At the June Chapter Council meeting something came up that prompted the response "that’s like preaching to the choir." That phrase in turn got me to thinking about Dignity's role or place within the greater GLBT community in San Diego and elsewhere.

What I am about to share with you is my personal view of a subject that is dear to us all - Dignity's present and future role in history. If my viewpoint prompts you to agree or disagree, it is my hope that you would share your viewpoint as well.

I have long believed that one of the missions of Dignity is to "preach to the choir" in a manner of speaking. By that I mean, as prophetic people, we are called upon to spread the news that homosexuality and spirituality are indeed compatible and not at all contradictory as some would have us believe. It petty much goes without saying that we are called upon to educate the heterosexual part of the population about the goodness and wholeness of being gay. Please note: I said educate, not indoctrinate.

There is however, another responsibility that we have as members of Dignity, I believe. That responsibility is to us. We often take for granted that Dignity is a respected and well-known affirming organization within the GLBT community.

What has become glaringly apparent from my perspective is that Dignity has much work yet to do within the GLBT community. What troubles me so is that for every gay & lesbian Catholic who finds comfort and affirmation in Dignity there are countless others who have turned their backs to the church because at one time our church stopped "preaching to the choir" and the choir left. Without that choir there has been a void which cries to be filled.

Dignity, for many, fills that void. I can't help but be reminded of the fact that while we have a duty to educate the broader spectrum of society, we also have a duty to reconnect our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender brothers and sisters with their Catholic faith.

If showing our support of Gay Pride with advertising in the annual Pride Program is "preaching to the choir" then I am all for it. If issuing press releases to the gay press is "preaching to the choir" then I am all for it.

What really brought the need for "preaching to the choir" home to me was during my participation at last year's Creating Change Conference in San Diego. While there is much attention paid to the political arena to create change among the GLBT community there is scant attention paid to the importance of religion in our lives and the impact it has.

Dignity has an obligation to preach the good news and to right the wrongs that have been perpetrated over the decades. We are called to be a prophetic people.