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Barry Dixon (Board President)
Dec4th@aol.com |
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After suppressing
my sexuality for years, a friend suggested
I read Stranger at the Gate, by Mel White,
which listed ECWR as a resource. I started
attending an EC group in Pasadena, California,
and found loving acceptance and tools for
dealing with biblical misconceptions. I was
raised in California's conservative San Joaquin
Valley, and have been a member of mainline
and fundamentalist denominations. During part
of my life, I experienced the sometimes-beneficial
yet painfully narrow-minded thinking of a
Christian sect. Jesus guided me out of legalism
and into light. |
Bruce Boesiger (Board
Vice President)
goforsun1@aol.com |
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Many years of struggling
to change my orientation including ex-gay
ministries, counseling and intense individual
efforts had not brought the change that I
desired. I then began a search for reconciliation
and wholeness. Thankfully ECWR provided the
resources enabling me to integrate my faith
and sexuality. It was a lifeline that encouraged
me, supported me and cared about me. Today
I live in Seattle and enjoy the connection
I have found with others who have come to
know God in a new and affirming way. I am
grateful for the opportunity to be a part
of an ongoing ministry that continues to help
those who have been wrongly condemned and
made to feel separated from God. |
Clyde
Zuber (Board Secretary)
zfposting@zuberfowler.com
http://www.ZuberFowler.com
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I came to faith at the age of
nine through the reading of Good News
for Modern Man. Soon afterward I began
reading the works of C.S. Lewis such as
The Chronicles of Narnia, The Great
Divorce, and Mere Christianity.
Since my faith was founded on scripture and
my thinking formed by listening to one of
the greatest minds of the Christian faith,
I knew my relationship with God was secure
even when I began to recognize my sexuality.
I first learned of the existence of Evangelicals
Concerned while a student at Moody Bible Institute
through a leaflet that was given to me by
some former students at MBI's Founder's Week.
Upon reading the leaflet, I prayed a quick
prayer and God's answer in that instant was
to be patient and put that prayer on hold.
Seven years later, God further answered that
prayer when I discovered Scanzoni and Mollenkott's
book Is The Homosexual My Neighbor?
in the bookstore of Dallas Theological Seminary.
As a young adult I was praying fervently for
companionship and for an understanding of
my sexuality. God followed up my persistence
soon afterward by leading me to John Boswell's
book Christianity, Social Tolerance, and
Homosexuality in a Logos Christian Bookstore.
In much the same way that I met and understood
God through reading, I met and understood
myself through the books God provided in what
most would consider the most unlikely of places.
I soon made contact with EC and met my husband
of the past twenty five years. |
Lou Amey (Board Treasurer)
Lou.Amey@comcast.net |
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I spent years trying to change
who I was, until one day I thought, if God
isn’t changing my orientation, perhaps
it’s not meant to change. Hoping I was
not alone on this journey, I began to search
for others. By the grace of God I was introduced
to Evangelicals Concerned, and my life has
not been the same since. I attended my first
ConnECtion in 2001 and was overwhelmed by
the love and acceptance that I experienced
not only by God but from everyone I met. The
walls that I had built around my heart, started
to crumble and the healing began. I have received
so much from this organization and its members,
that it is an honor to work together with
others to further this ministry, so those
who have not yet heard the good news that,
it’s ok to be gay and Christian, will
hear and be free. “You shall know the
truth and the truth shall set you free.”
John 8:32 |
Mike
Perez (Board Member)
goodnufco@yahoo.com |
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Hola
All - My name is Mike Perez, a 61 year old
Latino gay man with jet black hair forever!
I attended my first Connection in '91 then
joined the Denver EC as a steering committee
member soon after. I am currently a Directions
NW member in Seattle living in Seattle and
Puerto Vallarta . I am a former Roman Catholic
turned Christian Evangelical back to Catholic
and continue to have faith in biblical stories
that lead my spiritual and physical life.
Between EC and my 12 Step groups, I finally
feel safe in being gay, Christian, and alive.
Of note, I have always been an advocate,
in school, in work, as a Chicano Studies
Teacher and United Farmworker, and most
recently as a Soulforce
volunteer. I look forward to some serious
and fun work on the ECWR board.
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Pat
Neal (Board Member)
pneal55@yahoo.com
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I
believe it is through our relationship with
Jesus that we can live the life God created
us to live. We can trust that God has wonderfully
and powerfully made us to live out loud
in this world. I was only able to claim
this truth as my own after finding ECWR.
Prior to finding ECWR I struggled to believe
God loved me just as I am; I had lost trust
in the image of God that is me. But ECWR
provides a place for the broken to heal;
for fires to be rekindled; for trust in
God to be restored; for our stories to matter.
In the safety and support of ECWR, lives
are changed and potentials are restored.
I know. It happened to me. I want to help
make it happen for others.
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