Vol. III, # 46, June 24, 2005

The Lazy Days of Summer Are Here

Last Saturday the SSBSC had its annual summer social at the Rappahannock River Home of Shepson Beth Wilson. Brenda and PH were not witnesses to this happy occasion but reports to PH indicate that it was a great success. PH received a photo that would indicate that the Lennon Sisters may have been present. Last year the Reverend Doctor William Sunday Crockett was spotted and this year the Lennon Sisters were spotted. Attached to this PHA is a photo of those Lennon Sisters. Can you identify them by name?

Shepson Beth also informed PH of some news regarding Linda and Rick Mears. Beth wrote:

"Henry, we really missed you and Brenda on Saturday!! The weather was absolutely perfect, the best ever. I hope Will did well in his tournament! Do you know that Linda and Rick have moved to El Paso, TX? Their son was transferred to Fort Bliss and they have moved down to be with him. Linda tells me that they think they are really going to love it there.

Beth

PH: Our grandson Will did very well in the lacrosse tournament, scoring several goals for his team. Lacrosse is a major sport in Maryland. The games Brenda and PH observed were held at the Annapolis Middle School and five fields were used at this one location. After returning to Richmond PH, along with daughters and three grandchildren, went to Dick's Sporting Goods and PH got a beginner lacrosse stick. PH might start a whole new sport of wheelchair lacrosse. The checking could be potentially vicious.

While in Annapolis Brenda and PH visited the United States Naval Academy. This is a wonderful place to visit, but one theme that was evident would mean a lot to Shepson Norm Vaughn. The theme was "Beat Army."

Back to Shepson Beth, did you know that Beth is expecting to be a grandmother before the end of the year? Charlotte and Bill told PH about the good news.

"One bit of news for you: Beth Wilson is going to become a grandmother in December and she is absolutely ecstatic about it!"

Charlotte and Bill

Teacher Bob Got to Verse 26 in Chapter One of Second Samuel

Since PH was not present last Sunday Teacher Bob sent PH the following information about where to pick up on this Sunday:

"I got up to, I think, verse 26 in Chapter 1, the passage dealing with David and Jonathan. My intention was to read from Alter and the class commentary regarding their understanding of these verses, and then from King David, which offers the homoerotic interpretation, and let people draw their own conclusions. I will leave the handling of the materials up to you, however.
Thanks, Bob

Prayer Rounds

Remember in your prayers: Elmer West, Wyatt Heisler and her family, Chester Phelps and his family, Sandra Sizemore's Great Aunt Myrtle Kurz and the family of Myrtle Kurz, John Curtis, the family of Deborah Marsh, Philip and Shanna Davis, Kathy Wade's Missionary friend John Seale, Arlene and Cecil Perry, Audrey Thomson's sister Sharon Ruben and Sharon's family, Jared Oliver, Charlotte Ladd, Kirk Dadisman, B. J. Seymour, the VCU BSU, Cecil and Dot Sherman, Julia Tyler and her parents, Kay and Bob Culpeper, Linda and Rick Mears, the Church clergy and the church staff. Prayers should also be offered for our military and civilians in harm's way and for those only known to you.

The CrossOver West Clinic Will Become A Reality

Following is a very promising progress report on CrossOver West. $106,000 has been raised and volunteers are needed in many areas. The people to contact are in this update.

"The initial fundraising goal for CrossOver West is accomplished. Thanks be to God! And to you. It absolutely would not have happened without the many Partners in Faith who participated in the very first CrossOver Challenge. The event was a huge success, drawing support from over 400 volunteers, runners, and walkers, and netting almost $25,000.00. Please visit www.crossoverministry.org for photos and race results.

Metro Richmond’s newest free clinic, CrossOver West, will become a reality as a result of this community's commitment and hard work. The clinic will be dedicated to the Glory of God, and in thanksgiving for His many blessings, during a fun-filled Grand Opening Celebration in October! Date TBA. Please plan to Come and See!

CrossOver West will serve a vulnerable population of over 8,000 men, women, and children in western Henrico County who are uninsured and low-income. The clinic will be conveniently located near the Quioccasin/Parham intersection for patients, and for volunteer healthcare professionals and non-clinical volunteers. A list of volunteer opportunities and clinic equipment needs are posted on the website. Most immediately, the Grand Opening Task Force is forming and needs your help! Following are volunteer opportunities and contact information. And always our thanks for the generosity of the Richmond community . . . .

CrossOver West Grand Opening – Gail Campbell, volunteer chair, 740-9035;
or Charlotte Flowers, 262-3585 ext. 107 or cflowers@crossoverministry.org

CrossOver West medical volunteers – Concella Greene, 233-5016 ext. 107, or cgreene@crossoverministry.org

CrossOver West equipment donation, renovations, or movers –
Julie Bilodeau, 233-5016 ext. 102, or jbilodeau@crossoverministry.org

2006 CrossOver Challenge – Charlotte Flowers, 262-3585 ext. 107 or cflowers@crossoverministry.org"

Shepson Anne James Will Be Twenty-nine on Monday

In addition to Anne's twenty-ninth birthday Carolyn and George Thomas will celebrate thirty-six years of marriage on next Tuesday

The Religious Herald and Controversy

The June 16 issue of the Religious Herald has much interesting reading. For example there is an article by Charles Colson, the founder of Prison Fellowship, in regard to the disclosure by Mark Felt that Felt was "Deep Throat" in the Wategate scandal. Read the article and draw your own conclusions. Another news article indicated that a higher percentage of Americans wanted religious leaders to influence the government than citizens of nine other countries. Those countries were Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, South Korea and Spain. Read the article and draw your own conclusions.

Another interesting article reveals that the USA's view of gays differs from Canada and Britain. The second paragraph in the article reads:

"According to Gallup, both Canadian and British citizens tend to be much more accepting of homosexuality than their counterparts in the United States. A slight majority in both Canada and Britain favor gay marriage, while Americans oppose it by a margin of two to one. Similarly, a majority of Americans believe homosexuality is "morally wrong.", while most in Canada and Great Britain say it is "morally acceptable." Read this article and draw your own conclusions

From another news source the reader can learn about a recent action by the American Psychiatric Association The news article follows:

Psychiatry Group Votes to Support Gay Marriage

Psychiatry group votes to support gay marriage. Giving gay couples legal rights goes a long way toward supporting their mental health, the American Psychiatric Assn. says.
By Myrle Croasdale,AMNews staff. June 13, 2005.

The American Psychiatric Assn. appears to be on track to become the first major medical organization to urge that gay marriage become legal.

The APA's assembly approved a statement seeking the legal recognition of same-sex civil marriage during its annual meeting in May. The APA's board of trustees, which meets in July, would need to approve the statement before it would become policy.

Jack Drescher, MD, the author of the position paper presented to the assembly, said the move was intended to promote the stabilizing of gay couples and families. He hopes the APA's action will spur other medical organizations to take on the issue.

"We live in a country where we believe in fairness, equal access and separation of church and state," Dr. Drescher said. "We think there's a lot to be gained in having the conversation about what we think a marriage is."

Acknowledging gay couples' right to a civil marriage honors their value as human beings, Dr. Drescher said.

The gay marriage position paper, he said, was developed at the APA board's request. The action follows a similar move by the American Psychological Assn. in 2004 and is in line with past activities by the APA, which removed homosexuality from its mental disorders list in 1973 and came out in favor of same-sex civil unions in 2000.

Dr. Drescher said that although a civil union is virtually the same thing as a civil marriage, most states don't recognized civil unions, while they do recognize the legal protections of a civil marriage.

Ken Haller, MD, immediate past president of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Assn., was pleased with the psychiatric association's vote."Up until now, the debates involving public policy have had a great deal of misinformation," he said.

The American Medical Association recently created an Advisory Committee on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender issues, which will advise the Board of Trustees on the needs of GLBT physicians, medical students and patients. The committee's first meeting is scheduled for this month. "

PH: Most Christians follow the teachings of Jesus. We consider it important to study the things he said and did. He said a lot of insightful and perceptive things, including something about the sin of adultery, but to PH's knowledge, he never said a word about homosexuality.

The Catacombs Lectures begin in two weeks and hopefully we will all gain some new knowledge.

PH

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