Date: 	Sat, 6 Jun 1998 18:43:21 -1000
From: Mia H H Lam <mial@hawaii.edu>
Subject: LOCAL NEWS JUNE 6 (fwd)

  

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 6 Jun 1998 18:10:06 -1000
From: Tom Ramsey <ramsey@math.hawaii.edu>
To: mial@hawaii.edu
Subject: LOCAL NEWS JUNE 6

	The Mary Magdalene Society

	This is a group of gay Lutherans, associated
with the Lutheran Church of Honolulu (located on Punahou
Street across from Punahou School).  They now have a
WEB page:

    <http://members.aol.com/hawaiiMMS>

Among the links to this WEB page is page of further links
to national gay Christian organizations.

	One of their pastors, Rev. Dr. Donald K. Johnson,
has written a six-page paper "Sexuality, Marriage, Morality
and the Bible".  It is a position paper in favor of his
church sanctioning same-gender marriage, and presents
a biblical perspective.  It also supports the CIVIL RIGHT
of same-gender marriage.   I have typed half of this paper
into a WEB page, which will be available eventually.  If
you'd like to have a paper copy, please email your request to

        marriageprojecthi@msn.com

By the way, all the bishops of the Danish Lutheran Church
(the official church of Denmark) have endorsed same-gender
marriage as a religious rite.  Denmark grants almost all of
the rights of marriage to same-sex couples when they register
as domestic partners (three rights were left out).  One
of the rights the government of Denmark left out was the
right to a church wedding (this is a legal issue because
the Danish Lutheran Church is a state church).  The Danish
bishops on their own have now granted that right (which they
did in 1997).

					Best Regards,

					tom ramsey