Oasis Carbondale

11/28/2021

Good evening everyone!

We will be having a Christmas get-together on December 9 at 7pm at Church of the Good Shepherd (515 S. Orchard Dr., Carbondale). We will catch up and celebrate together!

You're invited to bring a White Elephant gift under $10. Gifts can be goofy, sensible, creative whatever! Thrift store/second-hand finds are ENCOURAGED! Your local Buy Nothing Facebook group is a good place to look, too. 😊(Unfamiliar with White Elephant and how it's played? Here's good old Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elephant_gift_exchange)
*If you need help buying/finding a gift for this game, reach out to me and we'll work it out. ☺

You may also bring food/beverages to share. (No alcohol or nut products, please.) ☕

As we gather again, remember the 3 Ws:
1)Wear your mask.
2) Watch your distance (especially when eating and drinking).
3) Wash your hands.
(Can you tell I work at an elementary school? 😂)

Note: This party is on the 2nd Thursday of the month, going against our usual schedule. This will be our only meeting/gathering in December. There will be no meeting on Dec. 2 or 16.

Thank you! I'm excited to see you!

Kristen (she/her)

A white elephant gift exchange,[1] Yankee swap[2] or Dirty Santa[3][nb 1] is a party game where amusing and impractical gifts are exchanged during festivities. The goal of a white elephant gift exchange is to entertain party-goers rather than to gain a genuinely valuable or highly sought-after item.

10/29/2021

CARBONDALE — In response to the evangelist who spread homophobic rhetoric on SIU campus on Oct. 4, university organizers have planned a Pride rally to show students they are supported.

10/22/2021

The Stress and Trauma Treatment Center and Rainbow Café are proud to announce two new groups for LGBTQ+ youth in southern Illinois. Middle school and high school age therapy groups will start the first week of November and provide a supportive environment for youth to discuss topics such as mental health, trust and relationships, coping with stress, coming out, exploring identity, and more!

The middle school group will meet on Mondays from 5 to 6:30pm starting November 1st.

The high school group will meet on Tuesdays from 6 to 7:30pm starting November 2nd.

Both groups will meet at Rainbow Café, located at 1320 Giant City Road Suite F, Carbondale IL.

Register ahead of time through the following link https://forms.gle/kvzDL6iAVEnUb7Ey9

For more information, questions about confidentiality, or to be involved, contact Kyle Miller at [email protected] or call/text (618) 687-8005.

10/10/2021

Hi, all!

I realized I ran into a scheduling snafu that actually works in my favor. Last month, instead of meeting on just the 1st and 3rd Thursdays, we accidentally met every other week, including a rare 5th Thursday. Since, I was still in the mindset of meeting every other week, I only just now realized we missed meeting on the first Thursday of October (sorry if anyone noticed and was disappointed!). I was about to send you all email to tell you that Oasis would be canceled this week, because I'll have family in town, but then realized, it's the 2nd Thursday anyway!

So basically, we had a bonus meeting in September and missed the first Thursday of October. Let's get back on track meeting the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month, making our next meeting October 21st.

Remember, if you have a topic in mind that you would like to lead a meeting on, let me know!

Hope you're having a nice October!

Thanks for understanding!

10/01/2021

Tonight we discussed purity culture and its long-lasting impact on people. We discussed how the church can help people heal from the shame caused by purity culture and have healthy, shamefree conversations about sexuality going forward.

During the 1990’s and 2000’s the Purity Movement took hold in many Christian churches around the U.S., establishing an expectation for young people to not en...

09/15/2021

At this Thursday's meeting, we'll discuss this talk by Rachel Held Evans and how we can ask better questions and have meaningful, authentic conversations about the Bible. (Note: In this particular video, Rachel uses male pronouns when referring to God.)

If you want the zoom link to join our meeting, send us a message!

https://youtu.be/9Ob-0eOSkqw

08/20/2021

Last night we discussed this digital devotional from the amazing Urban Village Church, Chicago and Habakkuk 3:17-19. We talked about what it looks and feels like to rejoice and lament at the same time, particularly in times of grief and tragedy. While some interpretations of texts like this can inspire toxic positivity that may gaslight rather than help, we discussed how rejoicing in the Lord can mean sitting with your hard feelings in the presence of God. ❤

https://youtu.be/GIGf2YSKP3I

08/04/2021

Good morning!

Due to the high rates of transmission of COVID in our region, our meeting tomorrow will be held on Zoom. I am considering doing zoom meetings until it is cool enough to meet outside, if rates don't go down before then. I know this is disappointing, since we just started meeting in person, but I want to be careful to keep you all safe and healthy.

If you are not currently receiving emails from Oasis, but would like to receive information like this, as well as links for zoom meetings, please send us a message.

Thank you! ❤

07/28/2021

Amazing work from founding member Danielle Schultz as she continues her advocacy in Ohio!

Margie’s Closet is so much more than somewhere to buy and donate clothes. It’s a place for finding family.

07/28/2021

REMINDER: We meet the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month. See you in August! ❤

07/23/2021

Golden Rainbows in Illinois South, a program of Rainbow Cafe LGBTQ Center, is a group for those age 51+ in the LGBTQIA+ community. They will be meeting once monthly and include guest speakers, activities, and social time.