Carolinian elected to board
SARASOTA, Fla. — The Metropolitan Community Churches’ General Conference, held July 4-8 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, elected Angel Collie to serve a three-year term on the governing board.
The church, however, failed to elect a new moderator. None of the four candidates received a simple majority from both the Clergy House and the Lay House after five rounds of voting, the church said. Candidates Rev. Elder Héctor Gutiérrez and Rev. Dr. Irene Laudeman each asked to remove their names from the ballot after three rounds of voting. It is now up to the governing board to appoint an interim moderator.
Rev. Dr. Nancy Wilson, the current moderator, will continue to serve as MCC’s leader until she retires on Sept. 30 following two terms as moderator since 2005.
Collie, who lives in Bunn, N.C. and identifies as a transmasculine person, serves as the assistant director of the LGBTQ Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he received his BA in Religious Studies with minors in both Women’s Studies and Sexuality Studies after obtaining his Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School.
He is a member of the LGBT-Religious Archives Network Advisory Committee, The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies Transgender Roundtable, the Freedom Center for Social Justice board, MCC’s transgender and gender non-conforming working group, and is on the steering committee for the National Religious Leaders Roundtable of the National LGBTQ Task Force.
A 2006 and 2007 Soulforce Equality Ride participant, Collie also participated in other service work during his time at Yale. He was elected by his peers to serve on the Diversity Committee and the Graduate & Professional Student Senate. He held student positions with the Office of LGBTQ Resources and the Chaplain’s Office where he co-founded W{holy} Queer. Most recently, he was honored to be included in the 2014 Trans 100.
info: mccchurch.net.
Rainbow dance slated
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — The Pride Community Center of the Tri-Cities will hold its Rainbow of Equality Dance Party on July 16, 8 p.m., at the Best Western Hotel & Conference Center, 2406 N. Roan St.
The fundraising event goes to support the establishment of a brick and mortar center.
Attendees will be able to enjoy live entertainment, cash bar, beer and drinks and dancing. DJ and emcee for the evening will be Brad Parris from Open Mic Entertainment. A show will start at 10 p.m.
All are welcome to attend, however, no one under 18 years old will be admitted.
Admission is $10, payable at the door.
In other news, the center has established a Facebook page in order to organize its volunteers and event contact. Postings will be placed for event volunteers, musicians, performing artists, LGBT and allied vendors, craft vendors, local merchants and food service providers.
Currently, the organization is holding regular fundraising events and this process gives the group ready access to its followers.
To learn more, email info@pridetricities.com.
Additionally, the center is seeking volunteers who are avid fans of Harry Potter and are fully familiar with the characters and storyline who are interested in working on a book launch to be held on July 30.
There will be invitations to Hogwarts, the Sorting Ceremony, Special House Events, wand making, calligraphy, spell book decorating, drinks such as butterbeer and pumpkin juice, walks through Diagon Alley and following spiders to the Forbidden Forrest. There will also be a costume contest with the winner receiving the first book given out during the evening.
Needed are individuals to be the official heads of the four houses, instruct in wand making and spellbook embellishments. Other volunteers will staff tables and be of assistance throughout the evening, guiding people to the different event stations.
Although costumers are encouraged, they are not required. However, volunteers should wear red, blue, yellow or green to represent the four Hogwarts houses.
Participation at the event helps to raise funds for the center.
Call John Baker at 423-434-9101 to learn more or to volunteer.
info: pridetricities.com.
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Share your news with us
Does your organization or special interest group have events or great information to share with our readers? If so, be sure to send in your information to specialassignments@qnotescarolinas.com. In the upcoming months, we’ll feature one of you in our news notes section in each issue. Are you a part of a Meetup, Yahoo or Google group and do you do something that’s really newsworthy? Do you provide a service for the community or hold fundraisers for worthy causes? Do you educate the public about LGBT issues or concerns? Of course, this is only a sampling of things we are interested in. It’s the aim of these pieces to inform, enlighten and educate our readers about what we’re doing here in the Carolinas to champion LGBT rights, as well as offer resources for those who may be interested in what your group is doing.