More than 1,000 people are expected to assemble for the largest ecumenical gathering of welcoming churches and individuals ever held; Witness our Welcome 2000: God’s Promise Is for You (WOW2000). This event will be Aug. 3-6 in DeKalb, Ill., at Northern Illinois University just outside Chicago, proclaiming that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people “are made in God’s image, and are part of the goodness of God’s diverse Creation.”
Among the speakers are Rev. Janie Spahr, an openly lesbian Presbyterian minister and founder of “That All May Freely Serve”; Rev. Jimmy Creech, who was defrocked by the United Methodist Church for performing a union ceremony for two men; Rev. John Selders, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and coordinator for the Urban Leadership Project of The Night Ministry of Chicago; and Rev. Dr. Gwynne Guibord, the chief ecumenical officer for Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. See www.wow2k.org, or call 800-318-5581.