YES Institute has worked with the Coral Gables Congregational Church of Coral Gables, Florida; the Interfaith Council of Dahlonega in Dahlonega, Georgia; Temple Israel in Miami, Florida; and various church youth groups in the state of Florida. Riviera Presbyterian Church generously hosts YES Institute as a mission project of the church.
Coral Gables Congregational Church of Coral Gables, Florida
We held a Communication Solutions™ Course for staff from Coral Gables Congregational Church at the request of Rev. Donna Schaper. Read More.
Interfaith Council of Dahlonega
Our partnership with the community of Dahlonega, Georgia began with calls from Rev. Frank Colladay asking YES to come and make a presentation to a small group of rural clergy in his ministerial association. Frank persisted until one day some funding came in that allowed us to make the trip. During the last week of April, 2000, Martha Fugate, Dr. Carolyn Garwood, the Rev. Frank Smith and Joseph Zolobczuk traveled to Dahlonega - a rural college town, population 4000, located two hours north of Atlanta in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains.
The first day, we conducted a communication course and clergy dialogue for 12 members of the local rural churches of Dahlonega. By this time Frank had enlisted the partnership of North Georgia College and State University and the Dean of Education, Dr. Bob Michaels. Read More.
Hanover Presbyterian Church of Hanover, Delaware
Breaking the historic silence on gender and orientation issues takes tremendous courage. A group of ecumenical clergy and lay ministers in Wilmington, Delaware, practiced beginning this dialogue in our Communication Solutions™ course. Rev. Tom Davis of Hanover Presbyterian Church hosted the weekend course. The following Sunday, he preached about his experience to his congregation. His sermon was selected for publication on the Witherspoon Society website, which addresses concerns related to the Presbyterian Church USA. Read More.
Church Youth Groups in Florida
In 2000, we were invited to speak to the 50 member youth group at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church. After Orlando Calderin shared his story, one girl spoke up and said,“It is good that you still love your mother, that's what Jesus would have done.” Read More.
YES Institute speakers also met with the youth group at Coral Gables Congregational Church in 2003, to discuss ways in which discrimination impacts their lives and the people they love. Read More.
Temple Israel
After the death of Laramie, Wyoming student Matthe Shephard, Temple Israel hosted an interfaith memorial service in Miami. Terry Dewis from SAVE, Rabbi Kahn from Temple Israel and the Rev. Laurie Kraus from Riviera Presbyterian Church coordinated the service, including speakers such as Adora Obi Nweze, President of the Miami-Dade Branch of the NAACP; Marilyn Spiegel, president of the Miami-Dade County Council PTA/PTSA; Dawn Fleri from the Archdiocese of Miami; and Commissioner Katie Sorenson, among others.
From The Triangle
Volume II, Issue 10 – Nov. 1998
Memorial Service for Matthew Shepard at Temple Israel
Matt Shepard was a young gay man who was tortured and murdered in Laramie, Wyo., in October 1998. His death was so brutal that it seized that national consciousness. In Miami and other cities across the country, memorial services were held.
Temple Israel was host to the local interfaith memorial service for Matthew Shepard. Terry Dewis from SAVE, Rabbi Kahn from Temple Israel and the Rev. Laurie Kraus from Riviera Presbyterian Church coordinated the service. Speakers included, among others, clergy from many faiths, Adora Obi Nweze, President of the Miami-Dade Branch of the NAACP, Marilyn Spiegel, president of the Miami-Dade County Council PTA/PTSA and Commissioner Katie Sorenson, who brought the congregation to its feet with her declaration, “Tonight we agonize, tomorrow we organize.”
Exquisite music and inspirational speakers created an atmosphere that was both spiritual and political. It was spiritual, in that people from various and diverse faith traditions across Miami spoke movingly of mourning and consolation; it was political in the best sense, as many speakers held up the possibilities of transforming mourning into rededication to the cause of justice and freedom. The service ended in that spirit as the mourners lit candles and sang, “This little light of mine; I'm gonna let it shine.” Dawn Fleri from the Office of Family Life of the Archdiocese of Miami said, “May our pilgrimage here tonight remind us of what we already know: that nothing dies without being transformed into new life. May we be a part of that transformation here and now, for all the Matthews who touch our lives each day.”
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