A New Look for New Ways Ministry’s Bondings 2.0 Starts Today!

By Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry, October 1, 2016

Starting today,  Bondings 2.0 will have a new look.  We hope that this new look will enhance your reading experience. Nothing has changed editorially  in terms of content.  We will still be striving to provide our readers with the best and most important Catholic LGBT news and opinion from around the globe.    Please let us know what you think through the “Comments” section of this post.

Now is a good time, too, to review some of blog’s policies concerning “Comments.”  We welcome and encourage comments from readers.  The blog’s editors view this venue as a community of discussion, not just a place for us to provide information.  To keep the discussion safe for all, we have developed a set of guidelines which we use to moderate comments from readers.  Some of these guidelines are very common to many blogs and some are particular to ours:

Common to many blogs:
1. No obscenities or anything offensive
2. No personal attacks or name-calling
3. Be relevant to the material posted
4. Argue politely
5. Avoid sarcasm
6. Nothing that is patently self-promotional

Particular guidelines for our blog:
1. Nothing that would be pastorally harmful to our readers (e.g.,  “you are going to hell,”  “gays are evil,”  etc.)
2. No condemning people–even people who are anti-LGBT
3. No blanket calls to leave the Catholic Church, or invitations to join other churches (e.g.. “I can’t believe any sane LGBT person remains Catholic” or “If you don’t like what the Catholic Church teaches, you should just go and find a different church.”)

We also would like you to know that the editors welcome submissions for guest blog posts from our readers.  Posts should be between 650-900 words and should be on topics which are both Catholic and LGBT in content.  We welcome all sorts of genres:  opinion pieces, news reports, spiritual reflections, personal stories, and other forms, too.  You can send any submissions to [email protected].

Please know that if you ever want to support this blog financially, it’s as easy as clicking on the “Contribute” tab at the top of this page and filling out the donation form.  In the comments section of this form, please write the word “blog,” so that we know where you want your donation to go.  We appreciate any gift you would like to make.  If you want to contribute now, just click here.   If you want to donate by check, please send a check made out to “New Ways Ministry” to 4012 29th Street, Mount Rainier, Maryland 20712.  To contribute over the phone, please call 301-277-5674.  All contributions are tax-deductible.

You can also support the blog by letting your friends know about it.  Please encourage them to follow the blog by entering their email address in the “Follow” box at the top of the column on the right side of this page.

Finally,  please know that we greatly appreciate your support, in whatever form it takes, and we are inspired by the many diverse ways that you are helping to build a more welcoming, just, and equal church for LGBT people. Your energy and interest is what inspires us to do the work of providing you with blog posts every day. God bless you!

10 replies
  1. Mary Jo Hoag
    Mary Jo Hoag says:

    I’ve always liked this posting. And I think the guidelines are appropriate with one exception; the one where one can not advocate for leaving the church for another. That one surprised me. Many gay people have found solace in another church while Catholics continue to be abused in theirs. Letting folks know about the openness and live of other denominations doesn’t seem out of line. I’ve always liked reading your posts and thoughts and I’ve supported New Ways. But I guess I’ll not do so now. I’ve moved on to another church and don’t need it so much anymore. Sorry we’re not friends anymore.

    Reply
    • newwaysministryblog
      newwaysministryblog says:

      Mary Jo,

      I totally respect your decision to find another church. The guideline that we posted perhaps needs to be more clearly written. If people want to post about how their faith journeys have led them out of the Roman Catholic Church, those would be welcome. What we don’t want to approve are comments along the lines of “I can’t believe any sane LGBT person remains Catholic” or “If you don’t like what the Catholic Church teaches, you should just go and find a different church.” These are what I call “blanket” calls to leave the Church. These statements have no personal content from the writer or any rational discussion involved in them, and read more as a rant than civil discourse. We are sorry to lose you as a reader and supporter, but happy that you have found a spiritual home which nourishes your relationship with God.

      Frank DeBernardo

      Reply
  2. Chris Brennan
    Chris Brennan says:

    This is a wonderful ‘quality of life’ revision, and I am liking the new look and feel of the site and blog. The specific attention given to moderation polices and guidelines is also very welcome — it is so very wonderful on any platform to see this maturity laid out so very clearly, simply and elegantly. Go gently!

    Reply
  3. Chris Brennan
    Chris Brennan says:

    Hi Frank and Mary Jo.

    I hear you both. Here in Sydney Australia, when our Catholic LGBTQI faith-community gathers, there are also present and welcome people who have chosen to leave the church because in their lives, reconciliation of their sexuality and the church has been impossible (as well as other more tragic stories). These are our brothers, sisters and siblings; and all these stories matter.

    I am glad the Bondings 2.0 Blog does not advocate or promote blanket calls to leave the church (as so well clarified by Frank in the response); and I am equally heartened to know that the genuine story of a faith journey that led someone away from the Roman Catholic Church would be welcome (as I hope the stories and perspectives of other LGBTQI people of faith might be from time to time — there seems to be so much to also be gained by all by genuine interfaith dialogue).

    Reply
    • Friends
      Friends says:

      I hugely agree with your comments, Chris! One problem I’m having is that my older “tower” computer is not at all friendly toward the new site format. Apparently, this new format was being developed while we were under a period of “Mercury Retrograde” dysfunction — which ended just about a week ago. And major media projects undertaken under this adverse planetary aspect usually display significant technical problems when they are implemented. On the core issue: personally I’m delighted to see GLBT Catholics who are being insulted, hated and abused by socially retrograde Roman Catholic bishops migrate to a much more welcoming Anglican/Episcopal Church. ALL of our sibling Churches have a demonstrable Apostolic Lineage. Jesus Himself will not reject or discriminate against ANY professing and practicing Christian who arrives at the proverbial (symbolic?) Gates of Heaven — as long as this person has followed his or her deepest religious conscience, and has done his or her best to “Live In Love” with the significant others in his or her life. [End of technical rant — I’m outta here…lol!]

      Reply
  4. winterhavenlarry
    winterhavenlarry says:

    When I got the email very early this morning, the format looked the same as always, and when I read it later today, the new look was here!
    I hope that Mary Jo will reconsider and continue to check in from time to time. It would be good to hear from her and others about their experiences in their new faith communities. I don’t view that as trying to get people to leave the Catholic Church. On the contrary, maybe they can help us to find ways to make our own communities more welcoming. It would also be helpful to hear those stories about why people stay and why they leave.

    Reply

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