Conference Schedule

Friday Night – 7PM  Rachel and Ethan Waters from the Village in Atlanta Perform

Stan Mitchell Speaks

Light Meal of Tacos to follow

Saturday Morning –10AM – Panel Discussion with our guests

11:30AM Jay Bakker

12:30  Lunch

1:30` PM Sophia Said – Interfaith Workshop

Saturday Night 7PM Rev Vince Anderson Performs

Anna Golladay Speaks and Receives the Peggy Campolo Carrier Pigeon Award

Andrea’s famous BBQ and fixin’s (you’ve never had better) to follow

Sunday Morning Worship Celebration 10:45 AM Stan Mitchell Brings the Message

Church wide Potluck to Follow at approximately 1PM.  as always, if you can’t bring a dish, we want you to come and fellowship anyway.

 

 

 

Our Special Guests

Peggy Campolo, who we lovingly refer to as our Patron Saint, was the inspiring force behind the creation of Open Door Community Church. As a friend of Pastor Randy, she counseled him when he was fired from his job as an associate pastor at a local church because he chose to be honest about his long time loving relationship with his spouse, Gary. At the time, Pastor Randy felt he had nowhere to go where he would be welcomed in to worship. Peggy told him that if he felt that way, there must be many more people who felt that way as well. She suggested the idea of founding a church where everyone would be welcome, and the seed for Open Door Community Church was planted.

Peggy has long preached her ministry of inclusiveness, and she has worked hard to bridge the gap between the misunderstood and the misinformed.

As Open Door Community Church approached its 2007 Annual Fall Conference, we decided to honor Peggy’s work with an award that would not only honor her, but would, in her name, honor the work of someone every year who exemplifies her ideals of inclusiveness and equality.

You can read more about Peggy and the Award by clicking here.

 

Stan Mitchell, who was awarded the 2015 Peggy Campolo Carrier Pigeon Award, is Founding Pastor of Grace Point Church in Nashville Tn. Pastor Mitchell has been to Open Door several times since his first visit. He made news by announcing that his evangelical congregation would move to full inclusion of LGBTQ folks saying in part

“Our position that these siblings of ours, other than heterosexual, our position that these our siblings cannot have the full privileges of membership, but only partial membership, has changed,” he said, as many in the congregation stood to their feet in applause, and other sat in silence. “Full privileges are extended now to you with the same expectations of faithfulness, sobriety, holiness, wholeness, fidelity, godliness, skill, and willingness. That is expected of all. Full membership means being able to serve in leadership and give all of your gifts and to receive all the sacraments; not only communion and baptism, but child dedication and marriage.”

With those words, GracePointe became one of the first evangelical megachurches in the country to openly stand for full equality and inclusion of the LGBTQ community, along with EastLake Community Church near Seattle. The results of the conversation, he told his congregation, were not unanimous or exhaustive, but they were sufficient.

Anna will be receiving the 2019 Peggy Campolo Carrier Pigeon Award

This Article is from the UM NEWS:    By Kathy L. Gilbert March 7, 2018 | UMNS

“The Holston Conference has withdrawn the license for a local pastor who officiated at a same-sex wedding.

Anna Golladay was serving as associate pastor at St. Marks and St. Elmo United Methodist churches in Chattanooga, Tennessee, until her dismissal on Feb. 28.

Church law does not allow United Methodist pastors to officiate at same-sex weddings.

The Rev. Randy Martin, district superintendent, said he was presented with a copy of a marriage license and a photo from a same-sex wedding, including information that Golladay had officiated. When he asked her about it, she confirmed the information, which he then turned over to the conference district committee on ministry.

Golladay said she was not asked to confirm she had officiated at a same-sex wedding until after the committee had voted.

The Scenic South District committee on ministry voted to withdraw her license, Martin said.

Ordained United Methodist pastors can be brought up on charges for officiating at same-sex weddings, Martin said. Martin said no charges were brought because it was a personnel matter and Golladay admitted she had officiated at the wedding. Licensed local pastors can be charged under Paragraph 320.3 of the Book of Discipline.

Martin said Golladay is welcome to continue to be a member and be as involved in the churches’ ministries.

Golladay said these congregations are almost exclusively LGBTQ individuals and straight people who support them.

“On Monday, Feb. 26, 2018, the district committee on ministry of the Scenic South District voted to remove my credentials because I performed a wedding between two women,” Golladay wrote in a statement posted on Reconciling Ministries Network. “On Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018, I was notified of the decision. It was that concise.”

Golladay said she was at both churches on March 4 when Martin made the announcement about her dismissal.

“I want very much for my congregants to stand in the gap of this conflict,” she said. “I felt it was necessary for me to model what that looks like by being there when my dismissal was announced.”

The Rev. Gary Ihfe, pastor of both congregations, posted a message about Golladay’s dismissal on Facebook on March 5.

“Tears were shed, hugs were given, and prayers were said,” he wrote. “I am so sorry for the pain that is being felt by many of our families who feel as though they have come under attack.”

Barry Condra, a member of St. Elmo and chair of the staff-parish relations committee, said he is an openly gay man who has been a member of St. Elmo for 15 years.

“My first reaction when I got the call from our district superintendent telling me of her dismissal was to just run and leave the church,” Condra said. He said he decided to stay to help newer members of the church not leave “hurt and wounded yet again from organized religion.”

Golladay said she is enrolled at Iliff Theological Seminary pursuing a master’s degree in theological studies with a concentration on social justice.

“I will be continuing my pursuit of that degree but am uncertain if it will ever morph into an M-Div. (Master of Divinity degree),” she said.

“I will continue to work with both congregations as needed. Many are anxious to continue the fight for full inclusion in the church. This has lit a fire under them, and I’m honored to be with them as we all navigate these waters together.”

Rev Vince Anderson is the founding pastor of Barstool Tabernacle in Brooklyn NY. Reverend Vince is a New York City based musician. He has had a regular show at Union Pool for decades, which Time Out describes as “somewhere between Wesley Willis and Tammy Faye Messner”.  “His music is described as “dirty gospel”. He has been described as a Brooklyn institution.  Barstool Tabernacle is a newly planted church community in meeting in Pete’s Candy Store, a bar in NYC.  It is the successor organization of Revolution NYC.

Rev Vince wrote our church hymn :A Heaping Portion of God’s Grace

Jay Bakker

Jay has become an integral part of our church since his first visit with us.

Jamie Charles (Jay) Bakker (born December 18, 1975) is an American pastor, author, speaker and theologian. He is the younger of two children born to televangelists Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker Messner.
During his young adult years Bakker became disillusioned with mainstream Christianity, becoming particularly critical of Christian fundamentalism and the Christian right.[2] He later adopted a much more progressive, radical form of Christianity and became a co-founder of Revolution Church, which was created in 1994 in Phoenix, Arizona.[3] Bakker then preached at Revolution’s Atlanta location before pastoring the New York City branch of Revolution Church, which holds services at the bar and venue Pete’s Candy Store, in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Much of Bakker’s story was retold in a documentary on Sundance Channel called One Punk Under God: The Prodigal Son of Jim and Tammy Faye. His story has also been chronicled in Time Magazine.  Jay has since become pastor of Revolution Church in Minneapolis.

More information is available on Jay at “www.Jaybakker.com“

Ethan and Rachel Waters

Since they were kids, Rachel and Ethan Waters have been singing in churches and bars in and around Atlanta. Ethan grew up loving southern gospel. Rachel grew up loving pop and country. Together, their history blends with what’s happening now to create a soothing sound that is often compared to Norah Jones and that feels like home. Rachel and Ethan have led worship at the Village in Atlanta for several years. They dream of helping to create a world of love and inclusion that their sons, Avery and Reece can flourish in for years to come.

Sophia Said

Sophia Said is the Executive Director of the Interfaith Center of Arkansas which has a mission to reduce the fear and hatred among world religions. She designs and implements interfaith programs for all age groups with the purpose of enhancing public dialogue among different religions. Sophia is also the founder and Chairperson of Madina Institute,a new mosque in west Little Rock serving the Muslim population of Central Arkansas. Sophia Said has a bachelors degree in Economics from University of Utah and a master s degree from Clinton School of Public Service. She was awarded Peacemaker and activist of the Year by the Arkansas Coalition for Peace and Justice and Humanitarian of the Year by the Just Communities of Arkansas for her efforts to promote peacemaking and interfaith dialogue in our state.