Soulforce looking for LGBT families for outreach project to Potter’s House
Soulforce is looking for local LGBT families to help initiate a dialogue with Bishop T.D. Jakes and members of the Potter’s House in Dallas.
The national LGBT civil rights group’s American Family Outing will visit six megachurches across the country between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day this spring.
The goal of the event is to change the hearts and minds of congregations led by those who’ve taken the reins of the evangelical movement from noted anti-gay preachers Jerry Falwell, D. James Kennedy, Pat Robertson and James Dobson.
Bishop Jakes, who leads the 30,000-member Potter’s House, has called homosexuality a "brokenness" and said he would not hire an openly gay person.
An American Family Outing will visit the Potter’s House in Dallas from May 16 to 18. Soulforce plans to bring in several noted African-American leaders from the Civil Rights movement for the event, including the Rev. Jim Lawson, the Rev. Phil Lawson and the Rev. Gil Caldwell.
An information and outreach session will be from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 12 at Living Faith Covenant Church at the Promise Worship and Community Center, 2527 W. Colorado Blvd. in Dallas.
Participants should RSVP to the Rev. Deneen Robinson at 214-681-7046 or deneen.robinson@ livingfaithdfw.org. For more information, go to www.soulforce.org.
Dallas County master gardener to speak at Rainbow Garden Club meeting
Jane Bartosiewicz, Dallas County master gardener, will be guest speaker at the April meeting of the Rainbow Garden Club.
Bartosiewicz will speak on the topic "Native Plants for Texas," since using plants that are adapted for Texas soils and growing conditions can help achieve better results with less effort.
The meeting will be held Sunday, April 13, 2 p.m. For additional information go online tohttps://rainbowgardenclub.com.
UNT Division of Institutional Equity, Diversity to host dialogue on racism
The University of North Texas’ Division of Institutional Equity and Diversity will present "The Next 200 Years Starts Now: Getting Beyond the Race Card Rhetoric" on Tuesday, April 8, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Silver Eagle Suite of the UNT University Union, located one block west of Welch and West Prairie streets in Denton.
Gilda Garcia, UNT vice president for institutional equity and diversity, said this event is a follow-up to the "200 Years of Race Relations" event held last semester. It will begin with a welcome from UNT President Gretchen M. Bataille, and three speakers will share their perspectives on racial issues. Speakers will be Jonathan Hook, director of the office of tribal affairs in the EPA’s Dallas office and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation; Geronimo Rodriguez, vice president for diversity and community outreach for the Seton family of hospitals in central Texas; and Bob Lydia, first vice president of the Texas NAACP.
Small group dialogues will follow each speaker. Mary Lynn Babcock, UNT associate professor of dance and theatre, and one of her colleagues will perform an original dance related to racial healing.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition April 4, 2008.