Faith Leaders will Mobilize Michigan Religious Community Ahead of Election Day
Faith leaders from across Michigan will come together on Friday, Oct. 19 beginning at 9 a.m.at MCC Detroit, 205 N. Main St., in Clawson for the launch of a new effort. They will call on members of Congress to engage with members of the clergy to discuss their LGBTQ constituents who face unequal opportunity due to the lack of explicit nondiscrimination protections in Michigan and at the federal level. Just over two weeks before the Nov. 6 election, these faith leaders will issue a bold call to action for people of faith in Michigan working toward LGBTQ protections in the state and nationwide.
There will be a press event at 4 p.m. capping off the day-long interfaith conference, "Faith, LGBTQ Inclusion, and Human Rights," coordinated by Inclusive Justice. The discussion will center around broad support for LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination among faith leaders in Michigan, including clergy opposition to anti-LGBTQ religious exemptions and the difference between religious liberty and the right to discriminate.
Confirmed speakers include Rev. Dr. Roland Stringfellow, Senior Pastor of Metropolitan Community Church Detroit who works with congregations on LGBTQ inclusion as the Director of Ministerial Outreach for the African-American Roundtable, a program of the Center for LGBTQ and Gender Studies in Religion on the campus of Pacific School of Religion; Rabbi Jeffrey Falick, leader of The Birmingham Temple in Farmington Hills; Rev. Edwin Rowe, former Senior Pastor of The Central United Methodist Church in Detroit; Alicia Skillman, executive director of the City of Detroit Board of Ethics and the principal attorney at AJ Skillman and Associates; Rev. Dr. Julie Nemecek, retired college and university professor and ordained Baptist minister; and Rev. Joe Summers, pastor of The Episcopal Church of the Incarnation and the co-chair of Inclusive Justice.
For more information, visit Inclusive Justice online at facebook.com/InclusiveJusticeTIF/ or MCC Detroit online at facebook.com/MCCDetroit/.
