Posts Tagged ‘Rev. Meg Riley’

Day 30: Celebrate with Us

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Feb 17, 2013

Today is Day 30 of the Thirty Days of Love. Today’s action is to join us tonight (or tomorrow) for our closing Thirty Days of Love online worship service. Click here for details, family actions, and more!

“Justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.”
– Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

What does it mean to harness love’s power to stop oppression, exclusion, and violence? How do we stand on the side of love, bending the moral arc of the universe towards justice? Those are questions people of faith have been asking for thousands of years. Each of us, in our own day, must try to find and live our own answers.

I was privileged to be the founding director of the Standing on the Side of Love campaign, working closely with Campaign Manager Adam Gerhardstein and Helio Fred Garcia, who took our dream and created a strategic plan. But, ultimately, it was thousands of people like you who brought love’s power into the public debates on issues where, too often, fear and a desire for punishment dominate. So many different kinds of people have said: “Love’s people: Yes, that’s who my people are!”

From the beginning, Standing on the Side of Love has empowered people to speak love’s name in times that were fearful, constricted, violent. I have been so inspired to see love open doors which no other word could open. Love whispers our name, and grows when we whisper it back. Grows more when we harness our power to speak it loudly. Grows still more when we demand policies that support it.

I continue to stand on the side of love in my current role as Senior Minister of the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF). CLF brings together people from around the world who might not otherwise be able to access the support of a loving faith community. We hold worship services online, where hundreds join us each week to carry the flame of love and justice.

To culminate the Thirty Days of Love, CLF and SSL will collaborate on an online worship service held Sunday night, February 17, at 8 PM Eastern US time and Monday, February 18, at 9 AM and 1:30 PM Eastern US time. For me it feels like a party where you invite people you love who might not know each other yet, and wait excitedly for them to make connections.

Please join us for celebration and worship this evening or tomorrow. Click here to RSVP and invite your friends and family.

Hope to see you soon! And thanks, as always, for magnifying love in this world that needs it so much!

With love and hope,

Rev. Meg Riley
Senior Minister
Church of the Larger Fellowship

PS: Don’t forget to share your stories and photos from the Thirty Days of Love! The SSL Team is creating a round-up of everything that happened around the country and they want to make sure that YOU are included.

Tags: 30 Days of Love, Adam Gerhardstein, Church of the Larger Fellowship, Fred Garcia, National Standing on the Side of Love Month, online, Rev. Meg Riley, Share the Love, worship

Transitions

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Jul 30, 2012

The message below went out on Monday, July 30, 2012 to Standing on the Side of Love supporters. You can sign-up for these emails here.

After two fantastic years managing the Standing on the Side of Love campaign, I have made the difficult decision to step down as Campaign Manager. Thank you so much for granting me the privilege to act as a guide on our shared journey.

I cannot convey in mere words how much this campaign has affected me personally and reshaped how I think about my professional advocacy. Every day, I remain in awe of the incredible passion for justice that each and every one of you holds as a guiding principle. I have been so fortunate to work with lovely, dedicated, talented, and fun colleagues at the Unitarian Universalist Association, and to meet equally inspiring people all across the country.

The individuals who brought this campaign to fruition—Rev. Bill Sinkford, Rev. Meg Riley, Adam Gerhardstein, Fred Garcia, Susan Leslie, the Leadership Council at the UUA, and our partners at Fission Strategy—infused it with so much heart. It was easy for me to pick up the baton and run with it. And it has been so heartening to see congregations and individuals across the country use this campaign as inspiration, and as a prism, for your advocacy.

New challenges await me. My plans are to return to the world of political & communications consulting and non-profit management—the work I was doing prior to joining the UUA team. I have signed on to work with two great organizations—Justice at Stake, which is committed to an independent judiciary, and Farm Forward, which seeks to reduce farm animal suffering and advance sustainable agriculture. I will also continue officiating weddings, which is one of my great joys in life. This is an ideal time for me to make a change, given my own upcoming wedding Labor Day weekend.

I will step down as campaign manager in mid-August, but will continue to assist my colleagues with the transition to a new campaign manager. Stay tuned for a job description! I’m heartened to know that the next leader of this campaign may be reading this email right now, ready to breathe new vision into this incredible movement.

Thank you for the inspiration, for the partnership…and most importantly, for the love!

Peace,

Dan Furmansky
Campaign Manager
Standing on the Side of Love

(Photo credit: Imari Kariotis)

Tags: Adam Gerhardstein, campaign manager, Dan Furmansky, Farm Forward, Fred Garcia, Justice at Stake, Rev. Bill Sinkford, Rev. Meg Riley, Susan Leslie, Unitarian Universalist Association, UUA

At the Dentist: Fighting the Marriage Amendment

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Apr 03, 2012

Rev. Meg Riley, Sr. Minister at Church of the Larger Fellowship and one of the founders of the Standing on the Side of Love campaign, is crossing borders in the unlikeliest of places: her dentist’s office. Facing an odious constitutional amendment on the Minnesota ballot this November that would ban marriage for same-gender couples, Rev. Meg is not remaining silent.

Change-makers rarely do!

Here’s a video Rev. Meg made about talking to her dental hygienist about the marriage amendment.

This is such a fantastic story of self, story of us, story of now. Pass the video on, or make your own!

As Terri Burnor said on Rev. Meg’s facebook page:

Love! I especially appreciate your reminder that convos with people who think differently can be made meaningful (and safe) when we go beyond labels and find commonality. It also makes me wonder if we shy away from reaching out to the “other” because we think we have to change their mind to make the convo “worth it.” How freeing to release that unrealistic goal and instead find ways to simply relate to each other.

Agreed, Terri.

MN Governor Mark Dayton recently told a crowd of LGBT and allied advocates that he had a dream that Minnesota would become the first state in the nation to reject a constitutional amendment banning marriage for same-gender-loving couples.

May it be so.

Tags: amendment, Church of the Larger Fellowship, gay, GLBT, LGBT, marriage, Minnesota, Rev. Meg Riley

A Celebration of Life

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Nov 11, 2011

The message below went out to Standing on the Side of Love supporters on Friday, November 11, 2011. You can sign-up for these emails here.

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The 13th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance is fast approaching. Many of us are seeking a space where we can gather, grieve, honor, and recommit to a better world, where gender non-conforming people are free from violence, harassment, and discrimination.

On behalf of the Church of the Larger Fellowship and the Standing on the Side of Love Campaign, I invite you to a special service commemorating the Transgender Day of Remembrance—a service that can be attended by anyone with a computer and internet access.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice, but we really want this to celebrate life as well as honor the dead, and the incredible strength and beauty of the diverse trans community. We want to provide a prayerful space where together we may mourn those are no longer with us, while also offering hope and beauty and celebration of the living.

The service will be hosted at http://www.livestream.com/QuestforMeaning at 9 PM Eastern Time on Sunday, November 20. All you need to do to join is visit that link!

It’s an honor for the Church of the Larger Fellowship, whose mission is to provide a ministry to isolated religious liberals, to work with our transgender friends and allies to host this service just as we launch our new online sanctuary.

Love,

Rev. Meg Riley
Senior Minister
Church of the Larger Fellowship

PS: Click here if you are looking for a fantastic collection of resources, ranging from prayers and “Trans 101” guides to “10 Ways to be More Welcoming to Understanding of Trans People.”

Tags: Church of the Larger Fellowship, Rev. Meg Riley, transgender, Transgender Day of Remembrance

VIDEO Rev. Meg Riley: We Will Stand on the Side of Love in Minnesota

No Comments | Share On Facebook| VIDEO Rev. Meg Riley: We Will Stand on the Side of Love in Minnesota

May 22, 2011

Minnesota’s Republican-led legislature has approved sending an anti-gay constitutional amendment to public referendum in an effort to permanently ban marriage between same-gender couples. The 70-62 vote Saturday night followed two days of rallies over the bill.

Voting yes were 68 Republicans and 2 Democrats. Voting no were 4 Republicans and 58 Democrats.

Rep. John Kriesel, a freshman Republican from Cottage Grove and an Iraq war veteran who lost his legs in combat, delivered an impassioned speech against the amendment.

“Happiness is so hard to find for people, so they find someone who makes them happy and we want to take that away?” Kriesel said. “We say you can be together but you can’t marry them? That’s wrong and I don’t agree with it.”

In order for the amendment to the constitution to go into effect, a majority of voters must approve it on the November 2012 ballot, offering 18 months of lead time.

Gov. Mark Dayton, who does not have the power to veto the amendment, told reporters he would fight the amendment “with every fiber of my being.”

“I think Minnesotans have much more compassion and understanding than they recognize and I think it will be defeated next year,” he told the Minnesota Independent.

Minneapolis resident Rev. Meg Riley, who helped to form the Standing on the Side of Love campaign and who served as its chair for the first year, offered this video with her thoughts about the pain and suffering that will accompany the campaign to pass the amendment.

Rev. Riley is just one of countless faith leaders who will play an active role in making sure that Minnesota is the first state to say NO to writing this discrimination into its constitution. Unitarian Universalists congregations, the Minnesota Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance, and the Standing on the Side of Love campaign will help turn the tide and lift up voices of fairness, justice and inclusion.

The best way for you to stay informed is to join the newly-formed Minnesotans United for All Families, which has been organized by OutFront Minnesota, the Human Rights Campaign, and others to defeat the amendment.

Read more about this topic:

Adam Gerhardstein: We Are All Minnesota
http://www.standingonthesideoflove.org/blog/adam-gerhardstein-we-are-all-minnesota/

Dan Furmansky: Stop the Bullying in Minnesota
http://www.standingonthesideoflove.org/blog/ssl-campaign-manager-dan-furmansky-stop-the-bullying-in-minnesota/

Tags: Adam Gerhardstein, Dan Furmansky, gay marriage, GLBT, Gov. Mark Dayton, Human Rights Campaign, LGBT, Minnesota Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance, Minnesotans United for All Families, OutFront Minnesota, Rep. John Kriesel, Rev. Meg Riley, same-sex marriage