Past Meetings and Resources:
Listed below are handouts from previous sessions. Unable to attend in person or want to share an activity with a friend? Download all of our session handouts below.
Witness Inspired by the Holy Spirit (February 2008)
The last study in the Reconciling Journey text. A great wrap up to a year of amazing personal growth and deepening friendships. We are each called to share our witness, inspired by the grace of God and empowered by the gift of Holy Spirit. An intregal part of sharing our witness is sharing our wholeselves including our gender identity and sexual orientation. When we come out we risk persecution and rejection but the opportunity, through God's amazing power and grace, to inspire, encourage, and prompt growth and change in our world is abundant. God through Jesus Christ calls us and has specially equipped each of us to bring justice, peace, and forgiveness to a broken world.
Our Witness to Living in Christ (January 2008)
Another amazing turnout with more than five new people joining our study. Our email list including past & present attendees is more than 45 persons. Wow!! God is doing amazing things among and through us. What a great study encouraging us each to "come out" and live fully and authentically. God created us each with purpose, dignity, and intention. Boldy come out and use your whole authentic self, including your gender identity and affectional orientation, to witness to the amazing redemptive power, intimacy of our God, personal strength and peace, and the abundant grace that is found in our awesome God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Member of the Body of Christ (December 2007)
Many of us long to reconnect with the churches and church experiences of our youth. In this study we reflect on the feelings those "emotional ties" evoke and share our struggles to reclaim our place in the Body of Christ. Reflecting on I Corinthians 12, we strategize how to make ourselves and our gifts more fully available to the whole Body of Christ.
We Learn to Hear God (November 2007)
As a persecuted people, we often close ourselves off to God as we lives lives in fear and shame. We become proficient and accustomed to hiding parts of ourselves. It becomes increasingly difficult for us to hear and know God's unconditional love for us and disern His will for our whole and joyfilled living. We have a powerful ally and lover – Jesus Christ. If we open our wholeselves to God, our persecution both humbles and strengthens us. It “helps us to know our limits and brokenness”, and teaches us to “rely on God’s boundless strength rather than our own finite” abilities (Pepper 63-64).
Making Ourselves Available to God (October 2007)
We all carry negative messages from our culture, and all too often our churches, about who we are and what we should be. We make ourselves more available to God by bringing those images to the altar and seeking to open ourselves up to His unconditional love and transforming power of renewal.
The Inspired & Inspiring Word (September 2007)
Great discussion about our diverse beliefs, views, use, and experience of scripture both in our histories and in our daily lives. Thanks for your energy and authenticity!
Reconciled in Jesus Christ (July/August 2007)
Amazing turnout, new people are joining each week... we are growing in size, spirit,
and in our connectedness - you are each uniquely gifted.
Images of God (June 2007)
Wow! Another great meeting! Very encouraging & motivating!!
(summary based on our answers to the appreciative interview)
My Faith Story (May 2007)
Thanks for your inspiring stories! -- Our first meeting!
We were busting out the walls at our Lord of Life cabin in Oswego. Praise God for the amazing growth and increasing connectedness of our community.
Thank you Lord of Life for such a wonderful space to grow! We love our little cabin and will miss it dearly. However, we have been consistently running 25-30 persons at each meeting and our cozy cabin was just too tight a fit. So, we have accepted the gracious invitation of Wesley UMC to be our new host church.
We will continue to meet the Second Sunday of each month.
Meeting 6:30-8:00 PM
DOORS OPEN AT 6PM
come early, stay late
enjoy coffee, snacks, & fellowship
21 East Franklin Avenue
Naperville, IL 60540
630-355-1834
(On the northwest corner of Center and Franklin)
Upcoming Dates and Topics:
May 11 - Next Meeting in Naperville.
June 6-8th - Our June monthly meeting will be replaced by our RETREAT .
Taking a Chance on God
Liberating Theology for Gays, Lesbians, and Their Lovers, Families, and Friends by John J. McNeill
This book fits nicely into our next steps in the journey. This text will help prompt our personal meditation and group conversation as we continue developing our spiritual maturity, strengthing our community, and deeping our intimacy with God and others.
The seven topics included are: 1) Growing up in Our Faith, 2) Intimacy with God, 3) Releasing God's Power, 4) The Gay Virtues, 5) Celebrating Life, 6) Unto Dust You Shall Return, and 7) The Necessity of a Gay Spiritual Community.
Click on the Bookstore tab for additional book recommendations.
