<p><img alt= src=/sites/default/files/conv2013/DignityUSA_Logo_FINAL_0.jpg style=float:right; height:133px; margin:5px; width:120px />By Marty Grochala Peggy Hayes and Ramon Rodriguez</p> <p>There are many ways to support the Convention and broaden the circle of our Dignity family. Many Dignity members make additional contributions to help underwrite the costs of the Convention or to help make it possible for others to attend and experience the strength of our Dignity community. Here are some stories about the many ways you or your chapter can support Minneapolis 2013!</p> <!--break--> <h2>Greetings and Ads</h2> <p>In a movement built on celebrating the wonders of God&rsquo;s creative diversity one of the most powerful expressions is the diversity of Dignity chapters: no two are alike. Each reflects the community it serves the faith lives of its members its city and region local traditions and creativity. You&rsquo;ll see this in the proud celebration of the parade of banners at the DignityUSA Convention and you can offer a lasting invitation to the Dignity family with an ad in the DignityUSA Convention program book.</p> <p>Dignity chapters and groups express their unique character in their ads. Tell us about your chapter and how you fulfill your mission. Celebrate a chapter anniversary or accomplishment with your Dignity brothers and sisters from across the family remember a beloved member or remind visitors of your worship location and time.</p> <p>Dignity Convention-goers read and save the program book as a commemoration of a powerful faith-filled and fun experience. One member reports that she has saved every convention program dating back to 1981; what a chronicle of the Dignity story!</p> <p>For more information on placing an ad in the DignityUSA Convention 2013 program book please visit the <a href=http://conv2013.dignityusa.org/content/greetings-and-ads>Greetings and Ads page</a>. We look forward to seeing your chapter or group in the pages of the DignityUSA 2013 program book.</p> <h2>Memorials</h2> <p>When you come to the DignityUSA Convention in Minneapolis who are you bringing along in your heart? In whose name will you support the DignityUSA Convention?</p> <p>There are many stories of memorial gifts:</p> <ul> <li>One chapter sponsors flowers at each convention in memory of a beloved presider.</li> <li>A long friendship with a pioneering chapter leader is remembered at each convention by a memorial gift supporting the joyful music in our liturgies.</li> <li>One member celebrates with a memorial gift the first person who greeted her at a Dignity liturgy the person who welcomed her into an embracing community that she thought she would never find.</li> </ul> <p>You are invited to honor your beloved with a memorial gift that can be expressed in scholarship funds flowers for the chapel music for the choir and accompanists or sponsorship of speakers sessions and events.</p> <p>Your memorial gift will support essential functions of the Convention and celebrate the national gathering of lesbian gay bisexual transgender Catholics and our allies.</p> <p>Please consider making a memorial gift. Memorial gifts will be recognized in the official DignityUSA Convention 2013 program book. For more information on memorial sponsorships please visit the <a href=http://conv2013.dignityusa.org/content/sponsorships-and-donations>Sponsor/Donate page</a> on the <a href=http://conv2013.dignityusa.org>Convention</a> website.</p> <h2>Sponsorships</h2> <p>Each week writer Jamie Manson takes to the margins to see another example of God&rsquo;s grace. In weaving her story Manson continues to remind us of what is written all throughout Scripture: that God is more often found in those who live not in the center of things but on the margins of life. On the edge of our societies and our churches God&rsquo;s grace shines through in the work of those feeding the hungry clothing the naked and quenching those who are thirsty.</p> <p>Jamie will lead a discussion with Professor Thalathia (Nikki) Young in Plenary II to ask how those of us who are LGBT and who have experienced marginalization begin to speak and act from a place of empowerment and compassion. How do we have a compelling voice to offer others who fight their own marginalization and oppression?</p> <p>Dignity/Twin Cities and Dignity/New York have sponsored Jamie&rsquo;s participation in Convention 2013 both in her plenary session and workshop. When a chapter or an individual makes a gift of sponsorship they help to make it possible to bring these questions and conversations to our greater Dignity community. Many thanks to these chapters and others who have generously contributed:</p> <ul> <li>Dignity/Chicago: James Cappleman/Richard Thale Workshop</li> <li>John Nangle: Maureen Fiedler SL</li> <li>Bill Baird and John Kennedy: Opening Ceremonies</li> <li>Dignity/Washington DC</li> </ul> <p>Thanks to these donors and to many others who have made general contributions to the Convention. We are grateful for your support.</p> <p>To make a sponsorship gift for Convention 2013 go to the <a href=http://conv2013.dignityusa.org/content/sponsorships-and-donations>Sponsor/Donate</a> tab on the Convention website.</p> <h2>Scholarships</h2> <p>The energy of a DignityUSA convention resides within its people a diverse yet unique mix of God&rsquo;s children sharing their gifts passions and life experiences. At the Convention we stand witness to the world that we all deserve a place at the table. Maybe you can&rsquo;t preside over liturgy sing in the choir or lead a plenary session. Maybe you are not the best dancer the most eloquent speaker or the most charismatic leader but by being a sponsor you make it possible for others to shine. In a way it&rsquo;s almost as if you aredoing all those things yourself but you are also helping make the DignityUSA community more expansive more inclusive and ultimately more Christ-like. Here is a testimonial to the impact of a scholarship:</p> <blockquote> <p>&ldquo;As LGBT Catholics we have all experienced rejection in the Church. And therein lies the power of the DignityUSA Convention: Catholics from all walks of life with all sexual orientations genders and gender identities coming together as role models for what church should be. Ironically sometimes practical concerns such as personal finances can prevent us from attending the DignityUSA Convention. That is why being sponsored through a scholarship is so important! We don&rsquo;t want DignityUSA&rsquo;s model of inclusive church to be limited to only those who can afford to travel to the Convention.</p> <p>&ldquo;Because I attended the DignityUSA Convention I now feel more educated and more energized. The Convention reminds me that we are all part of a larger progressive church movement and it inspires me to learn more about what is going on at other chapters and in other progressive church organizations. And to think that I wouldn&rsquo;t have experienced any of this if someone hadn&rsquo;t said &ldquo;yes!&rdquo; to sponsoring me!&rdquo;</p> </blockquote> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>