Subject: IWG Minot ND letter
From: Interfaith Working Group <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 1997 16:44:36 -0500 (EST)

The following went out on IWG letterhead listing 9 congregations and religious
organizations and 38 clergy from 13 faiths and denominations. If you are in 
the general Philadelphia area and represent a congregation or religious 
organization or are clergy, let us know if you want to be added - all faiths 
are welcome. We will also be happy to help start similar organizations in 
other areas.

March 29, 1997

Minot Daily News
301 4th St. SE
Minot, ND  48701

Dear Editors:

We were baffled by letters in your paper (March 23)
from pastors from two different denominations both
claiming that the church never evolves or changes its
mind, or encounters new situations which require new
ideas.  One even said that such thinking will lead to
social decay, and the creation of all sorts of churches
dedicated to criminal intent.  If this were true, these
two men would not belong to different denominations! If
this were true, this country would not have so many
denominations, or non-denominational churches. 
Christians disagree over the nature of sin,  the day to
celebrate the Sabbath, how often to have communion, the
meaning of communion, who to ordain as clergy or church
officers, the nature of the trinity, criteria for
salvation, the necessity of tithing, and other non-
church-related social issues.  Disagreement over
slavery caused a split between the northern and
southern branches of many denominations that was not
finally resolved (in some, never resolved) until more
than a hundred years after the Civil War ended.

It should be no surprise that there are so many
constant well-publicized debates in every denomination
over policy.  The debate over sexual orientation is not
the first or most heated debate people of faith have
ever had, nor is it likely to be the last.  It will be
easier to discuss this issue with a minimum of rancor
if we remember that with a few exceptions, especially
since the turn of the last century, the American people
have embraced religious diversity and escaped the
religious turmoil and hatred that have swept through
many other countries.   

Sincerely,
Barbara Purdom     Christopher Purdom
Interfaith Working Group Coordinators

-- 

Interfaith Working Group                Religious organizations, congregations
[email-masked]                      and clergy supporting gay rights,
http://www.libertynet.org/~iwg/         reproductive freedom, and the 
215-235-3050                            separation of church and state.