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California Holy Union Archives

Obedience to Jesus Christ and The Discipline

"Sacramento 68" Archives 1999

• Methodism's Time of Trials, Keith Hartman, Religion In The News, Summer 1999, Vol. 2, No. 2
• Gay Marriage in the Methodist Church, Salon Magazine, July 29, 1999
  The Rev. Don Fado has put his ministry on the line for homosexual rights. "I wasn't being disobedient," he says. "The church was disobedient, losing sight of what it's meant to be."
• Methodism's Dilemma, editorial by the Toledo Blade, July 18, 1999
  ... Mr. Fado's bishop, obviously inclined toward mellowness, doesn't believe his church must have a formal position on everything. In some cases, it could, for example, keep peace in its ranks if it left certain of its judgments to God.
  This is a position that makes sense for everyone, regardless of their thoughts on homosexuality. One must look past individual differences to the common core all people share if we are each to grow. Isn't growing what life is all about?
• Methodist Mutiny, The Washington Post, letters to the editor from Don Fado and Mark Tooley about Hanna Rosin's June 16 article "Lesbian 'Marriage' Threatens to Split United Methodists," June 30, 1999
• 'Sacramento 68' investigation will likely be long, official says, UMNS, June 18, 1999
• Lesbian 'Marriage' Threatens to Split United Methodists, Washington Post, June 16, 1999.
• Methodists Fight Over Ban on Blessing Gays: Northern California Delegates Likely to Petition National Denomination San Francisco Chronicle, June 18, 1999
• Why We Officiated at a Service of Holy Union, June 1999
• LOVE: "The Heart of God for the People of God" by Cal-Nevada MFSA, June 1999
• Minister says bishop had to file against him for lesbian service, AP release at SFGATE, March 24, 1999
• Bishop Talbert announces complaint against 69 California-Nevada pastors, UMNS, March 23, 1999 (includes a courageous and pastoral statement by Bishop Talbert)
• Methodist bishop files complaint over lesbian `wedding', AP release at SFGATE, March 23, 1999
• Methodist bishop file church complaint over same-sex `holy union', AP release at SFGATE, March 23, 1999
• Howard Acton, a Sacramento co-officiant and retired member of Cal-Nevada Annual Conference was killed Monday evening, March 8, in an auto accident.
• Methodists Complain About Lesbian Union: 92 ministers accused of disobeying church law, San Francisco Chronicle , March 4, 1999
  Members of a Sacramento-area church have filed 184 formal complaints against 92 Methodist ministers who performed a controversial "holy union" ceremony for a lesbian couple. The complaints, lodged by the Rev. Mike Goodyear and members of his First United Methodist Church in Orangevale....
• Not all United Methodists are Celebrating by Ray O’Neil, editoral against Sacramento celebration Good News Magazine, February 24, 1999 "... what happened in Sacramento on January 16th was not an act of compassion; it was purely a political act, and we should not be misled by 'compassion rhetoric.'"
• Juries Say “No” to Injustice and Oppression! A Review of the History of Jury Nullification by Richard Bentley, California-Pacific MFSA
• Methodist minister from Sacramento finds himself at the forefront of bitter rights battle, San Francisco Examiner , February 12, 1999
• Minister Honored as He Awaits Punishment Over Forbidden Ceremony , San Francisco Chronicle, February 12, 1999
• God Bless You! God Bless Us All! A Response to the United Methodist Reporter by CORNET, February 5, 1999
• Holy Union Organizer Disputes Editorial's Views, United Methodist Reporter, February 3, 1999
• Video of Sacramento Ceremony Available, February 1, 1999
• Dichotomy over gay couple's holy union rite spurs thoughts, emotions, by Chuck Myer, Sacramento Bee, January 31, 1999
  The following preface paragraph, was printed at the beginning of the newspaper version but accidentally omitted from the website version: "Church halls and coffee shops around the foothills are still buzzing over a major event that happened in Sacramento a couple of weeks ago. I was there. I even had an invitation..."
• Open Letter to the Bishops (Good News on Sacramento clergyand others), GN, January 29, 1999
  "The homosexual union service in California is the most recent, as well as the most visible, expression of a growing movement within our church to disobey 'for conscience sake' the Discipline of the church. This movement has been evident in Nebraska and Northern Illinois, as UM clergy have conducted homosexual unions."
• California Clergy Officiants, Sacramento Holy Union (list of names and photo, updated 1/28/99)
• Sacramento ceremony leads to complaint against Iowa minister, UMNS, January 22, 1999
• Methodist probe into lesbian rite: Clergy targeted for backing 'holy union' by Jan Ferris, Sacramento Bee, January 22, 1999
• "Let the wedding bells ring," editorial by Barbara Egbert,San Jose Mercury News, January 22, 1999
  "I looked with pleasure at the picture of the happy couple on page 3B of Sunday's Mercury News. They looked like so many older couples I know."
• "Gay Rights Not Just for Activists Anymore," editorial by David Link, Los Angeles Times, January 22, 1999
  "It is those quiet advocates who demonstrate how profoundly the successes of the gay rights movement have changed the movement. People like Barnett and Charlton don't relish a public role."
• Bishop compelled to uphold church law in wake of ceremony, UMR, January 21, 1999
• Statement by Confessing Movement About Sacramento, CM, January 19, 1999
• California Clergy Celebrate Holy Union for Two Women (with photos), UMNS, January 18, 1999
• Images from the Circle of Love, copyright-protected photos
• Bishop Delays Judgment on Lesbians' Union , the San Francisco Chronicle, January 18, 1999
• Illegal rituals aren't the way to effect change in our church, UMR, January 18, 1999
• Methodist ministers defy their church, bless lesbian union, the San Francisco Examiner, (a good article with interviews of Circle of Love participants and others), January 17, 1999
• "Lesbians 'Holy Union' backed: Hundreds at Methodist rite in Sacramento" by Jan Ferris & Robert D. Davila, Sacramento Bee, January 17, 1999
• "95 Ministers Risk Jobs, Bless 'Holy Union' of Lesbian Couple" by Larry B. Stammer, L. A. Times, January 17, 1999
• A Service of Celebration of the Holy Union of Jeanne Barnett and Ellie Charlton
• At Gay Wedding, Methodists Take a Vow Against Church Ban by Rene Sanchez, the Washington Post, January 17, 1999
• "Methodist ministers perform 'holy union' ceremony in Sacramento despite church rules," AP in Sacramento Bee, January 16, 1999
• Affirmation and CORNET Leaders Celebrate Witness of Lesbian Couple and Clergy Officiants in Sacramento, January 15, 1999
• Sacramento Holy Union Service-Related Events Information about events around the country
• "Evangelical fellowship disapproves of same-sex ceremony", UMNS, January 15, 1999
• It's the "wedding" of the year for U.S. Protestantism, Associated Press, January 14, 1999, by Richard Ostling
• Priest Taken to Task Over Gay Marriage Petition against Pleasanton pastor, San Francisco Chronicle, January 14, 1999 (includes material about the Sacramento Holy Union and quote from Rev. J. Philip Wogaman)
• Clergy to challenge United Methodist same-sex union policy, UMNS, January 12, 1999 (includes full statement of Bishop Talbert)
• No Longer Sojourners: A Statement in Support of Same-Sex Holy Unions by Laity of the California-Nevada Annual Conference
• Methodist Pastor to Bless Gay Union, San Francisco Examiner, January 12, 1999 (an excellent article)
• "Pastor long has preached his principles," Sacramento Bee, January 12, 1999
• "Debate Renewed on Same-Sex Marriages," Sacramento Bee, January 12, 1999
• Baptism: Gifted and Called to a New Year of Justing Love by John Auer (officiant at California Holy Union) , January 11, 1999
• California Evangelical UMC's Protest of Jan 16th Mass Lesbian Wedding, Unofficial Confessing Movement, January 9, 1999
• Ceremony service blessing the holy union of Ellie Charlton and Jeanne Barnett, January 7, 1999
• Statement by California-Nevada Clergy, January 7, 1999
• Homosexual/Lesbian Activists Threaten the Unity of the Church by Dr. Ira Gallaway, CM newsletter (Jan-Feb 1999)

"Sacramento 68" Archives 1998

• Come Celebrate! Prayer and Support of Holy Union in Sacramento, CORNET, December 17, 1998
• California Evangelicals Oppose Planned Mass Lesbian Wedding, unofficial Confessing Movement, December 7, 1998
• Petition Suggests Charges Against Cal/Nev Bishop, unofficial Confessing Movement, December 7, 1998
• Gay Jihad in California, World Magazine, a right wing Christian publication, December 5, 1998
• We Are Alarmed by clergy support of same-sex unions, "Here I Stand" editorial, UMR, November 11, 1998
• The Holy War Over Gay Marriage, San Francisco Weekly, November 4, 1998
• Open Letter to the Bishops from the Confessing Movement, Confessing Movement, November 2, 1998.
• Two Cal-Nevada leaders announce plans for same-sex union, UMNS, Oct. 26, 1998
• Ecclesiastical Disobedience: The Ugliest Word in the English Language, Sermon by Donald Fado, St. Mark's United Methodist Church, Sacramento, CA, October 4, 1998

Key to Acronyms: CM=Confessing Movement, CORNET=Covenant Relationships Network, GN=Good News, RCP=Reconciling Congregation Program, UMC=The United Methodist Church, UMNS=United Methodist News Service, UMR=United Methodist Reporter

Note: This news page has links to information written by a number of different people and groups. Not all of the links go to websites supportive of CORNET's position. Some of the sites totally oppose full inclusion of lesbian and gay people in United Methodist churches.