Half a life with MCC
Dale Burkholder is a member of MCC Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Dale serves
as the sub-chair for markIT! (Resources and Archives for IT!). His email address is
gangalf@usa.net. His webpage can be found at www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Heights/1790.
On June 5, 1977, I sat on the last pew in the University and Cities
Ministries building at the corner of Fifth and Bellefield in the Oakland neighborhood of
Pittsburgh, Pa. It was the first time in my life that I was surrounded by gay people.
There was a huge throng of them (only 70 but still). It was first step of a 22-year
journey with UFMCC.
Twenty-two years ago, I was 22 years old. I had just finished 3 years of study at a
conservative Bible College in Tennessee. I was also begining to face the reality that I
was indeed a gay man. I remember in the early teens reading my parents porn catalog that
was delivered quarterly (ok it was the men's underwear section of the Sears catalog). I
couldn't get enough of the Hebrew Stories that involved foreskin (once I found out what
foreskins were).
Bible College was very difficult. For the first time I was confronted with my
sexuality. As a freshman, I was taught how to masturbate by another male student. My first
"willing" sexual encounter involved my roommate when I was a sophomore, which
was the same year I wrote a term paper entitled "The Gay Way No Way."
I spent many hours locked in the prayer tower striking deals with God to make me
normal. But God never listened to me. No matter what I did, I felt like the zebra trying
to remove his stripes.
While researching my term paper, I first found out about Troy Perry. Of course, I
refuted it. But I never forgot it. It was also the only positive thing about gay people in
the school's library.
While I looked around the sanctuary where MCC Pittsburgh met, I couldn't find Ron
anywhere. I met Ron a few weeks earlier, my first taste of puppy love. He told me that he
attended MCC on Sundays and we made plans to meet at church this Sunday. Finally, I could
visit an MCC. Having grown up in church, attended a Bible College, the last thing I wanted
to do was get involved with another church. Here was a church that I could go to when I
wanted to (looking back -- the joke was on me).
"Is your name Dale?", (oh no gay people can read minds too?). I looked up to
see the young man who interrupted my thinking. "Uh yeah", I replied (wow
brilliant). "Hi, my name is Jim. Ron said you might be here. He couldn't be here. He
asked me to make sure you were comfortable." That solved several mysteries.
As service began I became more comfortable. They sang the same songs I grew up with.
These people really believed their faith. Unlike the frozen chosen I grew up with -- there
was no doubt these people were excited about their faith.
Nothing prepared me for communion. I sat there watching the pastor consecrating
communion. When he said, "Everyone is welcome at this table", I knew that I was
part of this Everyone. But I wasn't sure of the hugs and kisses during communion. But I
kept reminding myself that I was "everyone". I summoned the courage to walk that
5 miles of aisle to the pastor. As soon as his arms wrapped around me, I wanted to cry. I
knew that I was home.
Here I am 22 years later and like Dorothy of old, "there is no place like
MCC." Thank you Ron (where ever you are), Jim (where ever you are), Rev. Frank Scott,
Rev. Bobbie Dunn, and the congregation of MCC Pittsburgh.
Introducing Living IT!
Welcome to the first issue of Living IT! Living IT! is a monthly on-line magazine
published by Intentional Talk! (IT!). Living IT! will explore how we experience scripture
as living word. In this article we relive with Dale Burkholder his first worship service
in MCC, half a lifetime ago. I suspect his story is similar to ours. Future issues will
If you are interesting in submitting an article for consideration in an upcoming issue,
please contact Dale Burkholder (gangalf@usa.net) with your idea.
We will be adding a feedback page soon to allow you to respond to our writers and to
offer your insights.
IT! met in Los Angeles
You mean a new network did more than meet to elect officers at General Conference? You got
it. The Core Committee prepared an agenda, folded new brochures and arranged for a
place to meet during the afternoon of July 8th.
Then for the two days prior to the opening of conference not a moment was wasted. Even our
evenings were spent producing the new brochure about IT!
Because of communication limitations, such as no funding for mailings and KIT not being
published, this meeting was not as widely advertised as IT! would have liked. Yet the
network forged ahead with planning, elections and testing new materials. One Core
Committee member was unable to attend and IT! proved that internet participation
through a chat room is possible.
Five new products were tested and approved. They include: a workshop on a model of
Ministry Evaluation, an Advent/Christmas series, a study guide for Eric Law's book The
Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb: a Spirituality for Leadership in a Multicultural
Community, a study series on Difficult Questions, and a study on Prayer. See the IT! web
site for descriptions. More resources are in process for the future.
If you or someone you know has created a good Bible study, workshop or other printed
resource, we would be honored to be a resource sharing service by making it
available to others in the Fellowship.
IT! is an authorized, accountable and active network of UFMCC. IT! is not for profit. All
materials are donated with the understanding that they will not be used for profit by IT!
or anyone else other than the author. Copyright permission is granted for those who
purchase a resource to make copies for their local small group, congregation or district
or Fellowship workshop. The charge for a copy of a resource is to cover reproduction and
marketing expenses only.
Not only did IT! meet and test new materials at General Conference, we had a table in the
Resource Center and organized the first Network and Institutions Fair. This Fair offered
attendees at General Conference the opportunity to talk with and get information
about programs which no longer have reports printed in the business materials nor
have agenda space for presentations during conference. Those who joined in the Fair were:
EXCEL International, Samaritan Australia, Latin@ (LALO), The Women's Secretariat (I
hear that
they have a name change), Commission on Laity (COL), and of course Intentional
Talk!
A significant item of business was deciding where the Core Committee will meet in 2000.
Given that networks are no longer included in Leadership Conference planning and that our
primary focus is to foster faith conversation at the grassroots level, we decided that our
next Core meeting will be held in conjunction with a district conference. This will enable
IT! to bring our resources closer to local churches and offer more workshops to districts.
Great Lakes District was chosen as our first site since it is one of the districts which
has been supportive of our organizational efforts and two our our Core people reside there
(a cost issue). We look forward to helpful feedback from GLD on how well this new
structure works and serves
the people of UFMCC more directly.
In addition, IT! individual network members hope to be present at a minimum of four
districts during 2000. This will bring resources directly to more areas of UFMCC as
each district is willing to include IT! in their
conference schedules.
Other agenda items included reviewing where we are with the markIT! (resources), internet
connections, publications and translations. Applications for funds to reproduce materials
for initial stock and for translations were sent back to us for more detailed cost
information. The information to re-submit was clarified and specific resources selected
for translation.
Sound like a fully developed network? Not without your participation! What do you want to
talk about intentionally? How may IT! help you and your faith community grow?
Helene Loper,
Facilitator, Intentional Talk!
