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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Since You Asked: Handicapped spaces are allowed in front of homes (No heading) Emergency Services Blog: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year . . . Medford councilor evaluations of city manager a mixed bag of criticism, praise Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Emergency Services About $2,500 worth of tools stolen from home under construction Bullets pepper home, business in Medford Emergency Services Medford: Most dangerous city in Oregon? Politics and Elections Time running out for O&C funds GMO vote recount still shows little change GMO labeling votes recounted under careful watch in Jackson County Kent Bush: First Amendment doesn’t mean what you think it means East Medford's the charm Education Table Rock solid: Elementary school praised for keeping attendance up Eagle Point superintendent invited to White House Eagle Point secures perimeter of Table Rock Elementary with new fence Medford school administrators get pay boost Students put their hearts into AIDS event Environment Home Help: Make your new house feel like home Bighorn sheep reintroduced along Klamath River Jackson County judge dismisses one Mt. 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View Paving case Real Estate News More sales, but no change in residential housing median price Dear Monty: Violation of HOA rules creates conflict Farmers file suit over GMO crop ban People In Business People in Business, Dec. 3 People in Business, Nov. 18 Transportation Allegiant Air will resume Medford-Phoenix service May 22 Medford airport passenger counts sky high in October Agriculture K-BAR ignites agriculture boom beneath Table Rocks Southern Oregon wine industry had a robust 2013 Farmers file suit over GMO crop ban Lawsuit seeks to overturn Jackson County's GMO ban or net $4.2 million for farms Latest count shows Measure 92 supporters narrowing deficit Opinion Latest Our View: Making sense of Medford crime numbers Letters to the Editor, Dec. 9 Michael Gerson: An act of exceptional recklessness Granlund cartoon: William and Barack Letters to the Editor, Dec. 8 Editorials Our View: Making sense of Medford crime numbers Our View: Land takeover a sincere but empty gesture Other Views: OSU rape case is a teaching opportunity Our View: Oregon budget should plan for rain Our View: Cheers and jeers Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor, Dec. 9 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 8 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 7 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 5 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 4 Guest Opinions Guest Opinion: SOU pool decision short-sighted Guest Opinion: It's time for biologists to let OR-7 go dark Guest Opinion: It's time Oregon put a price on carbon Guest Opinion: Are we the preferred path to global devastation? 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Medford councilor evaluations of city manager a mixed bag of criticism, praise ... Library doors will be open longer across Jackson County ... Our View: Making sense of Medford crime numbers ... Medford councilor evaluations of city manager a mixed bag of criticism, praise ... Library doors will be open longer across Jackson County ... RELIGION 'Walk the talk' Christ Unity reaches out to welcome gays By John Darling for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Nov. 6, 2014 @ 5:41 pm By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Nov. 6, 2014 @ 5:41 pm » Social News The pastor of Christ Unity Church of Medford knew his church was open to all people, including gays, but he felt it wasn’t enough to just have the policy. Rob Wheeler believed the church needed to publicly assert a “reconciling, welcoming” invitation. After a year of talks, meetings and rewording of the policy, his congregation voted unanimously to post it on the church's website and get the word out to the community. A public gathering to launch the effort is planned for 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, at the church, 540 N. Holly St., Medford. “Gen Silent,” which analyzes the challenge of gays as they grow old and become isolated in straight senior communities, will be shown. A social hour and discussion will be included. “We always had it, our honoring of diversity, but didn’t publish it,” says Wheeler. “It was in the 1995 statement of Unity Worldwide, but it just said it was a goal. We changed the wording to say this is who we are, this is done, it’s the truth of what we’re doing, how we behave. Every one of us are God’s children and should be treated and honored as the child of God, period. Judgment is eliminated. Welcome means just that — whoever shows up in my life.” The effort was prompted last year by parishioner Jim Willeford, a member of the church’s board of trustees and a pioneer in the gay rights movement over the last half-century. The new, more defined statement, says Willeford, a downtown Medford resident, has “zero negativity” and opens a “welcoming space for all people, those who are not in Ashland, which already has this going. It’s about joy and that we’re all a piece of God. It’s time to actually walk our talk.” Willeford says there are eight or 10 gay parishioners at Christ Unity, but they’re not necessarily identified, nor labeled or treated any differently than the rest. The church makes no attempt to “fix” gays to make them straight and opposes any attempt to view homosexuality as sin, says Wheeler. “That fundamentalist view is mistaken,” he says. “Sin literally means ‘error,’ or ‘missing the mark.’ Being gay is not an error any more than being a redhead is error. ... We get off track by labeling our beliefs. ... It’s about our connection with God, not anything on the exterior.” Willeford, 75, a sometimes real estate broker and lifelong activist, came “out” while in high school in Texas — where he was the son of a minister — and keynoted the first known gay demonstration, he says, in 1967 in San Francisco, as part of one of the early anti-war marches. As a gay in Medford, Willeford says he was harassed and vandalized when he put a pro-gay marriage sign in his window in the previous decade. But he has come to love the diversity of Medford, something he doesn’t find in Ashland, and he notes he is now well accepted here. The new Honoring Diversity statement is at http://unitymedford.org/philosophy.htm. The film Saturday is sponsored by Rogue Valley LGBT Elders. Unity Church was founded in 1889 by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore. Christ Unity Medford occupies a church built in 1901, which the congregation bought in 1960. Reach Ashland freelance writer John Darling at [email protected]. By John Darling for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Nov. 6, 2014 @ 5:41 pm » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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