As promised in the 7-Step Re-Branding process, we're conducting a membership survey and your input would be appreciated. 

All members who have paid them membership dues for 2019 have been sent a ballot via email. You will have until 9 p.m. CST,  Monday, February 11, 2019 to cast your vote.

Thank you for your participation!

Parker Johnson
Vice President, GALA

GALA has recently contracted with a graphic designer to assist us with our GALA / WCN re-brand. To facilitate this process, the Board of Directors plans to utilize the GALA Table Facebook Group to receive feedback directly from members, friends, and supporters quickly and efficiently. If you are not a member of this group, please click here to join. Please Note: This is all informal feedback. Any official changes will require a vote of the membership. To renew your membership with the organization or to become a new member, please click here and complete the form.

Posts on the Facebook Group will begin this afternoon and will continue throughout the week, so please check it frequently so that your voice might be heard. We recognize that this group holds members - past and present - along with supporters that have a great deal of valuable feedback concerning GALA's past, present, and future.
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Our goal is to unveil the organization's new name and logo at World Conference 2019. Thank you for your continued support!

Sincerely,

GALA Board of Directors 

Sometimes I think it’s a good thing we don’t know the trajectory our lives are going to take. If we did, we might not be open to following where we sense God calling us!

My life has certainly taken some twists and turns I never expected when I was younger. They have brought me new friendships, new challenges, and a spiritual journey that I might have run screaming from if I had known it was coming.

While I grew up “churched” and very active (since my father was a full-time minister), in some ways it never seeped down into my bones. Attending church was expected. Behaving “properly” was expected. But what did it really all mean in my interactions with other people?
At one point in my life, I felt a calling to take training in hospital chaplaincy. To understand how crazy that was, I don’t like hospitals…I don’t like blood…I don’t like needles. And yet the call was there. I ultimately took two semesters in an inner city hospital, where I began to see how important it is to be present with people. In times of crisis, what people need is to know that someone cares, that someone can represent the love of God to them.

I also became active in community theatre—because I was a good pianist and could play for many of the musicals. Obviously that meant becoming involved with yet another community, because many of the actors were members of the LGBTQ+ communities—and because many of them had been hurt by “church.” I found myself sometimes walking with them, being friends…simply being present.

Then my youngest brother came out. He called to tell me—and I found out later than he had braced himself for the possible loss of family relationships. That didn’t even occur to me; after all, he was my brother!

But out of that experience, I began to become more involved with GALA, trying to understand more about this community that my brother and so many of my friends were part of. That need expanded when my husband finally had the courage to tell me that he is bisexual.
Wow! There was a lot of learning to do!

As our family became more involved in the GALA community, I found myself taking on more responsibilities—the website and the newsletters. As I pulled together the information to be shared, I realized again the great need there is for people to “walk with” others, to let them know that they are of worth, to be “God with flesh on” for them.

I have not experienced the kind of pain that so many in the LGBTQ+ communities have, and for that I am deeply grateful. But I have gone through my own dark night, and during that time I grew to appreciate, from a different perspective, the care and friendship of those who did not judge but who were simply present.

And now I find myself taking an unexpected turn on the path. I had been sensing that it was time to leave the GALA board to move on to something else, but I wasn’t sure what that something else was. Then I saw the invitation to the new cohort for the spiritual companioning program sponsored by Community of Christ. I applied—and was accepted.

I don’t know yet where this part of my journey will take me. But what I do know is that this call to be a spiritual companion is a call to an incredibly important ministry in this time when so many wonder about God’s love for them.

All I can say is “Yes, God loves you! You are a person of worth, of great value.” Each and every one of you.​

Now through Nov. 2, AmazonSmile is donating 5% (ten times the usual amount) to your charity of choice when you shop at smile.amazon.com. This is a great opportunity to give back to GALA while doing everyday shopping.

Please consider this in your giving strategy to support the mission and vision of GALA.

Click here to get started!

Following the announcement concerning the merger of GALA and WCN (Welcoming Community Network), the GALA Board of Directors has put together a Request for Proposals (RFP) concerning the re-branding of a new, merged organization. This would follow feedback, surveys, and direct input from you, the membership.

Please see the file below for details, including contact information, deliverables, and deadline. Feel free to help us spread the word by sharing this announcement.

Regards,

GALA Board of Directors

Two important documents emerged from the 2018 GALA Retreat, including GALA's 2018 Annual Report and the organization's newly approved bylaws. 

Please review both documents (linked above) at your earliest convenience as several changes have been made to support the organization into the future and to accommodate upcoming changes regarding the GALA-WCN merger.

Note: our Bylaws page has been updated to reflect this update, and can be easily located by hovering over 'Home' and then selecting 'Bylaws.'

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Onward!

GALA Board of Directors

For the last 30+ years members of Community of Christ have been working toward full acceptance of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) individuals through an organization called GALA, Gay and Lesbian Acceptance. A separate organization from the church, GALA has been an advocacy organization and a place of retreat and community for members of the LGBTQIA+ community and their allies. The work of GALA has helped move the church forward, sometimes kicking and screaming, into a bold new future.
 
The question often comes up, with national conferences requesting changes to the policy regarding marriage and ordination of LGBTQIA+ people, does the church still need GALA? I say YES, emphatically, YES!
 
What we often see in organizations is that a change in policy does not change the culture of the organization. Continued conversation, education, growth, understanding and courageous leadership is what helps change culture. Community of Christ has a long way to go, and it will take anyone associated with GALA to continue to speak out for justice.
 
What can we do?
 
At the World Church level:

• Press for updated Youth and Family Camp Policies for LGBTQIA+ campers.
• Updated Priesthood manual language for Weddings.
• Encourage our leaders to speak about LGBTQIA+ issues in official publications and when speaking publicly.
• Encourage our leaders to help other countries truly embrace the Worth of All Persons, Unity in Diversity and Blessings of Community.

 
At the local level:

• Encourage congregations to go through a Welcoming and Affirming program to become a Welcoming Congregation.
• Get to know your local LGBTQIA+ leaders in your community and invite them to share with us.
• Attend parades, festivals and other community events to share information about GALA and Community of Christ.

 
Individually:

• Speak freely and often about GALA when speaking publicly.
• Keep abreast of the latest research and language around the LGBTQIA+ community.
• Join GALA which will help us continue to provide high quality resources.

 
The need for GALA will exist until the entire Community of Christ around the globe is truly a safe place for all.