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Koder House Tower Road Fort Cochin, Cochin, India Dear Father Josey, I am with an organization from the United States called Other Sheep that works on behalf of sexual minorities. Other Sheep is an ecumenical Christian ministry that works worldwide for the full inclusion of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people of faith within their respective faith traditions. We work for the empowerment of LGBT people by encouraging them to embrace their sexual orientation, gender, etc. as well as their faith. We are not able to visit as many clergy as we would like. We are in India only two weeks. Michael, a fine young man who works in the area as a waiter on tables, was interested in our ministry and recommended that we give you a copy of the materials that we use with clergy and lay leaders. He has accepted our request to give you these materials. Please accept these materials: Four articles/papers and one book that address homosexuality in the context of religion. I am staying at Koder House on Tower Road until Tuesday of this week. I leave at 10:30am on Tuesday. If it is possible to meet briefly, I’d be happy to do so. My phone number is 998 081 5518. Respectfully, Rev. Stephen Parelli Executive Director of Other Sheep Ordained MCC Clergy Member of MCCNY and The Riverside Church, Manhattan, NY |
Other Sheep in INDIA 2010 |
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Other Sheep in INDIA 2010 |
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| On this page: Letter to a Fort Cochin, India, Priest: At the request of one of his parishioners |
| The Story Behind the Letter After attending a local cultural event (photo at far left), Jose and I stepped into an alluring restaurant more out of curiosity than interest in dining. The waiter, who, once he learned what we do, asked us to please contact his priest. Because we only had one full remaining day left in Cochin, we told the waiter we would give the materials to him with a cover letter to deliver to his Bioshop. Without a second thought, he agreed. We returned to our hotel, crafted the above letter and returned to the waiter with the materials and letter in an envelope. |
| Above photo: This waiter -- not the referred to in the above letter -- is the gentleman who waited on our table at the Kodor House. Everywhere we dined, more times than night, conversation turned to the topic of . . . well, being "husband and husband." |
Fort Cochin, India
Photo by Steve Parelli
Photo by Steve Parelli
Fort Cochin, India
Photo by Steve Parelli
Photo by Steve Parelli
| Fort Cochin, India Photo by Steve Parelli |
Steve and Jose
in their room at
the Kodor House,
Sunday, August
15, 2010
in their room at
the Kodor House,
Sunday, August
15, 2010
This web page was created on June 24, 2011, in the Bronx,NY
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Visits to this web page since June 24, 2011.
