism community represented in full force handing out bumper stickers, buttons, "How to talk about marriage equality and faith" lit, and maybe even some face-painting. 

Look for us June 23-24 at Loring Park. We'll be in the red and white t shirts with the big banner that says SPIRIT OF TRUTH!

After 40 years of celebrating, it seems weird that we have to be fighting for equal rights still. 

B) Prayer Vigil Actions in July

We will be having 3 public prayer vigil/actions in July on consecutive weeks, where people can pray for our state, for those who are being discriminated against, and for the hearts of those who fear/hate to be opened up to love. 

More details soon, but hopefully we can get some crowds to show that people of faith can use their faith for justice.

C) Community building activities

Finally we  kick started it off tonight with a Spirit of Truth Art Night! but other events will soon follow in the line of creating space for people to enjoy themselves, get to know one another and renew their spirit.  Spirit of Truth was created with the vision that those who are doing the good work in the world could be spiritually re-energized and as part of that you need to feed the spirit with things like art, music, conversation, yoga and more.  Look for updates because we are hoping to have some an event or two every month.

 

Art Night at Spirit of Truth, photo by Curtis

 Lastly Let me remind you that the Spirit of Truth Phone Bank for MUAF is still large and in charge every 1st Sunday of the Month. 

Please Please Please join us and bring a friend for this important work in steering MN back to being a supportive and loving State.

 

Spirit of Truth at Call to Action

Hello beautiful people of the world, 

Since our successful March 18th God Loves Gay Marriage event and the powerful follow up event at the capital on the 21st, Spirit of Truth has been staying relatively quiet. Well maybe not quiet, but less loud. We have been on a drive to develop and strengthen relationships between members of our organization and other organizations working for social justice in Minnesota.

For instance, I am writing you right now from a conference taking place at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in St. Paul where the annual Call to Action conference is occurring, and this year the event is centered on the marriage amendment. Speakers at today’s conference will discuss the history of marriage, marriage equality in the Catholic Church, how to have a conversation about marriage equality and a session on ways to get involved. 

Other organizations that are here include Dignity Twin Cities, 

Catholics for Marriage Equality, 

Spirit of St Stephens, 

True Colors Book Store, 

Project 515

and members of OutFront and 

Minnesotans United for All Families. 

These courageous organizations are helping push for marriage equality in MN, and educating people on the various issues surrounding the tradition of marriage. 

While we are here we are hoping to relate to the larger community, and get some more videos, maybe some letters to the editor and some distribution of bumper stickers and buttons. 

Other exciting events taking place in Minnesota includes the rebirth (not that they ever stopped) of the Occupy movement through the 99% Spring. Minnesotans for a Fair Economy and the Occupy Movement are doing a variety of actions and key pushes for economic justice in MN, and our members have been heavily involved in the planning and coordination of these efforts. 

We at Spirit of Truth have also been motivated to get back to some of our core practices such as one to ones, educational discussions and meditative centering. Coming soon we are hoping to start including some weekly yoga and meditative sessions, a book club (first book: The Prophetic Imagination) and may have a weekend retreat this summer. 

Please check out some of the wonderful organizations we are working with. They are changing the climate of MN through performance, through education, through voter turnout and through public action.

Love Your Neighbor

Hey Spirit of Truth-ers.  This Tuesday is Tax Day,  it is also an opportunity for you to support your neighbors and seek economic justice in the State of Minnesota. Our allies (and several of our members) have been working extremely hard these last few months organizing a Tax Day Event downtown where US Bank CEO Richard Davis will be speaking. 

If you can make it, this would be a great FUN opportunity to act for Justice in the world. 

The Event will go approximately from 11:00 till 1:00 Outside the Minneapolis Convention Center.

The many of our members will be there, they will not be able to wear SoT gear because of their official role, so if you can make it with a shirt or a button that would be excellent!

For more information check out the official website HERE

and 

You can also check out their facebook event HERE

Spirit of Truth in the News

Hey we made Kare11  with some very positive coverage of our March18th God Loves Gay Marriage Event(check out about 7 minutes and 30 seconds in).

 Also with some wonderfully positive coverage Grace Kelly over at the MN Progressive Project

Hey Did I mention the Star Tribune wrote up our follow up action at the capital?

Spirit of Truth, 
changing the culture through 
messages of love for Justice.  

Join US!

WHY WILL YOU VOTE NO?

Check out some of The Great Videos 

we made at the March 18th event!

Why will you vote NO in November?

A whole day of SoT Events!

  Join us on
      4.1.12:
 

         11:15 AM Potluck

         12:15 PM One to One training lead by Pete
         5:30 PM Spirit of Truth Phonebanking for Marriage Equality (at MUAF HEADQUARTERS)

 

The Catholic connection

For those of you who are Catholic, Catholics for Marriage Equality has a really nice "Talking Tips" section.

First Universalist in Minneapolis

This church has been making some really exciting and inspiring videos for a few months.




Hopefully we can learn from them, and join with them to change the conversation in MN from one of exclusivity to one that accepts and supports all people.

Comfortable vs Right

A few weeks ago at a Spirit of Truth discussion one of our members noted that perhaps this is one of those issues in which a fair amount of people don't have an opinion one way or the other, or perhaps ever believe that gay folks should have the same rights but are afraid to act because they believe they would be in the "outside" crowd.  She gave examples such as a women's rights to work, in which the majority was against it until suddenly the majority was for it... meaning that the moment people thought it was more popular to support women working, they had no problem switching positions.

In this video Pastor Grant accepts that some people may be uncomfortable with homosexuality. He even suggests we can all be supportive of those who feel discomfort with change, but suggests that we must not deny other people rights because we personally are uncomfortable.

Join us Mar 18th for our God Love's Gay Marriage Event!

Hindu Perspective

Interesting op ed in the Star Tribune today on the Hindu perspective of Gay Marriage.  

"In relation to the attainment of life's highest goal, spiritual liberation, the Hindu tradition does not discriminate between heterosexuals and homosexuals. Its sacred scriptures positively mention the accessibility of liberation for gays. What stands in the way of liberation is ignorance of God existing in the heart of all beings, expressing itself in greed, violence and injustice."

Its true that there are a whole bunch of messed up things in India, but at the core of Hinduism is a belief that all people have within them an aspect of God. 

I think it is a really beautiful idea that we see mirrored in the Christian tradition that says humans were made in the image of God, or are children of God. 

Late Update

From our Friends at Spirit of St Stephens

Last Sunday 80 people marched silently in front of the Chancery and Archbishop's residence (226 Summit Av., St. Paul). protesting the drum roll for this fall's Marriage Amendment vote. (See pictures at http://c4me-mn.blogspot.com


Come join us this Sunday and every Sunday of Lent from 11:30-12:30 if you're looking for a way to show your disagreement with the Archbishop's use of power and resources on the Marriage Amendment question. And please forward the invitation to join us to any friends and colleagues who may be interested.


Spirit of St. Stephen's Marriage Amendment Task Force

************

Ed Flahavan & Susan O'Leary
651-292-0326
flav854@gmail.com

What Does Jesus have to say about Gay Marriage

Why do you believe God Loves Gay Marriage?

So Difficult

"I’ve been forced to explain homosexuality to my kids (aged 3 and 4) because their uncle is gay. This incredibly difficult and traumatic experience went as follows:

Child: Why does Uncle Bob go everywhere with Pete?

Me: Because they’re in love, just like Mummy and Daddy are.

Child: Oh. Can I have a biscuit?

We’re all scarred for life. Scarred, I tell you."

I saw this on a friend's tumblr account. 

I find it very troublesome that so many people are concerned about "the children" when it comes to talking about homosexuality and gay rights.  The children are just fine and will be just fine. 

What we are doing when we don't talk about homosexuality and gay rights, or when we do the opposite and condemn them, is teaching our children to hate.  

Why are we not concerned as a society, as people of faith, for the hatred we are teaching our children?  

Mutuality in Marriage

What values should we base our marriages on?

Potluck Tomorrow

Join the feast at Spirit of Truth tomorrow in the basement of St. Matts
We will be having a discussion on how to do turnout for our Mar 18th Event

Bring some food, share some stories, take some flyers and distribute throughout the metro!

Part 3 in the Video Series onTraditional Marriage

 Hey its bible study time!

...oh  how boring. 

No way, this stuff is really rich, todays' topic is the ever so fun "Marriage is sacred because it is a transfer of property"

marriage... yeah... wait what?

Oh YES!      and also they have multiple wives

...no way... 

yeah, 700 wives

NO WAY!!!! what the heck is in that thing?

We've moved on from some of our history, isn't it time to move away from our homophobia too?

A Mountain I'm Willing to Die On

I haven't always identified as a Christian, sometimes the definition that most people go by seems too limiting, but I really like how the author of this amazing article describes her definition. 

One of our members posted this article on the SoT Facebook Page (which you should become a fan of).

I am so glad I was going through the wall posts, because this really moved me.

For those of you who haven't clicked on the link above, here is an excerpt, with the story printed in whole after the break.

This is during the letter to her son:

"What I'm trying to say is that each Christian uses different criteria to decide what parts of the Bible to prioritize and demonstrate in their lives. Our criteria is that if it doesn't bring us closer to seeing humanity as one, as connected, if it turns our judgment outward instead of inward, if it doesn't help us become better lovers of God and others, if it distracts us from remembering what we are really supposed to be doing down here, which is finding God in every human being, serving each other before ourselves, feeding hungry people, comforting the sick and sad, giving up everything we have for others, laying down our lives for our friends... then we just assume we don't understand it yet, we put it on a shelf, and we move on. Because all I need to know is that I am reborn. And here's what I believe it means to be reborn:

The first time you're born, you identify the people in the room as your family. The second time you're born, you identify the whole world as your family. Christianity is not about joining a particular club, it's about waking up to the fact that we are all in the same club. Every last one of us. So avoid discussions about who's in and who's out at all costs. Everybody's in, baby. That's what makes it beautiful. And hard. If working out your faith is not beautiful and hard, find a new one to work out. And if spiritual teachers are encouraging you to fear anyone, watch them closely, honey. Raise your eyebrow and then your hand. Because the phrase repeated most often in that Bible they are quoting is Do Not Be Afraid. So when they tell you that gay people are a threat to marriage, honey, think hard."

Whole Article printed after the break:

Traditional Marriage? Video Part 2 of the series

Having worked with Pastor Grant for several years now, I can say I have always been inspired by his way of cutting through the BS of the world and speaking the truth. I am really proud of this video series because I believe it cuts through one of the biggest lies that people who are opposed to Gay Marriage regularly tell in order to win people to their hateful cause, namely the lie that "Gay marriage, isn't okay because it isn't traditional."

In this video series Grant takes the time to look directly at many of the stories we have in our "traditional" texts, and speaks not only to the words, but the circumstances in the society that they describe. He unpacks some of the relevant information for why the Bible says the things it says, and describes how we as a society have chosen to move beyond that narrow context, in order to create a more egalitarian society.

As the video series progresses he points to references in the Bible that show us that this direction towards freedom, respect and love for all, is directly a part of the biblical tradition as well, and that love and freedom are a truth of our faith. In the end, this amendment gives us the opportunity to discuss what we want of our society, do we want a society that works for all of us, or one that limits the capacity of our own brothers and sisters and ignores their humanity.

Please share!

Interesting trending videos

The work of a few dedicated individuals

Today I would just like to give a heads up to some of the excellent work being done in the Spirit of Truth Community.

First off can I point out that Minnesotans United for All Families has shared Grant's first video on their Facebook page and it is getting a good amount of traffic so maybe we can start having a new conversation in MN about what we want out of marriage.

I know Grant put a lot of work into these videos and I am really looking forward to the discussions that follow as we take a look at what the Bible really says (and doesn't say) about marriage.

I have been sitting next to another one of our leaders (Ben) for the past few hours as he has been enthusiastically (and quite loudly) adding, manipulating and editing pictures and videos and text fonts for a brand new home base on the webpage. 

I think the new homepage brings out the action based approach of SoT, and Ben's energy in this project will be deeply appreciated as we move forward in our campaign for Marriage Equality in MN. 

Check Back soon for more updates!

Traditional Marriage? series

This is the first in a video series with Pastor Grant Stevensen of Spirit of Truth Faith Community. The Series will look at some of the pivotal stories in the Bible (Old and New Testament) to figure out what "traditional Biblical Marriage" really is and whether this is the standard we want to look to for our marriages today.

Cartoons for you!

Governor rejects ALEC Template Bills

What is ALEC?

ALEC is the organization that is pushing legislation through states all over the country. Most recently in MN many of the major constitutional  amendments (check out more here)  proposed have been ALEC written or are based on ALEC prewritten legislation.

I think we can all agree that we don't need corporations running our state.

Some good links from the Spirit of Truth community

A few weeks back one of our members asked me to keep an eye on this page

Theprogressivecatholicvoice

I wish I had because I might have seen this awesomeness

Catholics for Marriage Equality Launch Online Petition

Do your part and sign the petition today! 

Check out more good work here Catholics for Marriage Equality

I also highly suggest this website which was brought to my attention by the same member. 

It is at times very educational, at other times extremely moving.   

Thewildreed

Some good activity over at the Spirit of Truth Facebook Page
remember to "like" "share" and "comment" to get things circulating.

Marriage Equality Meeting at 10:00 AM this Sunday at Spirit of Truth (st matts) 

The news of the week.

Washington State Legalizes Gay Marriage

Prop 8 gets another look, Judges say its not constitutional

With all the headlines of victory this week, its easy to get a little frustrated with our state.

In MN gay marriage isn't legal and the fight for marriage equality is on the defensive, still it is good to see that throughout our country and throughout the world there is momentum for marriage equality.

This picture has been floating around the internet lately...

I think it is interesting to see that same sex marriage is legal in South Africa a country where not too long ago the brutal segregationist policy of Apartheid existed. 

If a country can evolve that far in such a short period of time, perhaps we can all move forward with the right effort? 

The Truth in Cartoons

Republican Fear Driven Amendments

Several weeks ago at SoT we had a talk about the kinds of legislation the Republicans are proposing, but namely how in a rather unusual way they are trying to legislate through fear based constitutional amendments such as the Anti Gay Marriage Amendment, and the "Right to Work" amendment (that dismantles Unions).

One of the other Amendments that was mentioned was the proposed Voter ID amendment that would basically keep thousands of our citizens from voting but wouldn't in anyway prevent the almost non-existent voter fraud the amendment is supposedly against.  For more on Voter ID laws see the following video:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

Mar 18th Kick off event

Hey join us for our Marriage Equality kick off event!

Text of Flyer Below the Break

Where Spirit of Truth Stands

This is where 

Spirit of Truth 

Stands on the issue.

End Marriage Discrimination

Check out this amazing video!

Reminder: Come to the Co-Creation meeting on the 22nd (This WEEK) 12:30 at St. Matts

I wrote a facebook note about how excited I am for Spirit of Truth to take on and defeat the Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment. I encourage you to write one too!

You can see it after the break if you are interested.

But first one of our members (Art) would like me to share this with you:

If Cuba ("that freedom hating, anti religious, commie dictatorship") is supportive of Gay Rights why not us?

 and George Clooney too!

and Coretta Scott King (wife of the late Martin Luther King Jr) Supports Gay Rights too!

So join us this Sunday Jan 22 at 12:30 to start pondering over what you and I are gonna do to contribute in the struggle for Justice and Human Rights for all.

Religion, Faith and a God of Love

Reminder: Come to the Co-Creation meeting on the 22nd (NEXT WEEK) 12:30 at St. Matts

This Video has been making the rounds on facebook and youtube lately. 

The poet is a contributor on the website http://chiselseason.com/ where a handful of authors speak about their relationship with God and struggles with faith and religion. 

The struggle to find God in the religions of the world has always been a challenge to me. I think there has been a trend for a long time of people saying they are spiritual and not religious. This author asks can you be a person of faith and not religious, even anti-religious? he also asks is being "publicly religious" keeping you from faith?

At Spirit of Truth we have been talking about the narratives found in religion:

We promote the religious narrative of love -that teaches that people should be mentally, physically and spiritually free. That there is enough for all if we share. That God loves and so should we.  That God wants justice for all and so should we. 

and the man-made religious narrative of fear -that injustice is necessary so that we can have security, that hatred  and intolerance are okay because there is scarcity and people are not deserving. That God approves of inequality and oppression and so should we.

In the poet's words I think we see a clear contradiction, he is calling out the religious narratives of fear(saying that is religion), while proclaiming those of love and faith in a God of love. 

So lets have a discussion (write some comments below):

What do you think about the video?

What do you think about religion vs spirituality vs faith?

What do you think about the narrative of love vs fear?

Jan 22, 2012 Co-creation meeting on Marriage Equality

Why is Spirit of Truth involved in the campaign to defeat the proposed amendment to the MN Constitution? 

Why are we working with Minnesotans United for all Families?  

How will Spirit of Truth contribute to this campaign in an important and unique way?

Share your input! Join us at Spirit of Truth Jan 22nd.