A Letter from the RGBP Board

Colleagues in ministry and friends-

We thank you so much for your prayers during our Board retreat last week. We worked hard together, tasked with the leadership of this diverse and vibrant community. The board marveled at and celebrated the work of the past 14 years, including honoring Martha Spong, RGBP co-founder and Executive Director.

After reflection on our history and current work, we began the task of discerning our values and how those values might guide our future work. Through this process, we realized that we needed more time and space to wrestle with God, Facebook, and one another before we make any kind of declarations or official decisions.

We care about the community that has been created for clergywomen in spaces that carry the RGBP brand. We remain committed to antiracism. We will always be known as a place of inclusion and affirmation of the ministry of LGBTQ+ people. We want to serve our present constituency and also understand how to better use all the myriad gifts that are present in our active membership.

Thus, we as the board are officially entering into a year of discernment. Any change in activities or planning should not at all be assumed to be a rejection of the past, but both a consequence of the period of figuring things out and a potential shift so that our activities align with our organizational values and goals.

Please continue to pray for us, to support RevGalBlogPals in the Facebook community and the blog, to donate financially to our work, and to anticipate God’s revelation for our future together.

Respectfully,

Julia Seymour (Board president, pastor, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Montana, USA)

Sarah Howe Miller (Board VP, pastor, United Methodist Church, Texas, USA)

Liz Crumlish (Board secretary, Renewal and Pioneer Coordinator, Church of Scotland)

Amy Peden Haynie (Board treasurer, priest, Episcopal Church, USA)

Jemma Allen (priest, Anglican Church in Aotearoa, Polynesia and New Zealand)

Mary Beth Butler (Episcopal layperson, Texas, USA)

Sharon Mack Temple (retired pastor, United Church of Christ, Texas, USA)

Teri Peterson (minister, Church of Scotland, Scotland)