{"id":3858,"date":"2018-12-12T13:38:48","date_gmt":"2018-12-12T18:38:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/?p=3858"},"modified":"2018-12-12T13:38:48","modified_gmt":"2018-12-12T18:38:48","slug":"witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Witnessing for our Kiwi Mormon – Page 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\"\"Continued\u2026<\/div>\n
The following are the \u201cwitnesses\u201d that have been written in behalf of Gina Colvin, who is being summoned to a disciplinary court on December 20, 2018. If you\u2019re interested in submitting a witness\u2026 please share with me at nhelferparker@gmail.com. I will continue to update\u2026 or create further posts as I receive them. I will keep blog posts to about 1500 words\u2026 that\u2019s why there will be more than one \u201cpage.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
To (Gina\u2019s leaders)<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Hello. My name is Jimmy bridges. You do not know me, but I have been recently made aware of the intended disciplinary Council in action for Gina Colvin. When I heard of this action I was deeply troubled. I have been a member of the church for a little over ten years now, served a mission a year after I had been baptized at 19 years old, served in many positions in the church in my Wards, and always considered myself active in my search for truth and what\u2019s right in the world. As the church has became more and more involved in the social issues in Society, especially here over in the United States, I began to realize how Divergent my own views were from the churches regarding social issues such as same-sex marriage and values around gender and gender roles in society. This growing dissonance was almost too much to handle. I started to gain access to the online Mormon Community<\/a>, podcasts that Gina Colvin moderates, and other resources for Mormons<\/a> with my worldview. Gina Colvin ended up becoming one of the most influential Mormons for my own spiritual growth and maintenance of my faith. Her capacity to integrate new ideas and maintain her Mormon identity has been an inspiration to me and has been a motivation for me to stay connected with the Mormon tradition. As mentioned earlier, because of how much she has done for me, her disciplinary Council and the potential for disciplinary action is deeply concerning, incongruent to what I feel are the main principles contained in the Articles of faith 13, and seems to go against all efforts church leaders make to establish a reputation of interfaith relations and respect for all religious perspectives. Because of how much good Gina Colvin does, any potential of disciplinary action looks more like an abuse of power\u00a0 than an inspired decision from church leaders. My hope is that you put my witness and others under serious consideration and follow your own promptings, even if that goes against leaders above you. If there\u2019s one thing I learned from my mission, it\u2019s that Revelation is followed by information. And considering you are the local leaders presiding over Gina Colvin, you would have the most information in this situation and thus entitled with the greater capacity for answers. Thank you for your time and your service in the church.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Jimmy Bridges, MS, LMFT<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Gina\u2019 s testimony and study have helped me to stay a member. Some of us learn in different ways, which need the concept of doubt in order to propel us forward to the growth and comprehension of God which we need. This attempt to damn her for jointly practicing in order to serve a community is\u2026disheartening. She\u2019s not trying to leave. She\u2019s trying to stay.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Heather Harris-Bergevin<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

Dear Brothers Ormsby and Shaw,<\/span><\/p>\n

I am writing in support of and as a witness to Gina Colvin.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Gina\u2019s wise and compassionate voice has literally bore up many spiritually distraught,\u00a0disenfranchised,\u00a0and wounded members of the LDS church-of, which I am one.\u00a0 Listening to Gina\u2019s podcasts were as balm to my soul.\u00a0 Her nuanced and enlightened insights allowed me to re-evaluate my spiritual journey and in the process, I discovered a greater sense of the divine.\u00a0 I know for a fact that Gina\u2019s courageous, compassionate, and articulate voice is personally responsible for the retention of 4 members of the church \u2014 and that is just from my very small cloistered perspective.\u00a0 I know she has touched the hearts of hundreds and has been instrumental the ministering of Christ\u2019s gospel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Robin Stephens<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dear Bishop Shaw and President Ornsby, <\/span><\/p>\n

In September of 2016 the arms and soul of Jesus stood at my front door. \u00a0It was Gina Colvin. \u00a0She took time out to visit the widow. \u00a0She took time out to care about the disabled and to mourn with those that mourn. It wasn\u2019t the first time. \u00a0\u00a0She stood as a witness of Christ and did what Jesus would have done. \u00a0Jesus wasn\u2019t here but Gina was. \u00a0She came because Gina loves and serves and seeks to follow Jesus above all else. \u00a0Not everyone who claims to follow Christ does so, but in Gina there are not only words but actions that reach out to touch, to hold, and to love just as Jesus does. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You are planning to excommunicate her. \u00a0I won\u2019t put words to this fact. \u00a0I will hold her in prayer. \u00a0I will pray that what she does continues to touch the souls of all no matter where they live. \u00a0Gina lives the gospel of Jesus Christ. \u00a0I\u2019m a better person for knowing her and learning from her example. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is my witness. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gail \u00a0Shurtleff<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I want to add my name as a witness of what a magnificent disciple of Christ Gina is for the world. I grew up hearing stories of my pioneer ancestors and always felt a pressure to carefully obey the brethren with a dad in church leadership positions. I attended BYU, served a mission in Chile, and married in the temple. The gospel was everything to me.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
I had a budding spiritual and feminist awakening ever since my mission, but after having 3 girls of my own it turned into more of a faith crisis. I didn\u2019t know if I could have anything to do with religion at one point. I met Gina at a spiritual formation workshop she was hosting for women. It was the first time in a long time I felt the spirit and remembered the need I had for spiritual community. Seeing someone who understood the problems with patriarchy and was willing to strongly proclaim her beliefs and desire to seek God was beautiful and new to me. Gina is an example to me of a devout and bold follower of Christ. People like her and her podcast are some of the only things that have given me hope for being able to remain in the church. \u00a0I am disappointed to once again see the church protecting the corporation and it\u2019s male leaders while going after benevolent members. Meanwhile, men who have done true harm to others are left in good standing. I don\u2019t think excommunication is a humane or Christian practice, but if you\u2019re going to excommunicate members there\u2019s probably a million people who could be ahead of Gina Colvin on the list. When people say the church is losing it\u2019s best and brightest they truly are. What a mistake for a religious organization to not want Gina counted among its ranks. No woman gets a say in these decisions in our church and the decisions seem to be predetermined, but I\u2019d urge the men who\u2019ve been granted so much power to humbly reconsider.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Katie Hagen\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Natasha Helfer Parker, LCMFT, CST can be reached at\u00a0natashaparker.org<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0runs an online practice,\u00a0Symmetry Solutions<\/em><\/a>, which focuses on helping families and individuals with faith concerns, sexuality and mental health. She hosts the\u00a0Mormon Mental Health<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Mormon Sex Info<\/a>\u00a0Podcasts,\u00a0is the current president of the\u00a0Mormon Mental Health Association<\/a>\u00a0and runs a sex education program, Sex Talk with Natasha<\/a>. She has over 20 years of experience working with primarily an LDS\/Mormon clientele.<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Continued\u2026 The following are the \u201cwitnesses\u201d that have been written in behalf of Gina Colvin, who is being summoned to a disciplinary court on December 20, 2018. If you\u2019re interested in submitting a witness\u2026 please share with me at nhelferparker@gmail.com. I will continue to update\u2026 or create further posts as I receive them. I will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":766,"featured_media":3846,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,75,25,170,80],"tags":[98,92,29,47,100],"class_list":["post-3858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mental-health","category-relationships","category-righteousness","category-spirituality","category-womens-issues","tag-discipline","tag-mental-health","tag-mormon","tag-mormonism","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nWitnessing for our Kiwi Mormon - Page 2<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Continued... The following are the \u201cwitnesses\u201d that have been written in behalf of Gina Colvin, who is being summoned to a disciplinary court on December\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Witnessing for our Kiwi Mormon - Page 2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Continued... The following are the \u201cwitnesses\u201d that have been written in behalf of Gina Colvin, who is being summoned to a disciplinary court on December\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Mormon Therapist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-12T18:38:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/153\/2018\/12\/41810899_10156777406924954_160077511340851200_n.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"766\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Natasha Helfer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Natasha Helfer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-2.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-2.html\",\"name\":\"Witnessing for our Kiwi Mormon - Page 2\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-12T18:38:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-12T18:38:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/#\/schema\/person\/78971842fa93736d2376df2cd2ea8f54\"},\"description\":\"Continued... The following are the \u201cwitnesses\u201d that have been written in behalf of Gina Colvin, who is being summoned to a disciplinary court on December\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-2.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-2.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-2.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Witnessing for our Kiwi Mormon – Page 2\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/\",\"name\":\"The Mormon Therapist\",\"description\":\"A safe, confidential "advice column" to get your questions answered.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/#\/schema\/person\/78971842fa93736d2376df2cd2ea8f54\",\"name\":\"Natasha Helfer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/85a797b548b6d0665ff186fb58c34aa3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/85a797b548b6d0665ff186fb58c34aa3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Natasha Helfer\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/natashaparker.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/author\/natashaparker\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Witnessing for our Kiwi Mormon - Page 2","description":"Continued... The following are the \u201cwitnesses\u201d that have been written in behalf of Gina Colvin, who is being summoned to a disciplinary court on December","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-2.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Witnessing for our Kiwi Mormon - Page 2","og_description":"Continued... The following are the \u201cwitnesses\u201d that have been written in behalf of Gina Colvin, who is being summoned to a disciplinary court on December","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-2.html","og_site_name":"The Mormon Therapist","article_published_time":"2018-12-12T18:38:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":766,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/153\/2018\/12\/41810899_10156777406924954_160077511340851200_n.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Natasha Helfer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Natasha Helfer","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-2.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-2.html","name":"Witnessing for our Kiwi Mormon - Page 2","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-12-12T18:38:48+00:00","dateModified":"2018-12-12T18:38:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/#\/schema\/person\/78971842fa93736d2376df2cd2ea8f54"},"description":"Continued... The following are the \u201cwitnesses\u201d that have been written in behalf of Gina Colvin, who is being summoned to a disciplinary court on December","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-2.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-2.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-2.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Witnessing for our Kiwi Mormon – Page 2"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/","name":"The Mormon Therapist","description":"A safe, confidential "advice column" to get your questions answered.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/#\/schema\/person\/78971842fa93736d2376df2cd2ea8f54","name":"Natasha Helfer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/85a797b548b6d0665ff186fb58c34aa3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/85a797b548b6d0665ff186fb58c34aa3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Natasha Helfer"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/natashaparker.org"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/author\/natashaparker"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/766"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}