I Was Cast Out Because I Support Our Gay Son

UM NeXus published an article about Rev. Bill Taylor, the featured speaker at next week's Parents Reconciling Luncheon in Fort Worth, TX (details below):

In 2001, as I was finishing my tenure on the bishop’s cabinet, where I had served as the Texarkana District Superintendent, I was thrilled to be appointed to First United Methodist Church in Conroe, Texas. My wife Roxanne was hired to teach Government and Economics at Conroe High School.

We were well received into the Conroe community and into the church. For the first five years at Conroe First I had a magnificent ministry. The church grew from about 2400 to about 3100, while the budget doubled from just over $1 million to just over $2 million.

And then the wheels came off. My eldest child, Dawson, is gay. When I went to Conroe I didn’t know that. On a tearful night in the den of the parsonage Dawson told us that he was different. Even though I had suspected this, when he shared his sexual orientation with his mother and me, my world caved in. For a year I prayed fervently that God would change Dawson and make him “normal” — a heterosexual like his parents — or I asked God to change me to be fully accepting of him, his sexuality, and his life. My prayers were answered. Slowly, not even realizing that I was changing, I began to be accepting not only of Dawson, but of all who are a part of the LGBT community.

Full story:
I Was Cast Out Because I Support Our Gay Son
Click here

Parents Reconciling Luncheon

The Parents Reconciling Network invites you to the Opening Celebration of the reconciling witness for the 2008 General Conference. Join us Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at the First Christian Church, 612 Throckmorton Street, Fort Worth, Texas, (4 blocks NW of the Convention Center).

The celebration starts at 11:30 with a luncheon. Following lunch the Reverend William Taylor, of Houston, TX, a pastor who recently was forced to leave his church after refusing to condemn his gay son, will address the gathering.

The HILTON AWARD will then be presented to one of our recent nominees. Selection of the recipient is based on “giving significant support to other parents and increased hope for a more inclusive denomination."

An RMN commissioning service for volunteers serving at General Conference will follow.