·1he Gay Christian
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NOV~E5CC~~~~
In this issue
HOLY UNIONS •. Mec's 4TH BIRTHDAY COMING OUT IN' A SMALL TOWN CHURCH more . . .
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Who Are We Now? We keep changing, which is good--especially in a new and exciting organization. But every time we wrap up an issue of this journal, it seems like there has been quite a drastic transformation. What's been happening lately? Well. .. About our regularity--this is a NovemberDecember issue. We have tried to be a monthly; and we still think this is what we should be. But it is not always possible. The"same people who put together this magazine are also busy establishing a church--and without the church there can be no magazine. Sometimes the church's growing pains demand our full attention. But to meet our obligations to our subscribers, we will count your "year's subscription" as a 12-issue subscription. OK? _ ~~ _ ----~~ One of the biggest changes we are going through is that we have been asked to expand our coverage to serve the five churches and missions of the Northeast District of the Fellowship. As we say in our masthead, we welcome articles and news from Gay Christrans evecywhere. But we especially look forward to hearing from the churches in the Northeast District. Once we were MCC-New York. Now we are something else. Tomorrow?.. Because we receive many of the publications of the other MCC groups around the country, we have begun reproducing articles from them that we think might interest you. On~ of the first of these is June Norris' description of the fourth anniversary celebration at the "mother church" in Los Angeles. June writes a regular column for the MCC News there. We also have an original article dealing with holy unions contribu'ted by the Rev. Joseph Gilbert who has been busy for the Fellowship in many places in recent years. Most recently, Joe Gilbert has worked as MCC's prison minister in California, relating to gay people behind prison bars.
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We don't-intend to turn ourselves into a gay Reader's Digest, but we are interested to read of the doings in places other than New York, and we think you may be too. Finally, because we can think of no other place to put it, we would like to share a story with you which we heard recently. Our employer sent us to Portugal and, while there, we visited the famous Roman Catholic shrine at Fatima. Twice a year pilgrims journey from allover Portugal to Fatima as a religious obligation to fulfill vows they have made to God ~ travelling on foot for many days, som~ of them journeying the last few miles on their knees. It is unforgettable to pass these bands of pilgrims all along the roadside as one journeys through the country. ~--NoW-n:seemsthere- 6n~~a well-to-do ~adY,who,lived in Lisbon who made a vow to walk ~n pllgrlmage to Fatima. And she did it--but In her own way. She set out walking from her home in an upper-class suburb, and she had her chauffeur follow along behind her in the family Mercedes. So ~ach day, at the end of the day, they would mark the spot she had gotten to in her walking, and then she'd get in the car and ride back home to Lisbon. Then the next day she'd have the chauffeur drive her out to the place they had stopped the day before, and she would get out of the car and continue on her pilgrimage. 'And that's how she got to Fatima. So we suppose if God rewards people for their pilgrimages--for the spiritual journeys they make--He also has to take into account' the method they use. There is the kind of pilgrimage the Puritans made to Massachusetts, and the kind of pilgrimage the children of Israel,made out of the land of Egypt. And there ~s also the kind of pilgrimage the lady from Llsbon made. And the question is what kind of pilgrimage through life a;e you, and I making? Peace. --rb
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The Gay Christian VOL. I, No. 7 Nov.-bee. 1972 THE GAY CHRISTIAN, Journal of the MetroRolitan Community Church of ~?,,~~,~.w ~~~rk--Serving the Northeast Dist~ict qt the Universal Fellow/~l}~l?9f,}1~Jf~PQ,J.it.an ,:C,Qmm,uni ty "Churches. ' --
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What About 'Holy Unions'? by Rev. Joseph Gilbert It seems to me that those of us who perform services of holy union have too little opportunity to think through what those unions mean. As a Christian minister I find great significance in I Samuel 18:3, "Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul." (KJV).. More of God's servants need to look at this, ponder it and then act on it. But I wonder also if gay Christians don't need to ask if that covenant between David and Jonathan is properly described as "marriage" even though it is holy and a union. My first experience with a "gay wedding" involved two men who wanted to make certain promises to each other--and to make those promises in church. Another minister was to perform the ceremony, but I was to be at the church early and was asked if I would receive the flowers when the florist came. When the day came, baskets of white (for purity?) flowers arrived, and then the young deliveryman brought in a roll of white runner. I had always assumed that this was to protect the bride's train--and here we were with no bride. I asked him if he knew what sort of service this was. "Yes," the man from the florist's "it's marvelous."
J
said,
Later the couple entered to a taped Della Reese song, greeting friends and loved ones as they came up the aisle. The man who performed the ceremony was shocked by Della Reese and the greetings which I conside~ed innovative and real. But I was shocked by the white runner which they took for granted, because it seemed to me they had been trapped into aping someone else's patterns. Sometime later, I participated in an all-day straight-gay consultation. One of the group mentioned gay marriage. A Jesuit priest spoke up and said, "You don't really do that, do you?" And I thought, Here it comes--the visible oppression of the institutional church. But he went on, "At a time when Christians are beginning to be able to really look at Christian marriage--to redefine what it is, what it does, and even who performs it--it doesn't help us to have gay people copying our mistakes."
The Rev. Joseph Gilbert at peace.
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My responsibilities now are to our gay brothers and sisters in penal institutions. until.recently I served a congregation, and in the course of a year-and-a-half, I have reached some definitions of my own. These are not very tidy because I also believe
But
strongly in other peoples' right and obligation to make their own definitions. And while I could randomly tell you of experiences with heterosexuals who have asked me to witness and ratify their exchange of promises, with male couples, female couples, Christians, non-Christians, and "every sort and condition," I will share with you only my experience in preparing and "rnar ry i.nq" three couples of women. Interestingly enough, they were from a nearby, big-little city which has a reputation as a marriage-mill, and yet there was no place there where they could turn to make their vows in the presence of God and neighbor. We set up a four-week course--not so much for counseling--but so that we could explore definitions, make sure that each couple was using the same definitions and that I felt I could ratify what they were saying. Two of the couples went the whole course, and one couple joined in mid-stream. One of these couples was what the fashion editors might describe as "unisex." They could just as easily have been two very handsome men--except that they were gendered women, and thought in those ter~ As I got to know them, it appeared to me that they were totally free of any need to assign "butch" or "femme" labels to themselves and "husband" or "wife" roles in the relationship. The second of these couples might, to the casual -q Lan ce , have appeared to be an exceptionally beautiful young man and woman. In a restrained way, their dress and even their stance bore this out. And while they had assigned "butch" and "femme" labels, each to herself, they had not made any "husband" and "wife" assignments. In fact, they showed great sensitivity to the need not to put their definitions on the other person. The third couple not only thought in "butch"-"femme" terms, but they had also made 路a "husband"-"wife" assignment in their relationship. The whole home setting bore out the definition. And it was this couple who asked that their marriage be recorded on the Record of Church Marriage form provided by the California Department of Public Health. Bureau of Vital Statistics, pursuant to Section 4213 of the civil code and that it be filed with the county clerk of this county. It is so filed. No attempt has been made to alter the form. One party provided the personal data of husband, on~ party provided the personal data of wife, al,d I felt morally able to sign the statement, '''1 hereby certify that the above-named man and woman were joined by me in marriage in accordance with the laws of the State of California." How many women have, all their life, listened to ministers pray for all men when they meant all men and women? Who am I to tell a gendered female that she may not define herself as a man? At any rate, it was accepted and filed. Let me digress and tell you a little story about that. I had run out of the forms to be ~sed. Publicity had appeared in the local paper announcing "THREE WOMEN COUPLES MARRY." But of course that was the newspaper's wording. Only one of the couples was defining it as "marriage." I went into the county clerk's office to ask for one form. The clerk himself
(Tower News Service)
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got out the pad and very carefully tore off three copies of the form and sent them over to me, smiling the while. Of course, that doesn't set the precedent. If this couple decide to ask for a "dissolution of marriage", a judge may rule that it was filed in error and that the relationship does not exist. Or he may rule that it does, and grant it. Or, of course, they may never have reason to test it at all. It would be nice if we never have the opportunity to test it. But back to where we were.
THOSE PRISON WALLS One of the greatest problems in the gay community is fear. Many people are not aware how much fear controls their lives. We put our little phobias in the closet and shut the door. But, like wild animals in cages, we sometimes owrry about whether or not one of these little fears will come out of the closet and attack us.
For me, it became both mind-boggling and a great growth experience to sit down once a week with one couple, then another, and then another. Each defining self in different terms. Each defining the relationship differently than each other couple. And, more importantly, each couple attempting to make sure that the meanings within the relationship were clearly understood and mutually rewarding.
A demolition crew at Ft. Alcan in British Columbia was engaged in tearing down the abandoned jail. While dismantling the jail, they found that the mighty locks were attached to very heavy doors and two-inch bars covered the windows; but, that the walls of the prison were only patented wallboard of clay ~~d paper painted to resemble iron. A strong push against the walls would have burst them. Nobody ever tried it, because nobody ever thought it possible.
We came to discuss access to one another's body, the meaning of "body fidelity" as a means of showing loyalty--and whether or not it was needed as such a means--the need to step out of role, if there was a role--the obligation to accommodate that need if it arose--the extent to which love was egocentric, and the extertt to which it was a real desire to see the other fulfilled.
Many gay people are prisoners of fears that are nothing when pushed against. Satan cannot do anything against a child of God, but he loves to put phony barriers in the path of a believer to make him think there is no progress in the direction of the Lord. When by faith we push against those walls of fear-we will be free! (Reprinted from The Apostle, MCC San Jose.)
I certainly do not know as much about Lesbian sexuality as some Lesbians do, but that four weeks gave me some insight into those women and women like them. It also taught me some things about myself as a gay man. Finally, I told each woman, without consulting another, to find five things she w an t.ed to promise to her mate. Then we sat down and compared no r.e s •
In some cases the differences were merely semantic--those were easy. In some cases, there were differences, and then we had to decide whether to incorporate certain promises. into the commitment of both, or whether one was prepared to promise something the other was not, and whether the other could permit that or not. Out of this process came the covenant, a real understanding of what was being promised and the depth of the commitment.
~ith warm
When the day came, most of the guests of course chatted about "the wedding." But I was proud because each couple had decided, "This is a sacred covenant," "This is a holy union," or, "This is a wedding."
thanks
to regi
for she refused to recognize anything less in myself than what i could be, as she did to herself-for she talked wlth me of music, of painting and writing, and stimulated the excitement for these expressions that had for so long lied dormant in my soul--
The oppression comes in small ways though. I remember a tiny little moment that afternoon when someone wanted to take pictures of all the "brides" and then of all the "grooms." One couple said, "But we aren't using those Qords." And then, because it was easier than making a fuss with friends, they dutifully joined the picture-taking.
for she would not teach me, rather would learn with me-for she would not eliminate my discontent; rather stood strongly to my side so i would freely struggle toward my own content--
I believe in services of holy union. I believe as a Christian and as a Gay that we need to explore our relationships, our definitions of them, and the ways in which we show them forth. I believe especially that we need not to lay our terms on other people. This is a part of our witness.
for she saw me in an ugly, blaring light asleep while great minds embraced each other's thoughts, and she. spoke to me of it; as she began to speak i stirred from my slumber and awoke to all that i had missed. -- susan c. day
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Northeast District Forms by Rev. Roy Birchard The first meeting of the new Northeast District of the universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches was held in' New. York the weekend of November 11-12. That's the news lead, but what that means is people--people from five churches in five cities of the Northeast--real live, kicking MCCers.
Directory of the
We conducted business--and that's important. But what was more important was that we began to get acquainted, to discuss our common faith, and the many different ways we have found to share it with other gay people. Lay representatives and pastors came from Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington and New York--from three chartered churches and two missions.
Northeast District
MCCs
We elected the Rev. Paul Breton, founder and pastor of MCC Washington as the first district coordinator, and Ms. Penny Perrault, an exhorter of the Washington church, to serve as district secretary-treasurer.
N0~THEAST DISTRICT CONFERENCE, REV. J.E. PAUL BRETON, DISTRICT COORDINATOR
We adopted a statement of purpose for the district stressing the importance of combining talents and resources of the district congregations and fostering a sense of fellowship among the member congregations. We want to share common projects of evangelism, social service and mission. It was decided to try to expand the coverage of this journal, The Gay Christian, to serve the churches of the entire district. We talked about summertime resort and beach ministries, and the Rev. Howard Wells of New York was chosen to head up a by-laws committee to formulate proposed changes in the UFMCC by-laws.
CALVARY TEMPLE MISSION METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH P.O. Box 1164 Glen Burnie, Maryland 21061 Phone: (301) 789-5260 Rev. Jim Huff, interim pastor BOSTON MISSION METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH Room 408 419 Boylston Street Boston, Mass. 02116 Services: Sunday, 7 p.m., Hunnewell Chapel, Arlington Street Church 355 Boylston Street Phone: (617) 266-7491 Rev. Larry Bernier, interim pastor Ms. Nancy Wilson, associate
We talked about the need to present a responsible and attractive image both to the gay community and to the rest of the Christian Church, and this reporter said, "We don't want to be Puritans in our style of worship, but we don't want people to think we're 'fruits of the cloth' either."
METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH 360 West 28th Street New York, N.Y. 10001 Services: 4 p.m. Sundays Phone: (212) 866-0265 Rev. Howard Wells, pastor
On Saturday evening we held a cocktail party-rap session and then went to dinner at the Country Cousin. Some of us went on to the GAA Saturday night dance which still gives as large a dose of applied jubilation and liberation as anyone can ask for.
METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA P.O. Box 8174 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19101 Services: Sundays, 7 p.m. Meditation, 7:30-8 p.m. Preparation, 8-9 p.m. Worship, 9-10 p.m. Social--The Priestly Chapel, 2125 Chestnut Street Phone: (215) 222-2647 Rev. Keith D. Davis, pastor
On Sunday we held a joint service, with preaching by Rev. Keith Davis of Philadelphia and the sermon by Rev. Larry Bernier of Boston. That's what we did. But the spirit of the meeting brought to life the fellowship part of the UFMCC--gay people relating as human people and as Christians. New friendships were made, and we expect to be hearing from these friends in the pages of this journal. How about you,dear reader? Why sit at home alone in your room ... ?
METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH OF WASHINGTON, D.C. 705 7th Street, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20003 Services: Sundays, 3 p.m., 9th & E & Maryland Avenue, N.E. (901 Maryland Avenue, N.E.); Tuesday evening rap session, 8 p.m.; Friday evening prayer fellowship 7 p:m. Phone: (202) 547-2773 Rev. Paul Breton, pastor
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OF NEW YORK
Mee's 4th Birthday by June Norris "We have come this far by faith, and faith will carry us through! "--This was Rev. Troy Perry's theme for MCC's fourth birthday celebration in Los Angeles October 8 which drew nearly 2,000 people to day-long anniversary services. Reading from the eleventh chapter of th~ Book of Hebrews, our pastor expounded upon the phenomenal growth of the church. "God has raised a people," he told us, "to carryon His work.We cannot afford to look back, only forward."
Willie Smith sang MCC's theme song, "The Impossible Dream," and Rev. Perry reminded us, "You haven't seen anything yet. Just watch God work in the hearts and minds of men, and you will see what faith can accomplish."
In looking forward," he continued, "we must look back four thousand years to the time when a man named Moses was called to lead God's people. Moses was raised by the daughter of the Pharoah of Egypt. He didn't have to leave this luxury to lead the Hebrews out of slavery. But when God called him, Moses was willing to go. Anyone who knows anything about the conditions at that time would agree that reason tells us Moses and his people could not possibly escape the bondage of Egypt. Yet, with God leading, the impossible happened." II
The birthday" celebration continued Sunday afternoon with the Clara Ward Singers and the Metro-Chords in concert. After the musical feast, hundreds met in the social hall to enjoy another kind of feast. Almost every kind of food imaginable was served at the potluck, and the fellowship among the brothers and sisters was greatly enjoyed. The evening service was filled with surprises. Guests included State Assemblyman Walter J. Karabian, Senator David A. Roberti and city Councilman Robert J. Stevenson, Rev. Perry was presented an official commendation from the California State Assembly on the occasion of the anniversary.
So it is with MCC. When Rev. Perry talked about a church for all people he was warned, "When you get a bunch of gays and straights together, you will end up with nothing but a fight." But he told them "about faith and what it does to people. God is not like us. He uses unlikely people to carry out His plan. He can do what is impossible for man to accomplish. Yes, MCC was an impossible dream, but 37 missions and churches in the united States and one in London testify to God's power. When man is willing to be used, God moves, and impossible things become cornmon place.
Troy Perry and Theologian
Norman
"Who would have ever believed when we stepped out in faith four years ago that the State of California would recognize MCC's birthday?" our pastor asked us. "But we are not to lose sight that the first order of business is not to be politically accepted but to carryon the spiritual work we have begun." Testimonies were given by members and friends, old and new. And again it was stressed--We have corne this far by faith, and faith will carry us through! (Reprinted from MCC News, Los Angeles, October 15, 1972.)
Pittenger
7
in London.
(Reprinted
from Gay International
News, London.)
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We Get Letters
by Rev. Howard R. Wells
little prayers and meditations, church news, and short testimonies from members. But the fact that gay people were openly publishing such a thing flabbergasted me. It formed me to reevaluate my capabilities as a human being.
There is no MCC congregation in Lancaster, Ohio. There probably never will be. But in that small city--and hundreds of others like it --gay people live. Perhaps the verb "exist" is more accurate. And they are asking the same questions that the writers whose letters appear on our cover ask: "Aren't I a person ...Can you help me please?"
I came to realize that my capabilities far exceeded my previous estimations. And I also came to realize that my sexual orien~ation was not a millstone around my neck, but a blessing that enabled me to discern a deeper meaning of the Christian faith that most straight people are perhaps too complacent to see. (k little oppression is good for the soul!) I guarded those little newsletters like they were made of gold; they carried me from Sunday to Sunday. Their very existence was proof to me that 1 was a person, and that my human capaQilities were in no way limited by my accepting my homosexual orientation.
In August, through the assistance of the Broadway United Church of Christ in New York, The Gay Christian placed a number of small advertisements in the gay press and in religious publications such as American Report, Christianity & Crisis, and Christian Century. The purpose was two-fold: to solicit subscriptions in order to create a financial base for the publication, and--perhaps more importantly--to jar the consciousness of the wider Christian community with the concept of gay people embracing both their sexual identity and the Christian faith.
Which brings us back to our friends who write us. When people are motivated by hope, ~n time they can usually work out the mechani'cs of their own salvation. In striving to affirm their identity as persons, they eventually come to discover that no price is too high to pay for that affirmation.
• Part of the response to the modest advertising campaign was predictable--a flurry of subscriptions and inquiries from pastors, teachers and seminary libraries. But some aspects of the response were rather surprising, such as the fact that at least 70% of the letters came from the Midwest. (It's interesting to note that the Midwest is the only geographical area in the United States in which MCC has not yet established missions.) And some of the letters from those places dramatically reaffirmed the ministerial v~lidity of the gay religious movement. Small town gay people are under the obvious handicap of existing in a limited social environment. And to affirm one's God-given homosexual orientation in such places remains a seeminglyimpossible dream--but it's a dream that can come true. '
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For gay people, that price is sometimes exposure. It's a high price, but for those of us who have paid, it's well worth it. Publications like The Gay Christian are vehicles for such hope. They are like a breath of fresh air in a stifling, dark closet of despair and hopelessness. There will probably never be an MCC in Lancaster, Ohio or Seymour, Indiana or Hutchinson, Kansas. But The Gay Christian can be there. And other places like them, with your continued support.
II
I remember my first reaction to gay religious literature. I had just acknowledged to myself that I was one of those despicable things--a homosexual. I had known it since I was 12 years old, but it took me another 12 years to realize that it was something I was not going to-grow out of. Without access to factual reading material about my sexual orientation, and thoroughly indoctrinated with the erotophobia that our society curses its members with, I pictured myself as a moral degenerate-incapable of ever reaching the spiritual plateaus of human decency that heterosexuals were supposedly able to achieve. (It's amazing how many gay people cultivate frivolqus, superficial lifestyles primarily because they have been brainwashed to believe that their sexual Qrientation unequivocally prevents them from makin~ life more meaningful and fulfilling for themselves.) ,
HOFFA, BERRIGAN & GAYS Jimmy Hoffa, who not only didn't have any trouble getting out on parole but also was allowed out of prison "on his honor" to visit his ailing wife, told Newsweek magazine about his attempts to "rehabilitate" a fellow inmate --Father Philip Berrigan. Berrigan did not have the same luc~ with his parole board. "When he first came to Lewisburg, I tried to advise him, but he rebelled," remembered Hoffa. "He associated with the wrong p aop Le , It got him in the hole--solitary confinement --and he alienated the guards. One day, after I'd explained things to him, I found him sitting in the yard with about 20 other men. I told him, 'Father, these are all rats, homos, and stool pigeons you're sitting with. '"
Then I started going to the then-fledgling MCC Los An qeLes, I was co~pletely amazed. Here were gay people doing what they had been told they didn't have the moral capacity to do-honestly worshipping God and 'loving one another! It was a radical act. It shattered all stereot.ypes, And nearly as shocking was the church newsletter. It wasn't very attractive with its smudgy mimeographing and mispelled words, and I suppose th~ contents were rather corny--
e"Bu'C'"these are nice young Berrig an replied.
8
men,"
he said LNS.
Coming Out in a Small Town Church by Skip Ward
Valentine's Day almost two years ago I stood as a lay member in the pulpit before about 35 straight men and women to read my paper entitled: "The Militant Homosexual and his Gay Liberation Front." The experience was almost traumatic for the first five minutes, but an understanding quietness in the face of my initial nervousness reassured me that I was to be heard in full without hostility ...
r
From what sourrc comes the courage to make that assault upon bne's closet door? I've asked myself that. As I see it, an act of courage is not to be rationalized; it is an - act of the will, religiously inspired. Courage is an emotionally precipitated impetus to act upon one's own high ideals, believing that those 'ideals, often slumbering, could yet be the same ideals of men and women of the past, the present and the future. And I guess that I have learned no higher ideal than an admonition given me many years ago upon my induction into the Boy Scouts' Order of the Arrow: "We are to love one another." (Reprinted from the U.U. Gay Caucus Newsletter.)
It was not necessary to say whether I was gay or not, and no one asked me to reveal anything in depth about myself. And my Ordeal of Fire that day was little more than a confirmation of what everyone had guessed for years .. Today, I feel more secure, respected in my church, and more acceptable to myself .• There is honesty and good humor in my relations within the church. My participation in church privileges and responsibilities is restricted only by my own limitations or wishes. Feeling this way, I contribute more effort and support. Our Fellowship is stronger by the contributions that are uniquely my own ...
SING .WHILE YOU DRIVE At 45 miles per hour, sing "Highways are Happy Ways." At 55 miles per hour, sing "I'm But a Stranger Here, Heaven Is My Home." At 65 miles per hour, sing "Nearer My God To Thee." At 75 miles per hour, sing "When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder, I'll Be There." At 85 miles per hour, sing "Lord, I'm Coming Home! " (Calvin Synod Herald)
Have I encountered difficulties from the break-out of my closet? None! My coming out of that land strictly from nowhere has been a Renewal. I am younger now and even the redbirds sing more sweetly in my own back yard. But had it been otherwise, I know that I could say with Elizabeth R as in that play, "Were I turned out of my kingdom in my petticoat, I would survive."
WE FACE FACTS
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GAYINTERNATIONAL NEWS
BC~.J989.LONDONWCl send me the next 12issues I enclose $4. name/address
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************************************************************ SUBSCRIPTIONS One year, $5.00,3rd ctass mail; $7.00, 1st class mail, sealed in 'envelope.
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Metropolitan Community Church of New York 360 West 28th Street New York, New York 10001
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I'm Not Afraid Anymore •
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On Sunday evening, September 3, at the Third Annual Conference of the Metropolitan Community Church Fellowship in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Choir sang an original song composed by Herm, our well-loved organist. The reaction to this work was so enthusiastic that we are responding to numerous requests and have -secured-thecomposer's permission-to prinTth-e-wnrasin-CRGS-S-cUKKENTS. - - -~- --_ J~
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The Master came to earth, To show the way of life; His peace He brought from heav'n above That all might walk in light; One time my soul was grieved, Grace was denied to me; But then Christ's message of love I heard, Now I have been set free!
(3)
That Christ he did not come, -His love with all to share; I listened to these words of men Who really did not care; But now I am convinced God has prepared the way For all who trust in Jesus' word, Believing they shall say -
My friend, do you now feel God had denied you here; With burdens of this life you lead Bound up in guilt and fear; The Savior He has said, "Come unto me and rest," Accept this gift of love, my friend, With Him you shall be blessed!
Chorus I'm not afraid anymore! I'm not afraid anymore! God's message is for all mankind, Salvation is for everyone, What's bound on earth is bound in heav'n. .~, " Praise the'Lord!: .;..J I'~ n~:Jra~ an'y~r~ __;:- __
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