A Chronology of Highlights from CPCSM's History

1980 - Present
Have participated heavily in GLBT community lobbying and educational efforts at both local and state levels regarding human rights and anti-violence legislation.

1980 - Present
Have conducted over 150 workshops on GLBT issues and homophobia to a wide range of community and professional groups throughout Minnesota, including social workers, pastoral ministers, teachers, high school counselors, and college students.

1980 - Present
Have provided consultation, education, and training to GLBT human service professionals working in such regional rural communities as St. Cloud, Duluth, New Ulm, Rochester, Little Falls, Marshall, and River Falls.

1982 - 1986
Cofounded Minnesota Gay and Lesbian Youth Task Force and played a major role in its ongoing development, including the establishment of the first GLBT youth support group in Minnesota.

1983 - 1992
Cosponsored with Catholic Charities a monthly gathering, comprised of an education-support group format, for Catholic family members of GLBT persons, with sessions conducted by a deacon and his wife who were members of CPCSM.

April 1984
Published a Pastoral Needs Assessment Survey Report the first-of-its-kind study in the United States of the pastoral needs of GLBT persons and their families through the distribution of survey forms to parishes and to GLBT social services agencies, bars, and other businesses, which helped to give impetus to the development of new pastoral ministries to GLBT persons and their families in the local Church as well as in many other dioceses throughout the United States.

1984
Received the J.C. Penney Award for Outstanding Contributions Toward the Promoting of Human Rights.

1984
Received a $15,000 program grant from the St. Paul Foundation to do education on alleviating homophobia in the community (the first ever grant given by a major community foundation in Minnesota to a GLBT organization).

1984 - 1985
Maintained a full-time office operation, staffed by an executive director, at the People's Center on the West Bank of the University of Minnesota.

1984 - 1994
First GLBT organization to develop AIDS awareness among mainline church organizations in the Twin Cities through sponsorship of its annual AIDS Prayer Service and Benefit.

1984 - 1994
Developed a Life Enhancement Fund for Persons with AIDS (PWAs), which has given grants to approximately 50 PWAs, averaging $200, for such needs as supplies for hobbies; the purchase of pets; airfare to enable family visits; and flowers, lunch, and a headstone for a funeral.

March 1985
Organized and conducted a conference for regional vocation directors of approximately 30 religious communities and dioceses to assist them in developing admission protocols for evaluating and selecting GLBT candidates for the priesthood and religious life.

1986
Organized the first support group for families and friends of PWAs, cosponsored with the Archdiocesan AIDS Ministry Office.

October 1986 -
Several CPCSM members were formally appointed by the Archbisp to serve on the November 1987 Archdiocesan Task Force on ________ , the objective of which was to assess the unmet needs of gays and lesbians and their families and determine an appropriate archdiocesan action plan for ministry.

May 1988
Organized and participated in a formal listening session with the Archbishop and his full cabinet, including heads of all archdiocesan divisions.

1989
CPCSM's Executive Director received the Archdiocesan Commission on Social Justice's 21st Annual John Ireland Award for "promoting better human relations based on justice and equality in our community".

1989
Produced Silent Journeys of Faith, a 48-minute video focusing on the rediscovery of GLBT spirituality and urging the Church to show compassion in its pastoral ministry with GLBT persons, widely used in Catholic schools, parishes, and social service agencies throughout the United States.

1989
As a companion to the 1989 video Silent Journeys of Faith, published a 150-page training manual detailing a 6-session seminar series, entitled Sharing Silent Journeys of Faith: Embracing Our Exiled Gay Brothers and Lesbian Sisters to assist parishes in becoming more pastorally sensitive toward GLBT persons and their families and more proactive in creating more welcoming parish environments.

1989 - Present
Presented the Parish-Based Ministry Project seminar series, Sharing Silent Journeys of Faith: Embracing Our Exiled Gay Brothers and Lesbian Sisters, to staffs and other groups at more than 25 archdiocesan parishes.

1990 - 1991
Actively participated in the Governor's Task Force on Gay and Lesbian Minnesotans, including the appointment of two CPCSM members as task force members.

1991
Donated over $9000 in GLBT-oriented books and videotapes to public libraries in Duluth, St. Cloud, Moorehead, and Rochester whose funds would otherwise not have allowed them to make such materials available to their communities and to the Quatrefoil Library in St. Paul.

1991 - 1992
Organized and facilitated a pastoral study group comprised of various archdiocesan officials that met regularly to explore ways in which each of their offices could become more inclusive of GLBT pastoral concerns.

October 1991 -
Operated a charitable gambling site in the City of St. Paul, the objective of which September 1992 was to use the net proceeds to support CPCSM's ministry projects and other charitable endeavors.

January -
Organized a grassroots movement within the Church to influence legislative April 1993 support for the passage of an amendment to the State Human Rights Act adding protection for GLBT persons.

January -
Published and distributed a 40-page handbook, which included pastoral and April 1993 educational resources in support of the campaign to add GLBT persons to the classes protected by the State Human Rights Act.

October 1994
Organized and facilitated a half-day full-faculty inservice for Totino-Grace High School on the GLBT concerns of students, staff, and their families.

October 1994
Sponsored Bishop Thomas Gumbleton's visit to the Twin Cities, during which he made presentations at five different events, culminating in a Mass of Reconciliation for the GLBT community at the Basilica of St. Mary's.

March 1995
Founded the Families and Friends of GLBT Persons in Education (Families and Friends) Ministry Project.

September 1995 -
Members of the Families and Friends Ministry Project conducted visitations to nine May 1996 of the 11 archdiocesan secondary schools to acquaint the respective presidents and principals with the nature and goals of the Project, to initiate collaborative partnerships with them, and offer to them the Project's many services.

Fall 1995
Inaugurated the Circle Unbroken support group and educational series for families of GLBT persons (a six-session series comprised of a lecture-support group format with sessions 1 and 2 covering psycho-social aspects of the GLBT experience, sessions 3 and 4 dealing with theological and spiritual dimensions, and sessions 5 and 6 family relationship issues).

December 1995
Cosponsored and cofacilitated with the Catholic Education and Formation and Ministries (CEFM) Office two full-day workshops for faculty and staff invited from all archdiocesan high schools and youth ministry staff from all archdiocesan parishes.

October 1995 -
Cofounded and cofacilitated with the Catholic Education and Formation Ministries Present Office the Archdiocesan Study Group on Pastoral Care and Sexual Identity Issues, composed of representatives from all of the Archdiocesan high schools.

April 1996
Cosponsored with the Newman Forum a second visit by Bishop Gumbleton, during which he helped to inaugurate the Catholic Coalition for Sexual Minorities (CCSM) at a press conference and presided at a breakfast meeting and prayer service with secondary school presidents and other education leaders.

October 1996 -
Following the submission of an archdiocesan action plan as part of a grant appli- Present cation to the Partners in Justice Fund of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, received grants for two program years totaling $18,270.

December 1996 - Developed and conducted the Safe Staff Training Program, comprised of eight Present hours of training for selected high school staff (so far, for seven of the archdiocesan high schools).

January 1997 -
Developed and conducted a full-faculty inservice on GLBT pastoral concerns Present for six archdiocesan high schools.

April 1997 -
Initiated a bi-weekly support group for GLBT students from all archdiocesan high Present schools, facilitated and supervised by Families and Friends staff.

November 1997
Organized a workshop, cosponsored with the CEFM, for representatives from school boards from ten of the eleven archdiocesan high schools.

November 1997
Organized an inservice, cosponsored with Catholic Youth Ministry Services, for archdiocesan religion teachers, campus ministers, and youth ministers concerning GLBT pastoral issues, conducted by renowned Paulist theologian Richard C. Sparks, CSP.

November 1997
Organized monthly continuing education inservices, facilitated by various resource specialists, open to safe staff from all archdiocesan high schools, to enable participants to focus on specific topics of interest

April 1998
Initiated a 5-session speaker luncheon series, entitled Discovering Our Hidden Treasures: Reshaping Pastoral Ministries with GLBT Persons and Their Families. The first speaker was Archbishop Roach, whose address was entitled A Bishop's Journey with Gay Ministry: Transforming Gospel Values into Human Rights and a More Inclusive Church. During his address, Archbishop applauded the efforts of CPCSM and the unique role it has played in fostering within the Archdiocese ministry with gay and lesbian persons and their families.

September 1998
Families and Friends General Coordinator, Bill Kummer, presents a workshop theNational Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries (NACDLGM) National Conference in Rochester, New York.

Nov. - Dec. 1998
In response to a negative article in the conservative Catholic newspaper, The Wanderer, which condemned Bill Kummer's NACDLGM Conference workshop and the work of the Families and Friends Project, the Archdiocese, through The Catholic Spirit, defended the importance of Catholic schools dealing with GLBT issues and exonerated Bill Kummer. Later, Archbishop Harry Glynn also used his weekly column in The Catholic Spirit to further explain his position regarding GLBT ministry in the schools. He reiterated Church teaching and asked Catholics to be patient and compassionate since such efforts represent new ground and may not be done perfectly right away.

April - May 1999
Many of our members, including volunteers from our ministry projects - Families and Friends and the Catholic Coalition for Sexual Minorities (CCSM) - held a two-part visioning event to set in motion the task of "recreating" CPCSM since its original mandate involving its work with the schools had been fulfilled.The visioning group discussed the topics of mission, values, and priorities. The group also appointed a planning group to meet over the summer of 1999 and to come up with a plan for proceeding.

May 1999
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Paul Province, make an unrestricted gift of $100,000.00 to CPCSM in support of its ministry.

June - Sept. 1999
Our Planning Group, which was created during the two-part visioning session, met six times and discussed such topics as new job descriptions for the support staff, a new organizational structure, a new mission statement, priorities for 1999-2000, and our future relationship with the institutional Church, especially the Archdiocese.

October 1999
CPCSM is awarded the 1999 Non-Profit Mission Award for Non-Profit Advocacy by the Minnesota Council of Non-Profits.