| Blest be the ties that bind My father, the Rev. Thomas G. Barrington, was a member of the Washington Conference and died shortly after its merger into the Baltimore-Washington Conference. However, my mother, Lucille, although frail and in poor health, is still among us. It is a both a godsend and a pleasure to regularly receive the UMConnection, and to be able to read it to my mother. Although I may no longer be acquainted with the names of many of the clergy and laity highlighted in the articles, my mother remembers familiar names and faces, and often is able to recall some history for me. We no longer live in the Baltimore-Washington area. However, the UMConnection is like a letter from home. Thank God for you. Brenda Barrington Anderson
Speaking out against pornography The update on the fight against gambling in Maryland, which appeared in the Oct. 15 UMConnection, was most informative. However, there is another fight in our state that is of equal gravity, but which receives inadequate publicity among United Methodists. On Oct. 26, Good Hope Union UMC marked the start of Pornography Awareness Week with fact sheets and white ribbons as part of the campaign of the Maryland Coalition Against Pornography. The Internet, cable TV and other technologies have fueled a multi-billion-dollar industry that now puts every child and family at risk from this noxious and addicting plague. Annually thousands of women and children are abused by pornographers and by those influenced by their works. We urge every church to contact the Maryland Coalition Against Pornography to obtain vital information materials to enable members to protect their families and fight back by cooperating with the FBI and FCC reporting process and urging legislators to support tough laws on child pornography and broadcast obscenity. Call (301) 577-0265, e-mail
, or visit www.mcap1.com . R.F. Gillum
Good Hope Union UMC, Silver Spring Churchs stance on homosexuality is clear The Word has little to say on the issue of homosexuality, but what it does say is quite clearly condemning of such practices. The United Methodist Church has made its position on homosexuality clear in the Book of Discipline: homosexuality is incompatible with Christs teachings. Our culture increasingly embraces another view. In the 1970s, physicians threw out the long-held diagnosis that homosexuality was a psychological malady. But decades and leaps in medical science later, scientists have yet to provide one shred of evidence let alone a DNA sequence that proves that homosexuality is inborn and not behavioral. Since the 1970s, we have been on a slippery slope of the acceptance of homosexuality as an element of our diversity. A relentless element within the denomination seems bent on allowing those forces to shape the church. Should we reach out to homosexuals? Yes, our Lord commands it. Should we accept the practice of homosexuality? Our Lord is clear enough in his rebukes. The churchs liberalism, particularly in the Baltimore-Washington Conference, is not advancing the Kingdom of Christ. Every parishioner and clergy person is now considered to be in the same theological league as Luther, Wesley or Augustine. We dont bother with 2,000 years of examined theological argument or what the Bible actually says. Just because everyone is doing it doesnt make it okay. Duane K. Doxzen
St. Pauls UMC, Sykesville | 
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