Bondings 2.0 and New Ways Ministry In the News
Bondings 2.0 and New Ways Ministry have been in the news three times this past week.
1. Praise from “Across the Pond”
QueeringTheChurch.com, the premier Catholic LGBT blog in the United Kingdom, noted Bondings 2.0’s 500th post milestone with a post of their own commending us for our own blog work. Editor Terence Weldon offered this evaluation:
“I began following Frank’s blog [Bondings 2.0] soon after [it launched]. Although its focus is heavily on the American church, I still found much of interest and value.”
Coming from Mr. Weldon, one of the pioneers of Catholic LGBT blogging, this praise makes us blush a bit!
He continues by noting the joint effort between New Ways Ministry and London area Catholic LGBT folks in the summer of 2012, when I conducted a “Next Steps” workshop in the UK. Weldon adds that he continues to discern his next steps with regard to Catholic LGBT ministry:
“I have been contemplating going from a narrow focus on blogging, to a greater emphasis on direct face – to – face work, promoting the Next Steps workshops, and perhaps adopting and adapting some of the other New Ways methods.”
We are very honored that our model of ministry may be replicated somewhat by our friends in the UK.
2. Bob “Shines” on Another Blog
Bob Shine, New Ways Ministry’s Young Adult and Social Media Coordinator, and a regular contributor to Bondings 2.0, had an essay appear on Catholics United’s young adult blog, OurDailyThread.com.
Shine’s post, entitled “Correcting the Bishops’ Course in 2013,” is a summary of U.S. Catholic bishops’ political involvement in 2012, while it also offers a new course for the coming year:
“The bishops can continue to have their identity be defined by the partisanship, ecclesial legalism, and aberrant traditionalism or they can prepare the way of God anew.”
Among the many topics that Shine covers is the bishops’ campaigns to prevent marriage equality from becoming law in several states. He notes that the widening gap between the bishops and the Catholic laity and the American electorate on questions of sexual justice hamper the bishops’ ability to speak out on other issues of the day:
“Taken together, the bishops’ deep political investments that failed are deeper losses for their credibility and relevancy in American society. Without swift, major, and lasting course corrections, the bishops will not even be a part of conversations around political matters of great importance. “
Congratulations and thanks to Bob Shine for offering this insightful post on the future of the bishops’ political profile.
3. New Ways Ministry on HuffPostLive
New Ways Ministry’s Co-founder Sister Jeannine Gramick and Executive Director Francis DeBernardo were guests on a segment of HuffPostLive this past week. The topic of of this online talk show was the ordination of women in the Catholic Church. Both Sister Gramick and DeBernardo spoke in favor of ordaining women.
You can watch the segment by clicking here.
–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry
From across the pond, Frank, I can now confirm that I will be putting substantial energy into regularly conducting the Next Steps workshops across the UK, adapted for British conditions, and for a wide range of audience types. I will also be looking to adapt some of the other New Ways programs (but that could be tricky, as I don’t yet know too much about them).
I have taken a very definite and clear decision in principle: all that remains is the detail. One of these is a name to work under: “Queering the Church” is definitely not suitable. I hope to adopt “Next Steps Ministries” (expanding LGBT ministry where others don’t go), as that would accurately describe both my focus, and my history in getting to this point.
Please let me know if you have any objections to this little bit of plagiarism, else I shall go ahead.with my immediate next steps in planning.
Frank, Congratulations on the three-time publicity. I was especially impressed with the way you and Jeannine (and Bridget Mary) handled the interview on HuffPostLive. The ultra-conservative young man who has the blog kept talking in circles and mostly made very little sense, but the three of you were “right on!” Good job!
Blessings and peace!
Joyce
Joyce Kahle, CPPS “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead
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