April 18, 2009

Easter message

Dear Friends,
Easter is meant to be a time of hope and promise. The reality you are facing currently in Moldova is one filled with violence and uncertainty. People are standing up and demanding justice, those with hearts of courage are saying, ENOUGH!

Jesus stood up to the authorities of his day, he stood with the marginalized and the oppressed. He did not advocate violence as a way to change the oppressive structures but, instead, he spoke of peace, love and compassion.

In these treacherous and tumultuous times, hold in your hearts the knowledge that you walk in the sacred footsteps of Jesus, the activist. Jesus changed the world through love and peace.
This Easter season, all of MCC stands with you.

Remember the promise of hope that arrived that first Easter so long ago when a woman went to a tomb and found it empty. You are loved and we are praying for you and with you.

Happy Easter!
Blessings of hope and prayers for peace,
Rev. Elder Diane Fisher, Bishop
Metropolitan Community Churches

January 8, 2009

Christmas greetings



Dear Friends,

May this Christmas season be filled with peace, love and prosperity. MCC’s around the world, wish our brothers and sisters celebrating Orthodox Christmas, a season filled with wonder and delight.
A babe born so long ago, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger brought a message of hope and a promise of freedom.
I wish for you all a joyous time of celebration with family and friends.

We commit to continue the work for peace and freedom that was foretold of so long ago with the birth of Jesus. Florin, Jason and I especially wish our friends in Moldova, Romania and the Ukraine a very Merry Christmas.

God Bless,
Rev. Elder Diane Fisher

April 29, 2008

Christ is risen, Christ is Risen indeed!

I want to take this opportunity to wish you a Happy Easter.

Easter is the time of year when I am reminded of the hope that emerges from the tomb, much like the promise of new buds in spring.
The buds hold the promise of a beautiful flower and from some of these buds will come the fruit which nourishes us.

The life of Christ has much to nourish us and fill us with hope. Jesus stood with the marginalized and the oppressed, not the rich and powerful. He preached peace, acceptance and love.

My hope for you this Easter season is that the peace of Christ will grace your lives, the acceptance of Christ will lead to tolerance for all people, and that the love of Christ holds the promise of Human Rights for all people.

Happy Easter, Chisinau.

Blessings,
Rev. Elder Diane Fisher, Bishop
Metropolitan Community Churches

March 22, 2008

The Truth, which will set you free

We will soon be launching a study of the so-called "homophobic passages" from Scripture and their significance. In the beginning, the study will be dedicated to members of the Moldovan LGBT community and their friends and family.

The study will be facilitated by experts from the HD staff with training in this domain. Within the framework of the study, we will be using lectures, a video by Reverend Diane Fisher, Elder of the Metropolitan Community Churches, and reference materials prepared by the European Forum of Christian Gay and Lesbian Groups.

The duration of the course is approximately 6 months, and it will take place with a frequency of once per month. To this end, we will be forming separate study groups for speakers of Russian, Romanian, and English. In order to be efficient, these will bring together no more than 12 people.

Those desiring to participate in this course are requested to register on line, at the address: haide.hd@gmail.com . We encourage you to contact us as soon as possible, and thank you in advance for your understanding in case we are not able to satisfy all of your requests immediately.

Respectfully,
The HD Team

March 21, 2008

We need a safe space for spirituality

Here are the results of an opinion poll, launched on the HD blog at the end of January:
in all, on the three language versions of the blog, 25 people responded – 3 to the English version, 7 to the Russian, and 15 to the Romanian.

To the question “As an lgbt representative, do you feel a need for a safe spiritual space in Moldova?
2 people (8%) said they didn’t know
2 people (8%) said they felt no need for something like this
3 people (12%) said that they manage these issues by themselves
18 people (72%) said that they felt the lack of such a space

Looking at these totals, we see that, of the 25 people who participated in the survey, more that 2/3 of them felt the necessity for and the current lack of a safe space for spirituality, a fact which sports our hypotheses and our initiative to work in this direction.

This number is also a sufficient base for starting either a support group or a Bible study group. Our next survey is specifically about this, and we invite you to take an active part in it, so that we can better understand your needs and expectations in this area.
Have a great, inspiring day!

The HD Team