Lunch with the Author Series: Ticketed and Non-Ticketed Events
Two formats:
Some events will be ticketed and lunch and a gift certificate will be provided with the $25 ticket, but other lunches will be Bring Your Own Lunch format. Bring your own lunch (or let Foster's create a box lunch for you, no advance notice needed) and join us for discussions directly with the author on a variety of topics that are meaningful to our community.
TICKETED EVENTS: (series is over for Spring, more in the Fall!)
NON-TICKETED - FREE- "BRING YOUR OWN LUNCH" EVENTS:
Thurs. 6/23; 12 pm-1:30 pm
Lunch with Andrea N. Richesin and contributors Suzanne Finnamore and Katie Herzog of CRUSH: 26 Real-life Tales of First Love
Doesn’t everyone remember his/her first crush? The rush of that
infatuation that briefly held the promise of enduring love? Or maybe the
heart-shattering memories of the one who got away? “A crush can boost a
wounded ego, save a marriage, and make one feel alive,” says Andrea N.
Richesin at the start of her new anthology, “It has the power to
transform a shy backward girl or boy into a brilliant and bold adult.
It’s an education for a person naïve in the world and it’s the joy of a
fantasy you may or may not choose to pursue. Crushes can live in our
heads for our own secret enjoyment, but they also encourage us to take
risks we might not have imagined. Falling for the wrong person, wounded,
love-doomed, we still search for our soul mates even when it seems they
may be impossible to find.” The women and men writing in CRUSH share a
range of memories that highlight both the exhilaration and the
dejection that first love can bring.
Fri. 7/8; 12 noon-1:30 pm
Lunch with the Author: Jimmy Creech, former United Methodist minister discusses his memoir Adam’s Gift
Jimmy Creech, a United
Methodist pastor in North Carolina, was visited one morning in 1984 by
Adam, a longtime parishioner whom he liked and respected. Adam said that
he was gay, and that he was leaving The United Methodist Church, which
had just pronounced that “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” could not
be ordained. He would not be part of a community that excluded him.
Creech found himself instinctively supporting Adam, telling him that he
was sure that God loved and accepted him as he was.
Adam’s Gift is Creech’s inspiring first-person account of how that
conversation transformed his life and ministry. Adam’s visit prompted
Creech to re-evaluate his belief that homosexuality was a sin, and to
research the scriptural basis for the church’s position. He determined
that the church was mistaken, that scriptural translations and
interpretations had been botched and dangerously distorted. As a
Christian, Creech came to believe that discriminating against lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender people was morally wrong. This
understanding compelled him to perform same-gender commitment
ceremonies, which conflicted with church directives. Creech was tried
twice by The United Methodist Church, and, after the second trial, his
ordination credentials were revoke Adam’s Gift is a moving story and an
important chapter in the unfinished struggle for lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgender civil and human rights.
Jimmy Creech is a former United Methodist minister, now retired and
living in Raleigh, North Carolina. He has worked with many social-action
organizations. He has received the Flagbearer Award from PFLAG
National; the Human Rights Campaign Equality Award; the Saint Award
presented by Metropolitan Community Church, San Francisco; the North
Carolina Pride, Inc. Award; and the Lee and Mae Ball Award, presented by
The Methodist Federation for Social Action. He was selected as one of
OUT magazine’s “Out 100” in 1998 and 1999.
