June 21, 2013 - Local news article about the statement on WBIR/Knoxville News Sentinel. EMail to add your name to the statement.
East Tennessee Interfaith Statement of Support for Same-Sex Marriage
June 2013
As an interfaith coalition of congregations, clergy and laypeople in East Tennessee, we uphold the worth and dignity of all persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. We come from a variety of religious traditions, all of whom see our congregations as extended families bound by a commitment to care for each other, to grow together in understanding, and to serve the communities in which we live. We support the legal recognition of same-sex marriages based on our understanding and practice of faith as personal, communal, and justice-seeking.
We celebrate the richness and challenge of diversity for congregational life and we welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning individuals and families into full participation in that diversity. We acknowledge the particular wounds which our society regularly inflicts on LGBTQ people and families through unfair policies, violence, harassment, and silence. Historically, religious institutions have played a primary role in this enterprise of fear. We assert that the enterprise of equality for same-sex couples is a holy one. The damage healed by blessing the courage of LGBTQ lives and families serves as witness to this fact.
The health of our traditions and of our congregations is founded on shared commitment to our principles and beliefs, not on a model of heterosexual nuclear family. We are called to become a greater kind of family, with liberty and justice for all, an ideal on which the United States was built. We speak as one family of LGBTQ people and allies and look forward to the day when couples across the entire country are no longer denied the same legal access to basic protections on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.
Signed,
--East TN Congregations (8)--
Church of the Savior United Church of Christ, Knoxville
Foothills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Maryville
Metropolitan Community Church Knoxville
Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church
The Remnant Church, Knoxville
Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, Knoxville
Unity Transformation, Knoxville
West Knoxville Friends Meeting
--East TN Clergy (28)--
The Rev. Canon Stephen Askew, Episcopalian, Knoxville, TN
Rev. Mary Margaret Blanchard, Episcopalian, Harriman, TN
Rev. Laura Bogle, Pastor, Foothills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Maryville
Rev. William E. Boys, Lutheran, Knoxville, TN
Rev. Chris Buice, Minister, TN Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, Knoxville
The Rev. J. W. Calhoun, Episcopalian, Knoxville, TN
The Rev. Taylor W. Dinsmore, Episcopalian, Knoxville, TN
Rev. Carolyn Dipboye, Co-Pastor, Grace Covenant Church, Oak Ridge
Rev. Larry Dipboye, Co-Pastor, Grace Covenant Church, Oak Ridge
Rev. Leslie Etheredge, Associate Pastor, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville
Rev. James Foster, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville
Rev. Marcia Free, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville
Rev. Lora Beth Gilbreath, Minister, Unity Transformation, Knoxville
Rev. John Gill, Senior Pastor, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville
The Rev. Joshua Hill, Episcopalian, Knoxville
The Rev. Ralph Hutchison, Presbyterian (PCUSA), Knoxville, TN
Rev. Erik Johnson, Minister At Large, Presbytery of East Tennessee, Maryville, TN
The Rev. Peter Keese, Episcopalian, Knoxville, TN
Rev. Dr. Anne D. McKee, Campus Minister, Maryville College, Maryville, TN
Br. Tupper Morehead, TSSF, St. Francis Episcopal Church, Norris, TN
Rev. Jake Morrill, Minister, Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church
The Rev. Kay Reynolds, Episcopal, Knoxville, TN
Rev. Randy R. Shoun, Church of the Savior, Knoxville, TN
Rev. Jill Sizemore, Pastor, Metropolitan Community Church Knoxville
The Rev. John Tirro, UT Knoxville's Tyson House Lutheran & Episcopal Campus Ministry
Pastor June Ward, The Remnant Church, Knoxville
Rev. John Mark Wiggers, Rector, St. James Episcopal Church, Knoxville
Pastor Pam Wright, The Remnant Church, Knoxville
June 2013
As an interfaith coalition of congregations, clergy and laypeople in East Tennessee, we uphold the worth and dignity of all persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. We come from a variety of religious traditions, all of whom see our congregations as extended families bound by a commitment to care for each other, to grow together in understanding, and to serve the communities in which we live. We support the legal recognition of same-sex marriages based on our understanding and practice of faith as personal, communal, and justice-seeking.
We celebrate the richness and challenge of diversity for congregational life and we welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning individuals and families into full participation in that diversity. We acknowledge the particular wounds which our society regularly inflicts on LGBTQ people and families through unfair policies, violence, harassment, and silence. Historically, religious institutions have played a primary role in this enterprise of fear. We assert that the enterprise of equality for same-sex couples is a holy one. The damage healed by blessing the courage of LGBTQ lives and families serves as witness to this fact.
The health of our traditions and of our congregations is founded on shared commitment to our principles and beliefs, not on a model of heterosexual nuclear family. We are called to become a greater kind of family, with liberty and justice for all, an ideal on which the United States was built. We speak as one family of LGBTQ people and allies and look forward to the day when couples across the entire country are no longer denied the same legal access to basic protections on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.
Signed,
--East TN Congregations (8)--
Church of the Savior United Church of Christ, Knoxville
Foothills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Maryville
Metropolitan Community Church Knoxville
Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church
The Remnant Church, Knoxville
Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, Knoxville
Unity Transformation, Knoxville
West Knoxville Friends Meeting
--East TN Clergy (28)--
The Rev. Canon Stephen Askew, Episcopalian, Knoxville, TN
Rev. Mary Margaret Blanchard, Episcopalian, Harriman, TN
Rev. Laura Bogle, Pastor, Foothills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Maryville
Rev. William E. Boys, Lutheran, Knoxville, TN
Rev. Chris Buice, Minister, TN Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, Knoxville
The Rev. J. W. Calhoun, Episcopalian, Knoxville, TN
The Rev. Taylor W. Dinsmore, Episcopalian, Knoxville, TN
Rev. Carolyn Dipboye, Co-Pastor, Grace Covenant Church, Oak Ridge
Rev. Larry Dipboye, Co-Pastor, Grace Covenant Church, Oak Ridge
Rev. Leslie Etheredge, Associate Pastor, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville
Rev. James Foster, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville
Rev. Marcia Free, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville
Rev. Lora Beth Gilbreath, Minister, Unity Transformation, Knoxville
Rev. John Gill, Senior Pastor, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville
The Rev. Joshua Hill, Episcopalian, Knoxville
The Rev. Ralph Hutchison, Presbyterian (PCUSA), Knoxville, TN
Rev. Erik Johnson, Minister At Large, Presbytery of East Tennessee, Maryville, TN
The Rev. Peter Keese, Episcopalian, Knoxville, TN
Rev. Dr. Anne D. McKee, Campus Minister, Maryville College, Maryville, TN
Br. Tupper Morehead, TSSF, St. Francis Episcopal Church, Norris, TN
Rev. Jake Morrill, Minister, Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church
The Rev. Kay Reynolds, Episcopal, Knoxville, TN
Rev. Randy R. Shoun, Church of the Savior, Knoxville, TN
Rev. Jill Sizemore, Pastor, Metropolitan Community Church Knoxville
The Rev. John Tirro, UT Knoxville's Tyson House Lutheran & Episcopal Campus Ministry
Pastor June Ward, The Remnant Church, Knoxville
Rev. John Mark Wiggers, Rector, St. James Episcopal Church, Knoxville
Pastor Pam Wright, The Remnant Church, Knoxville
--Supporters (131)--
Nancy Mott, St. Luke's Episcopal, Knoxville, TN
Christopher Hamblin, Knoxville, TN Freddie Brabson, Church of the Good Samaritan, Knoxville, TN Micah Sheppard, M.Div., Knoxville, TN Caroline Malone, Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan, Knoxville, TN Carolyn Rogers, TVUUC, Knoxville, TN Deborah Oleshansky, Heska Amuna Synagogue, Knoxville, TN Jayne Raparelli, TVUUC, Knoxville, TN Lesli Rowan, Knoxville, TN Paula Bothof, MCC Knoxville, TN Dr. J. Stephen Pearson, MCC Knoxville, TN Auggie Parker, MCC Knoxville, TN Joey F. Martin, MCC Knoxville, TN Logan Martin, MCC Knoxville, TN Joan Nelson, First UMC, Oak Ridge, TN Kate Robinson, Maryville, TN Ginna Mashburn, TVUUC, Knoxville, TN Thomas Burns, St. Mary's Catholic, Oak Ridge, TN David Stewart, TVUUC, Knoxville, TN Barbara Mott, St. Luke's Episcopal, Knoxville, TN Leslie Agron, Jewish/UU, Oak RIdge, TN Gwen Castro Schablik, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville, TN Tonya Riley, Deacon, MCC Knoxville, TN Terry Faulkner, COS UCC, Knoxville, TN Randy Day, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville Doris Kilgore, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville Guy Larry Osborne, West Knoxville Friends Meeting Robyn Brookshire, TVUUC, Knoxville, TN Kathy Bull, Foothills UU Fellowship, Maryville, TN Carla Livesey, St James Episcopal, Knoxville, TN Ken Kitchen, TVUUC, Knoxville, TN Larry Kitchen, TVUUC, Knoxville, TN Alice Wershing, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville, TN Chris Hargrove, Louisville, TN Linda Sullivan, Oak Ridge UU Church Dr. Larry Goins, EdD, RN, Knoxville, TN Erika Phelps, West Knoxville Friends Meeting Lee Ann Swarm, West Knoxville Friends Meeting Jerilyn Mitchell Swann, Walland, TN Millie Gimmel, West Knoxville Friends Meeting |
Tonya Barnette, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville, TN
Anne Backus, First Presbyterian, Oak Ridge, TN David Ensley, St. Luke's Episcopal, Knoxville, TN David Sanders, Church of the Good Samaritan, Knoxville, TN Stephen Lester, St. Paul's Episcopal, Kingsport, TN Kate Roos, Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan, Knoxville, TN Cameron Brooks, St. Luke's Episcopal, Knoxville Kathy Bohstedt, TVUUC, Knoxville, TN John Hay McNair, Knoxville, TN Jamie Harris, TVUUC, Knoxville, TN Lance McCold, TVUUC, Knoxville, TN Doris Gove, TVUUC, Knoxville, TN Faye Joyce, TVUUC, Knoxville, TN Sheila Crow, Oak Ridge UU Church, TN Elaine K Smith, TVUUC, Knoxville, TN Carol Marie Martin, MCC Knoxville, TN Mary Snyder, Maryville, TN Cindy Roberts, MCC Knoxville, TN Eleanor H. Peplow, TVUUC, Knoxville, TN Barbara Stover, Upper Cumberland Pride, Cookeville, TN Joan Cassens, Kern UMC, Oak Ridge, TN Carrie Mayes San Angelo, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville, TN Betsy Deeter, COS UCC, Knoxville, TN Charles Faulkner, COS UCC, Knoxville, TN Michael Marsh, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville, TN Barbara J. Mead, Ph.D., Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville, TN Lorraine Hart, TVUUC, Knoxville, TN Suzanne Churchill, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville, TN Sandy Huneycutt, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville, TN Rob Spirko, Foothills UU Fellowship, Maryville Audrey Livingston, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville Tom Cogburn, Knoxville, TN Sharon Annis, West Knoxville Monthly Meeting of Friends |
Dave McNeely, First Baptist Church of Jefferson City
Will Brummett, First Baptist Church of Jefferson City Logan Hester, FBC, Jefferson CIty, TN Maggie West, Maryville, TN Crystal Colter, Foothills UU Fellowship, Maryville Tammy Y. Newman, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville, TN Alice Torbett, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville, TN Mary P Muir, St James Episc Ch, Knoxville, TN Carl Gombert, Foothills UU Fellowship, Maryville Anita Blatnik, Foothills UU Fellowship, Maryville Arlene Ignico, Foothills UU Fellowship, Maryville Sandra Foster, Knoxville, TN Phyliss Shey, Jewish, Oak Ridge, TN Donna JG Brian, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville, TN Anne G. Ross, Episcopalian, Oak Ridge, TN Rhonda Piland, Church St. UMC, Knoxville, TN Betty Piercy, Church of the Savior UCC, Knoxville Karlyn Zandstra, UCC, Knoxville, TN Jennifer Rulon, MCC Knoxville, TN Wayne Sacchi, MCC Knoxville, TN Dr. Samantha Murphy, St. John's Lutheran, Knoxville, TN Susan Kersey, TVUUC, Knoxville, TN Carol Harden, TVUUC, Knoxville, TN Laurie Knox, TVUUC, Knoxville, TN James V. Myers, UU, Knoxville, TN Rebecca Lucas, Foothills UU Fellowship, Maryville Joel Tramel, St. John's Episcopalian, Johnson City Donald Rickels, Church St. UMC, Knoxville Anne Whitney, TVUUC, Knoxville Forrest Nettleton, MCC Knoxville Jennifer Dunn, Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan, Knoxville David Linge, St. James Episcopal, Knoxville Greg Knepper, St. Andrews Episcopal, Maryville Michael Thompson, Christ Church, Chattanooga Anita Hauenstein, UCC, Nashville, TN Lisa McMillin, Edgehill UMC, Nashville, TN Paul Courry, St. Stephen's Episcopal, Houston, TX Rev. Jeffrey Spencer, Niles Discovery DOC/UCC, Fremont, CA |
East Tennessee Interfaith Statement of Support for Same-Sex Marriage is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.