Oasis Commission
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Oasis Commission
The Oasis can refer to any of a series of diocesan ministries of the Episcopal Church to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) persons. The first Oasis group was established in the Episcopal Diocese of Newark by bishop John Shelby Spong on June 21, 1989 at All Saints Church, Hoboken. Its first leader, The Rev. Robert Williams had been the first out gay man to be ordained to the priesthood. However, Williams and Spong clashed on theological and moral issues and he left the organization shortly thereafter, replaced by The Rev. David Norgard. At this time, making gay and lesbian people feel welcome in churches was the exception, rather than the rule. The Oasis provided a " safe space" for them to worship together, as well as social events, educational opportunities, etc., while also helping build acceptance in the rest of the church. By its seventh anniversary celebration, which was led by the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, The Most Rev. Edmond Browning, ...
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Episcopal Church In The United States Of America
The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church is Michael Bruce Curry, the first African-American bishop to serve in that position. As of 2022, the Episcopal Church had 1,678,157 members, of whom the majority were in the United States. it was the nation's 14th largest denomination. Note: The number of members given here is the total number of baptized members in 2012 (cf. Baptized Members by Province and Diocese 2002–2013). Pew Research estimated that 1.2 percent of the adult population in the United States, or 3 million people, self-identify as mainline Episcopalians. The church has recorded a regular decline in membership and Sunday attendance since the 1960s, particularly in the Northeast and Upper Midwest. The church was organized after the Americ ...
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Lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexuality or same-sex attraction. The concept of "lesbian" to differentiate women with a shared sexual orientation evolved in the 20th century. Throughout history, women have not had the same freedom or independence as men to pursue homosexual relationships, but neither have they met the same harsh punishment as homosexual men in some societies. Instead, lesbian relationships have often been regarded as harmless, unless a participant attempts to assert privileges traditionally enjoyed by men. As a result, little in history was documented to give an accurate description of how female homosexuality was expressed. When early sexologists in the late 19th century began to categorize and describe homosexual behavior, hampere ...
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Bisexual
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, which is also known as '' pansexuality.'' The term ''bisexuality'' is mainly used in the context of human attraction to denote romantic or sexual feelings toward both men and women, and the concept is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation along with heterosexuality and homosexuality, all of which exist on the heterosexual–homosexual continuum. A bisexual identity does not necessarily equate to equal sexual attraction to both sexes; commonly, people who have a distinct but not exclusive sexual preference for one sex over the other also identify themselves as bisexual. Scientists do not know the exact cause of sexual orientation, but they theorize that it is caused by a complex interplay of genetic, hormonal, and env ...
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Transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through transitioning, often adopting a different name and set of pronouns in the process. Additionally, they may undergo sex reassignment therapies such as hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery to more closely align their primary and secondary sex characteristics with their gender identity. Not all transgender people desire these treatments, however, and others may be unable to access them for financial or medical reasons. Those who do desire to medically transition to another sex may identify as transsexual. ''Transgender'' is an umbrella term. In addition to trans men and trans women, it may also include people who are non-binary or genderqueer. Other definitions of ''transgender'' also include people who belong to a third gender, or ...
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Episcopal Diocese Of Newark
The Episcopal Diocese of Newark is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America comprising the North Jersey, northern third of New Jersey in the United States. The Diocese represents the Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is a province, and presides over Episcopal parishes, missions, outreach ministries and schools in the New Jersey counties of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen, Essex County, New Jersey, Essex, Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson, Morris County, New Jersey, Morris, Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic, Sussex County, New Jersey, Sussex, Warren County, New Jersey, Warren, and one church in Union County, New Jersey, Union County. History Though Newark was originally a History of Newark, New Jersey, Puritan settlement, Anglicans have been worshipping in the area since 1695. An Anglican congregation was established in Newark by 1729 and a church, Trinity Church, was under construction in 1742. Two other current parishesChrist Chur ...
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John Shelby Spong
John Shelby "Jack" Spong (June 16, 1931 – September 12, 2021) was an American bishop of the Episcopal Church. From 1979 to 2000, he was the Bishop of Newark, New Jersey. A liberal Christian theologian, religion commentator, and author, he called for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines.Interview.
ABC Radio Australia, June 17, 2001


Early life and career

Spong was born in , and educated in public schools there. He attended the

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Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 in 2021, ranking the city the 668th-most-populous in the country. With more than , Hoboken was ranked as the third-most densely populated municipality in the United States among cities with a population above 50,000. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the tri-state region. Hoboken was first settled by Europeans as part of the Pavonia, New Netherland colony in the 17th century. During the early 19th century, the city was developed by Colonel John Stevens, first as a resort and later as a residential neighborhood. Originally part of Bergen Township and later North Bergen Township, it became a separate township in 1849 and was incorporated as a city in 1855 ...
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Robert Williams (gay Priest)
Robert Williams (July 21, 1955 in Abilene, Texas – December 24, 1992, Boston, Massachusetts), was the first openly gay male priest whose ordination in the Episcopal Church was acknowledged beforehand by the ordaining diocese and was consequently the subject of considerable publicity. Ellen Barrett, openly lesbian, had been ordained a priest by Paul Moore, Bishop of New York, in January 1977 and this was reported in ''The New York Times''. There had been numerous ordinations of men and, after 1976, women whose homosexuality was known to their bishops and Commissions on Ministry but which were not publicly acknowledged. This is what led to widespread misreporting of the Williams ordination. Biography Williams, raised a Southern Baptist was a graduate of Hardin-Simmons University, and subsequently worked as a journalist in Dallas. He founded a branch of IntegrityUSA, a gay and lesbian Episcopalian organization. He took a Masters of Divinity at Episcopal Divinity School, gr ...
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Safe Space
The term safe space refers to places "intended to be free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations". The term originated in LGBT culture, but has since expanded to include any place where a marginalized minority (e.g. gender, ethnic, religious) can come together to communicate regarding their shared experiences. Safe spaces are most commonly located on university campuses in the western world, but also are at workplaces, as in the case of Nokia. The terms safe space (or safe-space), safer space, and positive space may also indicate that a teacher, educational institution or student body does not tolerate violence, harassment, or hate speech, thereby creating a safe place for marginalized people. Countries Australia The Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV) which claims to represent 200,000 Muslims in Victoria stated that the Muslim community suffered mental health and other problems due to the suspicions to which it is subjected. ...
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Edmond Browning
Edmond Lee Browning (March 11, 1929 – July 11, 2016) was an American bishop. He was the 24th presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Education, ordination, early ministry Browning received his seminary education from the University of the South, commonly known as Sewanee. While there he was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1952, followed by the postgraduate Bachelor of Divinity in 1954. On July 2, 1954, he was ordained to the diaconate. His ordination to the priesthood took place on May 23, 1955, in the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas. He was married to Patricia Alline Sparks on September 10, 1953. Together they had five children; Mark, Paige, Philip, Peter, and John. Browning began his ministry as a priest in Corpus Christi, Texas, as an assistant at the Church of the Good Shepherd from 1954 to 1956, then as rector of the Church of the Redeemer in Eagle Pass, Texas, from 1956 to 1959. ...
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IntegrityUSA
Integrity USA was a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Episcopal Church in the United States. It was founded in 1974 to promote the inclusion of Q members and their Straight allies, allies for equal access to Episcopal liturgy, rites, but dissolved in April 2022 following misconduct allegations concerning the conduct of its board of directors. History Founding Integrity was founded in 1974 by Louie Crew in rural Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, US. Crew, who was on a teaching fellowship in San Francisco, California, telephoned the reportedly progressive Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, Grace Episcopal Cathedral, asking if they could help him and his Significant other, partner meet other gay Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopalians. The derisive laughter he heard in response prompted him to start a newsletter to help LGBTQ members of the Episcopal Church support each other in a hostile ecclesiastical environment. Crew wrote in the lead editorial:Integrity derives f ...
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Louie Crew
Erman Louie Clay (né Erman Louie Crew Jr.) (1936–2019) was an American professor emeritus of English language, English at Rutgers University. He was best known for his long and increasingly successful campaign for the acceptance of gay and lesbian people by Christians in general, and the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, Episcopal Church in particular. Biography Louie Crew was born December 9, 1936, in Anniston, Alabama. He has written about "Growing Up Gay in Dixie" Crew graduated from The McCallie School (1954), and received a B.A. from Baylor University (1958) a M.A. from Auburn University (1959) and a Ph.D. from the University of Alabama (1971). Crew taught at Auburn University, Darlington School, St. Andrew's School (Delaware), Penge Secondary Modern School, London, University of Alabama, Experiment in International Living, Claflin University, Fort Valley State University, University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, Beijing International Studies University ...
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