As GLAD Alliance members gather in Fort Worth, Texas, Saturday, July 21, we won't be saying good by to Moderator Patricia Case, but she will be saying good-bye to her title as Moderator and passing the title to Maria Perez. Case will take on the task of Secretary of the Council for the remainder of her term.
Current Moderator Patricia Case has resigned as Moderator, effective at the end of the General Assembly. The Council has elected Maria Perez to the position.
Case told the Council that she wants a smooth transition to new leadership. She will serve as Moderator until the end of the Assembly, allowing Perez to prepare for her new role. “The move prepares the way for the Council to take important next steps in helping GLAD widen the welcome among Disciples” said Case.
More than a year ago, the Council charged the Moderator with helping the organization develop stronger relationships across the life of the church, particularly among communities of color.
Last fall, Case helped guide the Council in framing a General Assembly pre-event that would support this aim. Jessica Vazquez, a Disciples community organizer and anti-racism trainer, will keynote the pre-assembly event at University Christian Church in Ft. Worth, TX on Saturday, July 21. The GLAD Banquet at the Assembly on Tuesday July 24 at the Renaissance Worthington Hotel features Sylvia Rhue, Director of Religious Affairs of the National Black Justice Coalition. The NBJC is a civil rights organization dedicated to empowering Black same-gender-loving, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people.
But in the long-term, GLAD Council leadership will be critical to keeping momentum behind the effort to bridge historic and cultural gaps between the LGBTQ community and communities of color among Disciples.
“This relationship calls for a leader with Spanish/English language skills and for a leader known well and trusted by the racial/ethnic communities of Disciples,” Case told the Council. “Maria Perez meets both these criteria, and then some.”
Perez, who is bilingual, served as moderator of the National Hispanic Convención, a position that placed her in leadership of Hispanic Disciples all over North America.
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