Talks explore parish
attitudes toward gays

The history and dynamics of a church congregation choosing to be open and welcoming to homosexual members will be explored in talks next weekend at the First Unitarian Church of Honolulu.

The Rev. Keith Kron from the national Unitarian Universalist Association headquarters in Boston will speak. He is the director of the denomination's Office for Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Concerns.

Kron will be the guest and speaker at a reception at 4:30 p.m. next Saturday at the church at 2500 Pali Highway. Wednesday is the deadline for reservations, which can be made by calling 595-4047.

Kron will speak at the service at 10:15 a.m. Feb. 20.

He will present a workshop at 12:15 p.m. Feb. 20 on "The Radical Right." The two-hour discussion will cover the deep political and social rift in American society between those opposed to government or church support of homosexual behavior and those supporting human and civil rights issues for gay people.

All events are open to the public.

The Oahu Unitarian congregation has been going through a curriculum of workshops and study that the denomination requires before a church declares itself an open and welcoming congregation. A vote will be taken in May.

Minister Mike Young said the process will formalize the status that has existed at the church for several years. First Unitarian Church was among the groups that advocated same-gender marriage before the issue was put on the 1998 state ballot and rejected by a majority of Hawaii voters.