Events
GIL TO SPEAK IN ASBURY PARK, NEW JERSEY at the meeting of the LGBT Older Adult Project
Sunday, February 24th at 2:00pm
Trinity Episcopal Church, 503 Asbury Ave
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIL TO BE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS, FEBRUARY 6-10, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, Anderson High School, Austin, Texas
Speaking in support of their “No Place to Hate Program”
Gil graduated from Anderson High in 1951 when it was an all black, racially segregated school
February 7 – 10, Anniversary Week, Huston-Tillotson University, Austin, Texas
Gil spent his freshman college year at Samuel Huston College, which merged with Tillotson College to become Huston-Tillotson University.
Saturday, February 9, 12:30-2:30 PM, Lunch and conversation with Gil Hosted by Southwest Texas Methodist Federation for Social Action and St. John’s United Methodist Church at 2140 Allandale Rd, (512) 452-5737 OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Please RSVP to Janice at jlcurry@austin.rr.com.
Sunday, February 10, Gil will be preaching at the 9:15 AM and 11:30 AM worship services at Trinity UMC at 4001 Speedway, (512) 459-5835 ALL ARE WELCOME.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIL’S SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS BETWEEN JANUARY 15 and FEBRUARY 3 in New Jersey and FEBRUARY 6-10 in Austin, Texas
January 15, Princeton, NJ, Public Library 7 PM
“Scholar-led Discussion on The Emancipation Proclamation: Three Views”
January 17, New Brunswick, NJ, Gil’s Grand Daughter’s 3rd grade clas
“Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement”
January 20, Red Bank, NJ United Methodist Church 10:30 AM
Dialogue Sermon with Pastor Myrna Bethke on “Human Relations”
January 21, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County, Lincroft, NJ, Monmouth Center for World Religions and Ethical Thought, 7PM
“The Selma March: Then and Now” with Rev. John Licitra, a banker now in seminary, who participated in the Sankofa tour of Civil Rights Sites in 2011.
January 29, Monmouth University, West Long Branch, NJ, 7:30 PM
Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute Celebration
Sunday, February 3, Preaching at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County, Lincroft, NJ, 10:30 AM
Wednesday, February 6, Anderson High School, Austin, Texas
Speaking in support of their “No Place to Hate Program”
Gil graduated from Anderson High in 1951 when it was an all black, racially segregated school
February 7 – 10, Anniversary Week, Huston-Tillotson University, Austin, Texas
Gil spent his freshman college year at Samuel Huston College, which merged with Tillotson College to become Huston-Tillotson University.
Saturday, February 9, St. John’s United Methodist Church, Austin
12:30-2:20 PM Meeting with members of the Southwest Texas Reconciling Community and MFSA (Methodist Federation for Social Action)
Sunday, February 10, Trinity United Methodist Church, Austin, Texas
Preaching at the 9:15 AM and 11:30 AM worship services.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CITY NONDISCRIMINATION ORDINANCE PASSES IN HELENA, MONTANA, 5-0
December 18, 2012
Click here for more information.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marilyn will be at the Helena City Commission tonight, December 17th, for the Final Public Hearing.
Helena City Commission Meeting
Monday, December 17th | 6:00 pm
City-County Building
316 North Park Avenue, 3rd floor, for the public hearing on the nondiscrimination ordinance. Join her at 6:00 at the City County Building, 3rd floor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PICTURES FROM THE CHURCH WITHIN A CHURCH ANNIVERSARY EVENT,
CHICAGO, OCTOBER, 2012
Gil and Marilyn at Saturday evening gala
Gil with the Rev. Greg Dell, longtime activist who endured a United Methodist Church trial for performing a same sex marriage. He was convicted and suspended indefinitely but a later ruling limited the suspension to one year. He is now retired and lives in Chicago. Gil, Marilyn, and Greg were two or five “welcoming” coalition leaders to change policies and practices of the United Methodist Church at the UMC 2000 General Conference. The other leaders were Kathryn Johnson then executive director at Methodist Federation for Social Justice, and Jeanne Knepper of Affirmation. Nothing like shared experiences of the challenges of coalition building and being arrested together!
Marilyn and Greg
Gil and Marilyn will be attending Church with a Church’s 10-year Anniversary Celebration in Chicago, October 19-21, 2012. For more information, click here.
Gil and Marilyn were at the first organizing meeting for this United Methodist related (its roots anyway) movement, which is dedicated to “…heeding the Call to BE Church in new ways, to build the inclusive and just church.” They will be presenting the Gilbert H. Caldwell Justice Award to Inelle Bagwell and Lea Salas Córdova. CWAC has a strong commitment to anti-racism. Truth in Progress congratulates them for their work at the intersection of race, sexual orientation, gender identity, and religion. Happy Anniversary!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are back from our New Jersey and New York City filming tour. We recorded oral histories of pre-Stonewall, Gay Liberation Front, feminist movement, Stonewall riots, and the beginning of the AIDS crisis in the 1980′s. In Ocean Grove, NJ we found a community -gay and straight- finding ways to talk to each other through their differences (not around them). We’re connecting the dots of how these histories feed into issues of today and the focus of TIP: race, sexual orientation, gender identity, and religion. We’ll be showing you these connections over the next few weeks as well as staying up-to-date on current events. All of issues captured in film and word feed the mix of building bridges across cultural differences. We can all use more productive and life-giving discussions to counter the polarization in our society. YOUR voice is important. Stay with us in and invite your friends to this essential dialogue!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Join Truth in Progress on Wednesday, May 23rd at 7 pm in Helena for a special screening of Inlaws & Outlaws at Plymouth Congregational Church. We’re thrilled that the film’s director, Drew Emery, will be in town for a Q&A following the film!
Truth in Progress is proud to be co-sponsoring this event with Plymouth Congregational Church, Pride Foundation, Montana Pride Celebration 2012, and Montana Human Rights Network
Free, although donations will be accepted.
IN BOZEMAN: A second screening and Q&A with the director will be held in Bozeman, on Wednesday, May 25, 7 pm, at the Bozeman Public Library.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2012 United Methodist Church General Conference
April 24 to May 4, 2012
Tampa, Florida
Read Gil’s reflections here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MONTANA SUPREME COURT HEARING
UNIVERSITY THEATER AT UM, MISSOULA
FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2012, 9:30AM
Truth in Progress will be filming the oral argument of the domestic partnership lawsuit Donaldson & Guggenheim v. State of Montana before the Montana Supreme Court in Missoula, Friday, April 13, 2012. This historic event will be held in the University Theater at UM Fine Arts Building at 9:30 am.
Join us on facebook and twitter!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THANKS FOR A FABULOUS TEN DAYS, SEVEN CITIES, 1300 MILES TOUR! WE LOVE YOU, MONTANA!!!
Scheduling now for New York City, D.C., and San Francisco in 2012!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FAIR IS FAIR IN MONTANA TOUR
Co-sponsored by ACLU of Montana and Truth in Progress
September 17-26, 2011
1,000 miles in support of same-sex relationship recognition
PUBLIC EVENTS
BILLINGS: Saturday, September 17, 5 pm
Grace United Methodist Church, 1935 Avenue B
BOZEMAN: Monday, September 19, 7 pm
Montana State University SUB 233-235
MISSOULA: Tuesday, September 20, 8 pm
University Congregational UCC, 405 University Avenue
KALISPELL: Wednesday, September 21, 7 pm
Christ Church Episcopal Church, 215 Third Ave East
GREAT FALLS: Saturday, September 24, 10:30 am
Great Falls Public Library, 310 2nd Avenue North
HELENA: Monday, September 26, 7 pm
St. Paul’s United Methodist Church at the corner of Lawrence and Logan
GIL PREACHING
BILLINGS: Sunday, September 18, 10:15 am
Co-preaching with the Rev. Susan Otey
Grace United Methodist Church, 1935 Avenue B
HELENA: Sunday, September 25, 8:30 and 11 am
St. Paul’s United Methodist Church at the corner of Lawrence and Logan
SCHEDULE BY CITY
BILLINGS:
Saturday, September 17
10:30 am Clergy Coffee (Please RSVP to Ninia Baehr at niniab@aclumontana.org)
5:00 pm Fair is Fair Public Event, Grace United Methodist, 1935 Avenue B
Sunday, September 18
10:15 am Gil co-preaching with the Rev. Susan Otey at Grace United Methodist Church,
1935 Avenue B, followed by coffee hour.
BOZEMAN:
Monday, September 19
9:00 am Attending a colloquium at Montana State University, “Historical Trauma: Examining Implications for Health and Well-being among American Indian Tribes.”
7:00 pm Fair is Fair Public Event, Montana State University SUB 233-235
Tuesday, September 20
8:00 am Clergy Coffee (Please RSVP to Ninia Baehr at niniab@aclumontana.org)
MISSOULA:
Tuesday, September 20
8:00 pm Fair is Fair Public Event at University Congregational UCC, 405 University Avenue
KALISPELL:
Wednesday, September 21
7:00 pm Fair is Fair Public Event, Christ Church Episcopal, 215 Third Ave East
Thursday, September 22
9:00 am Clergy Breakfast (Please RSVP to Ninia Baehr at niniab@aclumontana.org)
MISSOULA:
Friday, September 23
Clergy Coffee, (Please RSVP to Ninia Baehr at niniab@aclumontana.org)
HELENA:
Friday, September 23
7:00 pm Join us for the opening night of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church’s 7th Annual Expanding Our Faith Lecture Series. Professor Amy-Jill Levine will speak on “Sex and the Bible.” St. Paul’s is located at the corner of Lawrence and Logan
GREAT FALLS:
Saturday, September 24
11 am Fair is Fair Public Event at Public Library, 310 2nd Avenue North
HELENA:
Sunday, September 25
8:30 and 11 am Gil preaching at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church corner of Lawrence and Logan
5:00 pm Truth in Progress Reception and Celebration, Hub Coffee, 314 N. Last Chance Gulch (next to US Bank, just north of 6th Ave)
Monday, September 26
9:00 am Clergy Breakfast (Please RSVP to Ninia Baehr at niniab@aclumontana.org)
7:00 pm FAIR IS FAIR FINALE PUBLIC EVENT, St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, corner of Lawrence and Logan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gil preaching at Park Hill United Methodist Church in Denver on July 31st at 10 AM.
Gil was pastor at Park Hill UMC from 1997-2001. The church is located at 5209 Montview Boulevard.
Sermon Topic: “Why Not Predict The End of Religious Arrogance and Not The End of the World?”
He believes that the arrogance of persons who claim religious faith and of their religious institutions, has contrbuted to the long history of anti-Semitism, Colonialism, Sexism, Racism, and Heterosexism. If persons of faith and their institutions he believes, could acknowledge and confess that we have
allowed our biases and bigotry to shape our Biblical interpretation, and that intepretation has proven to be wrong, we could cease harming and begin to heal the human broken-ness that affects us all.
~~~~~~~~
Marilyn to speak to Gay Straight Alliance at Helena High School on Friday, March 18, and at the GSA event at the Lewis & Clark Library on Sunday, March 20, 1:00. Read about this amazing group in the New York Times “In Efforts to End Bullying, Some See Agenda.”
~~~~~~~~
See Meanderings from Minneapolis under Different Struggle, Same Fight Blog about our time at Creating Change!
~~~~~~~~
WHERE TO NEXT? STAY TUNED!
Give us your suggestions: TruthInProgress@gmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~
MY HOPE FOR OUR TIME IN MINNEAPOLIS
Marilyn and I will be in Minneapolis from February 1 – 4 (details below). I wonder how many persons will take the opportunity to talk to us as the “Odd Couple” that we are? Our conversations about race and homosexuality too often take place in ways separate and apart. How many persons have had the opportunity to talk to a white woman who is Lesbian and a black man who is straight, face-to-face, eyeball to eyeball, in the same place and space, at the same time?
I borrow Robert Frost’s words to say “We have miles to go before we sleep”, as we grapple with the intersections and separations of race and sexual orientation. We seem to find it difficult to develop conversations that embrace in wholistic ways, the commnality/difference in two journeys, experiences, and realities that are different, yet the same.
What a waste of your time and our time if you do not walk up to us and quote Joan Rivers by asking, “Can we talk?”
Gil Caldwell,
who with Marilyn Bennett,
personify Truth in Progress
The National Conference on LGBT Equality Creating Change
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Minneapolis, Minnesota
February 2-6, 2010
Gil and Marilyn will be there February 1-4. Let us know if you are at Creating Change!
truthinprogress@gmail.com or join us on twitter!
Thanks to all that came and danced at “Dance to the Rhythms of Freedom.”
We raised nearly $1,500 for Truth in Progress. Special thanks to Kathryn Kelley and Kelly Baraby of Dancing Lotus Center for hosting this wonderful event!
Truth in Progress fundraiser: “Dance to the Rhythms of Freedom,” July 18, 10-Noon
The Dancing Lotus Center (40 N. Last Chance Gulch, Helena, MT) is hosting a Nia dance workshop to benefit Truth in Progress on Sunday, July 18, 10 to noon.
Minimum donation is $25, gifts of $100 and above are tax deductible through the Montana Human Rights Network (our 501 c 3 fiscal agent). We already have a pledge of $500! Proceeds go directly to covering Truth in Progress travel, video production, and equipment costs.
Beginners, this is a chance to get a taste of Nia and gain confidence that “you can do this!”
Experienced Nia dancers, you have a chance to deepen your practice through listening to the music and expressing your unique spirit.
For all, have a great time joining our focus and intentions for the human rights and dignity of all people.
Nia blends dance, martial arts, and healing arts (such as yoga), to create a dynamic fitness and lifestyle practice that changes how people experience their body and exercise! Come dance, kick, shake, stretch, and laugh with us!
~~~
Truth in Progress will be filming in Selma, Alabama, on Friday, June 11th, at the Edmund Pettus Bridge and other sites significant to the Black Civil Rights Movement.
THEN we will be in Birmingham on Saturday and Sunday June 12th and 13th.
We want to meet you at the Central Alabama Pride Parade on Saturday night at 8:30 pm, at 5 PTS South, and Sunday afternoon at PRIDEfest at Sloss Furnace National Landmark.
Join us on twitter for updates!
~~~
Truth in Progress is coming to
- Selma, Alabama
- San Francisco
- New York City
- Washington D.C.
~~~
GIL TO SPEAK IN PHILADELPHIA ON MAY 23, 2010
To: Truth and Progress friends and supporters in Philadelphia and the area,
From: Gil Caldwell, (“Elder Brother”)
I will be speaking on the topic: “RACISM & HETEROSEXISM, DIFFERENT, YET THE SAME”,
at Calvary United Methodist Church on May 23rd at 11 AM. Calvary is located at
815 S. 48th St. @ Baltimore Avenue in Philadelphia, 19143. Calvary is observing its
25h anniversary as a United Methodist Reconciling Congregation.
It would be great to see and meet the growing network of friends and supporters of
Truth in Progress. Regardless of your faith or non-faith perspective, I would like to see
your “face in the place” on the 23rd. Come and help us “celebrate each other”. (From
Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple”.)