{"id":3870,"date":"2018-12-13T21:39:24","date_gmt":"2018-12-14T02:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/?p=3870"},"modified":"2018-12-13T21:45:11","modified_gmt":"2018-12-14T02:45:11","slug":"witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-3.html","title":{"rendered":"Witnessing for our Kiwi Mormon – Page 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\n
\n
\n
\"\"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<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
My first contact with Gina was when I was serving as bishop of the Bracknell Ward (UK) from 2011 to 2016. Towards the middle of my tenure, I started to struggle with my own faith. This was partly due to several members of my Ward asking me appropriate questions regarding Church history. As I looked into ways of supporting them I discovered much of what they had told me was indeed correct. At one point feeling I\u2019d had enough, I began discussing a potential release with my stake president. Gina gave me the insight and support to stay until I completed 5 years and a few months of service as bishop. My stake president could not quite give the support needed, whereas Gina did. Without her support, a bishop would have been lost. I still hold a temple recommend, being active and involved in my ward and stake. I hope you are able to reconsider holding the disciplinary council for Gina. Or if you still feel the need to hold it that there will be found no action required so that Gina, along with her family, may remain a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Many thanks,<\/span>

Neil Loffhagen<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Anyone who even remotely knows Gina Colvin understands this is not about convincing Church leaders that she is a deeply spiritual person, seeker of truth insofar as that is knowable, a member dedicated to improving the faith experience for herself and other Mormons<\/a> through examination of those elements which do not exemplify Christ. My heart is with her, my Mother\u2019s arms protect her. <\/span><\/div>\n
\n

But I refuse to lend credence to this circus, this muscle-flexing sideshow they have created to press the point that they have the apparent power to excommunicate. Truth is, I don\u2019t believe they do. And I know they have no desire to be convinced otherwise or they wouldn\u2019t have had the temerity to accuse her. This is a witch hunt, that\u2019s all. Unrighteous dominion (assuming they ever had the authority to misuse in the first place.) Perhaps the broader question is, \u201cWhat is going on in the LDS faith, that a woman is left to hunger, to seek truths, ritual and comfort she couldn\u2019t find on her own? How to make the LDS church<\/a> a safe, faithful place- expansive enough to grow a soul rather than stifle it?\u201d<\/span>I have come to believe this church has walked so far off the path of God that I decided to walk away from it myself. They are lucky she stuck it out as long as she did.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Kimberly Fitzpatrick Lewis<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Bishop Shaw, <\/span>
\nI write to call upon you to follow your own witness of Gina. There is nothing hidden, nothing deceptive, nothing disrespectful in all the evidence you\u2019ve been asked to gather. I\u2019m familiar with the pressures of appearing certain and unmoved in the letter of the regulations and policies (not commandments or invitations from Jesus). But I encourage you use the formula set forth by Joseph to know truth: engage your best critical thinking including weighing logic and facts within context and add not just emotional reactions but ponder the actual messages, teachings and comments of Gina. Within you\u2019ll experience a familiarity and safety even though the words might unsettle what you want settled. Gina speaks clearly, calmly and in search of greater relationship with personal and embodied divinity. She seeks God and heavenly union, nothing more. She is the first to kneel before the savior fully willing to follow where his spirit calls. You know this. You can\u2019t deny your resonance and draw to Gina\u2019s vulnerability before heaven and courage of conviction, one that circles in LDS truths. As Alma encourages, experiment upon The Word and her words. Let them paint the portrait of her as divine supplicant not institutional rebel. <\/span><\/div>\n
Gina will not contest your judgment. She will not retaliate or disinvite you and your family from her table: a table set with spiritual and temporal food. Your reward, if simple functional and dutiful discipline is your declaration, will be not one of lasting satisfaction but a stone hanging on your sense of being, a siren dismissing your blamelessness before god, Gina and the community of seekers. <\/span><\/div>\n
Gina is good. Gina is a sinner like all of us. Gina is your neighbor not enemy. There is little love or justification for either formal disciplinary option. She\u2019s not left the course, or mortally sinned so turning back again (repentance) is not required. You know this- this rings truer than the alternate outcome labeling her apostate and lost. <\/span><\/div>\n
I wish you inspiration and struggle with your growth as you witness Gina before your congregation and church leadership. <\/span>
\nI love Gina\u2019s voice inviting a deeper introspective and intellectually honest Sainthood. So do you. Don\u2019t succumb to fear and obligation but embrace with compassion knowing love doesn\u2019t discard, it embraces and integrates. <\/span>Randy Moss Ph.D.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
To whom it may concern\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
My heart hurts as I write this.\u00a0 My spirit groans under the weight of this burden.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think you\u2019ll listen.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think you\u2019ll care.\u00a0 I believe you\u2019ve already made your decisions and now devote your energy and mental stamina justifying your conclusions and piling up all those mental darts you\u2019ve collected over the years from the church and it\u2019s never ending mission to worship itself more devoutly.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But\u2026here it is anyway.\u00a0 I am a life long member.\u00a0 My husband is a life long member.\u00a0 We both come from generations of members and were raised by very active and faithful parents.\u00a0 I have struggled to reconcile LDS teachings with my very innate sense of right and wrong, light and dark since my early teen years.\u00a0 I am married in the temple.\u00a0 I no longer attend the temple because I choose not to.\u00a0 There are too many things I just don\u2019t believe in anymore to find value there.\u00a0 My husband does.\u00a0 My daughter is 13 and just started doing baptisms. I have two other children ages 10 and 8.\u00a0 My children have all been baptized.\u00a0 \u00a0My husband and I are struggling mightily to\u00a0 honor each others beliefs and individual truth seeking.\u00a0 It is HARD.\u00a0 It is heartbreaking and difficult to navigate marriage and family when beliefs change and grow in ways that don\u2019t exactly match up.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Gina and others like her have been Godsends to our family.\u00a0 This church needs her.\u00a0 It needs you to respect and honor her agency, her ability to discern, her quest for further light and knowledge\u2026honor her journey. We need her honesty, her bravery, her intelligence, her humor, her irreverence, her guts and her diligent search for greater spiritual understanding.\u00a0 She is a treasure and an asset.\u00a0 Don\u2019t do it.\u00a0 Stop this barbaric and violent act of excommunication.\u00a0 It\u2019s wrong.\u00a0 It\u2019s cruel.\u00a0 The church will be weaker and have less integrity without her.\u00a0 Don\u2019t do this to Gina.\u00a0 Don\u2019t do this to Nathan and their children\u2026and don\u2019t do this to yourselves.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Chelan Clason\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\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
<\/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":3882,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,48,75,1],"tags":[98,46,92,29,47,115],"class_list":["post-3870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gospel-teachings","category-mental-health","category-relationships","category-uncategorized","tag-discipline","tag-lds","tag-mental-health","tag-mormon","tag-mormonism","tag-relationships"],"yoast_head":"\nWitnessing for our Kiwi Mormon - Page 3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"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\" \/>\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-3.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 3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-3.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Mormon Therapist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-14T02:39:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-12-14T02:45:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/153\/2018\/12\/14691098_10154691143444954_5597241509729397305_n.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\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=\"7 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-3.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-3.html\",\"name\":\"Witnessing for our Kiwi Mormon - Page 3\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-14T02:39:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-14T02:45:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/#\/schema\/person\/78971842fa93736d2376df2cd2ea8f54\"},\"description\":\"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\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-3.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-3.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-3.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 3\"}]},{\"@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 3","description":"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","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-3.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Witnessing for our Kiwi Mormon - Page 3","og_description":"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","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-3.html","og_site_name":"The Mormon Therapist","article_published_time":"2018-12-14T02:39:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-12-14T02:45:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":432,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/153\/2018\/12\/14691098_10154691143444954_5597241509729397305_n.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Natasha Helfer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Natasha Helfer","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-3.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-3.html","name":"Witnessing for our Kiwi Mormon - Page 3","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-12-14T02:39:24+00:00","dateModified":"2018-12-14T02:45:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/#\/schema\/person\/78971842fa93736d2376df2cd2ea8f54"},"description":"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","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-3.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-3.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/12\/witnessing-for-our-kiwi-mormon-page-3.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 3"}]},{"@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\/3870","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=3870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}