Our comprehensive sex education curriculum, “Keeping It Real!” won the
“Best Sex Education Course” award at the annual meeting of the
Minnesota Organization for Adolescent Pregnancy, Prevention, and
Parenting (MOAPPP). Our Coordinator for the program, Merceil
Burkhalter, accepted the award along with Angela Williams, a
participant in the program from True Vine Missionary Baptist Church.
Mrs. Burkhalter also presented a workshop at the MOAPPP conference,
which was enthusiastically received. The “Keeping It Real!” project was
initially funded by the Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation and is
entering its third year with 22 participating churches.
Merceil Burkhalter took a group of graduates of the program to the
national Summit on Sexuality in Washington, D.C., in mid-July.
Currently she is recruiting more churches and is organizing the third
Minnesota Religious Black Summit on Sexuality to be held October 21-23,
2004. All-Options
Clergy Counseling Offered To Campus Ministers
Our fall All-Options Clergy Counseling training specifically designed
for campus ministers is being co-sponsored by the Macalester College
Chapel. Organized by Eily Marlow, Assistant Chaplain, it will take
place from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Thursday, October 6, 2004 at the Macalester
Chapel. Participants will discuss case studies and do role-playing to
sharpen their counseling skills. In addition, the latest information
about adoption, abortion, and parenting will be offered by
representatives from Children’s Home Society and the Midwest Health
Center for Women. The day concludes with a tour of an abortion clinic.
Leading the training will be the Rev. Dr. Lucy Forster-Smith,
Macalester Chaplain, the Rev. Dr. Nadean Bishop, and the Rev. Paul
Read, ELCA minister and licensed Family and Child Counselor. “Words
of Choice” Theater At Old Arizona in September
Words of Choice” by Cindy Cooper is a powerful pro-choice theater
production, featuring stories from the heart: humorous and serious,
poignant and riveting, from theater, spoken word, comedy, poetry, oral
history and journalism. The Old Arizona Studios, 2321 Nicollet Avenue
in Minneapolis, is the site of ten Minnesota performances. The show
runs 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday from September 15
to 26. A panel presentation and open discussion will follow each
performance. Tickets can be reserved by calling 1-866-454-7344
(toll-free).
Performances in dozens of other locations called forth such comments
as: “It inspired me.” “It is GREAT.” “So strong and focused.” “It feeds
my fire.” For more information see the website at
http://wordsofchoice.home.mindspring.com/ Video
Released “Motherhood By Choice, Not Chance”
The video “Motherhood by Choice, not Chance” brings alive the history
of the struggle for women’s reproductive rights in the United States
and tells the chilling facts about the current threat to those rights.
Intimate interviews reveal the passion of people who moved abortion
from the danger of the back alleys to a safe, legal choice. The trilogy
from which the video is condensed won an Emmy and an Academy Award
nomination. Each showing of the 26-minute video will be followed
with discussion. The film’s creator, Dorothy Fadiman, will appear
in Minnesota October 12-16. Her tour will concentrate on campuses the
first three days with public showings on Friday and Saturday. To learn
more about the film, go to the website at www.thepowerofchoice.net.
The exciting opportunity for us is that the video is available from our
office now to anyone who wishes to have a house party with uncommitted
friends before the election. This graphic retelling of our
history is designed to convince those who have not yet decided to
support reproductive freedom about the wisdom of that choice.
Call the office to reserve your date. The DVD also has 55 pages of
strategic helps about advancing our issue in this crucial election
season.
Minnesota Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
122 W. Franklin Ave., #303, Minneapolis, MN 55404
Phone: (612) 870-0974 | Email: info@mnrcrc.org
Web Site: http://www.mnrcrc.org
