A Global Justice Church

Sunshine Cathedral is a Global Justice Church!
     On February 9th, the Sunshine Cathedral Board of Directors voted unanimously for Sunshine Cathedral to partner with the Global Justice Institute.
     GJI sends out press releases and calls to prayerful action in response to a number of justice issues throughout the world, and often sends representatives to justice-seeking and consciousness raising events, such as peace conferences, the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Selma to Montgomery March, a gay pride parade in Jamaica, a visit to an AIDS orphanage in Africa, etc. GJI also does important on the ground work in places where it is very dangerous to be lesbian, gay, or transgender; such work has included encouraging people in Malaysia and training women in Pakistan to have a trade so they can be independent and safe.
     The Global Justice Institute was originally comprised of MCC spiritual activists from around the globe …They were passionate about the Gospel as a radical social manifesto and about the belief that Queer rights are human rights.
     GJI’s work quickly expanded to include projects or partnerships in Pakistan, Malaysia, Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada, parts of the United States, Eastern Europe and parts of Africa.
     They were committed to the Yogyakarta Principles and to general guidelines that stipulated GJI would
     *go only where invited
     *assume there was a lot to learn
     *listen to those who hosted GJI teams
     *forge partnerships
     *respond when required
     *understand that the  priority was always the furtherance of the human rights effort on the ground
     GJI adopted a Mission Statement that read in part: “to be an agent of change by building bridges that liberate and unite voices of sacred defiance…in acts of justice.”
     The Global Justice Institute was started by MCCers but as of 2011 is a separately incorporated 501{c}3 that is housed in the offices of Metropolitan Community Church in New York City (a church with a passionate outreach to homeless LBGT youth).
     The Rev. Elder Pat Bumgardner is the Executive Director of the Institute. The Institute is incorporated in New York State and its bylaws comply with requirements therein.
     Sunshine Cathedral’s partnership with and support of the Global Justice Institute will allow us to reach more people not only with a message of hope but also with life-changing aid. With this partnership, Sunshine Cathedral is officially a Global Justice Church.