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Church History (Continued) |
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In May of 1989, Faith became a collection site
for a shipment of materials to go to Nicaragua under the sponsorship of Quest
for Peace. A motley collection of goods, from roller skates and bicycles
to X-ray equipment oured in. Clothing was a major part of the donations.
Fellowship hall was stuffed from wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling.
Volunteers from other churches and or organizations came to help sort and pack.
By June 19, 1989, a container truck had appeared, been loaded to its very back
doors, and departed. The container would be transferred intact for
shipment to Nicaragua. That was the beginning of many shipments of
supplies from Faith to other countries. From February 19 to March 7 of 1980, Gil and Tom Mohan went with a group to Nicaragua to observe the elections with disappointing results. Everyone had hoped for a more democratic regime in that country, after the devastation caused by the Contras. Later that year a group of four men including Gil went to Cuba on a trip of observation to learn if information circulated by the United States government about Cuba were true. Arrangements were made to have them stay with a variety of common, ordinary, Cuban families. While there, Gil was asked to preach in a Methodist Church. In Cuba, the group found a much different picture from what Americans had been told about Cuba and the Castro regime. In March of 1991, Gil's request to be transferred to Des Moines because of his marriage to Inez, who worked for the Iowa Conference, was denied. He was labeled "unappointable" because of his leftist beliefs. The congregation was incensed and tried in various ways to convince the District Superintendent, the Cabinet and the Bishop that Gil was being misjudged. In August of 1991 Gil left Faith. From September through December, various members of Faith and Buffalo UMC's conducted Sunday Services until Marsha Accord could begin her ministry in January of 1992. It was Marsha who provided the impetus for Faith to become a Reconciling Congregation. In a planning mission on January 10, 1993, a goal was set to study becoming a Reconciling Congregation. During Study Groups, the congregation read and discussed the book Can Homophobia be Cured? Mark Bowman, the National Coordinator of the Reconciling Congregation Program came from Chicago to speak to Iowa groups and appeared at Faith on May 18th. Many other educational activities led to a vote in a Congregational Meeting after service on June 13 to become a Reconciling Congregation. The motion passed unanimously. During this time, the people of Faith participated in supporting Pastors for Peace "Caravans taking humanitarian supplies to Cuba. On one occasion we had a yellow school bus parked beside Fellowship Hall overnight and hosted a group on the way to Cuba. We also had school and medical supplies for them to take with them. All the supplies arrived intact in Cuba, despite the continued US embargo, much to their delight - even the yellow school bus. Marsha was an ardent feminist and led the church to support many women's activities. At one point the Cedar Rapids Clinic for Women, who had been forced out of their building, used our building temporarily for medical screening and pregnancy testing. They had lost their previous lease due to picketing by an anti-abortion group led by Larry Johnson. The church was proud to house them until new office space could be found. Once again, Faith anticipated potential violence due to other actions it chose to take, but was happy to find that there were very few problems associated with its stand. On April 17, 1996 the Faith Board agreed after much discussion and research, that Marsha could perform a Holy Union ceremony for two gay men who were members of our congregation. Marsha, Pat, and Pete planned the ceremony and it was duly performed. Bruce Ough, the District Superintendent, began to hear complaints against Marsha and Faith from other members in the Methodist community. In October, Bruce filed formal grievance against Marsha as a strategy to prevent others from doing so. In doing that, he was able to take the time to meet with members of the congregation several times in 1996 and heard our support of Marsha, as well as our theological understanding of why we took this position. On May 20, 1996, Bruce announced that the grievance against Marsha was satisfactorily resolved, with Faith and its congregation intact. A precedent was set and could be cited if similar circumstances arose. (forward for additional history) Faith United Methodist Church |
