Integrity Delaware Spring Retreat

“VOICES OF WITNESS: OUT-OF-THE-BOX”

Transgender 101 – Integrity Delaware Spring Retreat

Integrity Delaware, an Episcopal Church LGBT advocacy group, is hosting a spring retreat April 19^th & 20^th exploring the world of transgendered people. The retreat will begin with the film “Voices of Witnesses: Out-of­the-Box” produced by IntegrityUSA. This film is a groundbreaking documentary giving voice to the witness of transgender people of faith courageously sharing their stories of hope, healing and wholeness. Retreat leaders are Vivian Taylor and Donna Cartwright, who are transgendered women, and who will share stories of their journey transitioning from male to female. The retreat will also include a Q & A period, worship, and socializing.

Viv Taylor is a writer, activist, and avid Sung Compline promoter currently living in Boston, MA. She served in the War in Iraq from 2009-2010 and writes about her experiences in war, being a veteran, and being a transgender Christian. Ms. Taylor started transitioning in earnest when she returned to Chapel Hill after serving as a Chaplain’s Assistant with the Army in Iraq. Taylor was part of IntegrityUSA and TransEpiscopal (a transgendered online support group), and their successful advocacy effort at the Episcopal Church’s General Convention in 2012. She offered powerful testimony in support of resolutions that added "gender identity and expression" to The Episcopal Church's nondiscrimination canons on lay and ordained ministry.

Donna Cartwright, is an Episcopal layperson in Baltimore Maryland, where she attends St. Bartholomew's church. For many years an agnostic, she came to faith through her transgender journey, joining the Episcopal Church in 2000 in the Diocese of Newark. She was the first trans person to join the Commission (governing body) of The Oasis, the LGBT ministry of that diocese, and served on it until she moved to Baltimore in 2006. She was a co-founder of TransEpiscopal in 2005, and helped lead TransEpiscopal efforts at General Conventions 2006, 2009 and 2012.

The retreat will be held at All Saints Episcopal Church, 18 Olive Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, from 3:00pm, Friday April 19 through Saturday, April 20^th at 4pm. Registration for the retreat may be made online at www.integritydelaware.org. The cost of the retreat is $75/per person. Discount rooms available at the Boardwalk Plaza Hotel (302) 227-7169 (ask for Integrity Group Rate), and the Atlantic Sands Hotel, call 1-800-422-0660 (Ask for Integrity Block #7059). For additional information call Rita Nelson (302) 945-7520 or Elizabeth Kaeton (302) 231-8246.