- How are you connected with
GLOW?
- How do you pronounce your
name?
- Your name sounds
Scandinavian. Are you?
- Did you have a husband or child that was
gay, or is this something that you have struggled with?
- Do you have a family?
- Where do you go to church?
- What do you do in "real
life"?
-
-
- How are you connected with
GLOW and GLAdventist?
- I'm the original sponsor, web mistress
and administrator of the discussion lists. I couldn't have done it without lots of help from family
and list members, though. [back]
- How do you pronounce your name?
- Most pronounce it as "Inga," and that's how I often
identify myself on the web, since I don't like the thought of my name
being pronounced to rhyme with "hinge." [back]
- Your name sounds Scandinavian. Are you?
- I was born in Germany and immigrated to Canada with my family when I
was ten. [back] [top]
- Did you have a husband or child that was gay, or
is this something that you have struggled with?
- No.
- I first did a little research on
homosexuality late in the 1980's when a favorite male student, whom I
shall call Bob --the son of a college friend -- was shunned by his
peers as a "fag." He was different all right -- he would fit
the "homosexual" stereotype. As an English teacher, I
thoroughly enjoyed having him in my class because he was
thoughtful and creative. I think the only time my students saw me
truly angry was when someone made a disparaging "gay" remark about Bob in another one of my classes.
- I was a member of SDAnet
for several years, and during my time on the list the topic of
homosexuality came up many times.
- Early in 1997, I started a private correspondence with one of the
gay subscribers to that forum after he shared his heart-breaking
story, and we developed a friendship. Within a couple of days of the
SDAnet post, a young male teaching colleague in the Christian school
where I was teaching "came
out" to me about his own background. I knew this young
father to have a deep spiritual commitment, and I had a high respect
for him. He has a mind that falls easily in sync with mine -- curious,
a good sense of humor, interested in the why's and wherefore's of
things. The revelation took me by complete surprise. He was very open
in sharing with me and helped me to understand a lot of things..
- Within two weeks, a schoolmate from an Adventist college wrote to me about
his past. We had been corresponding for
some time, and he had observed my comments on SDAnet. Shortly
thereafter, I posted a note from "Norm" on the forum, and another man
replied to that post and began a correspondence with Norm which I
initially facilitated. In light of current arguments that heterosexual
marriage is not an option for gay people, it is interesting to remember
that this ministry started by facilitating the communication between two
gay men who were both married. That was in 1997, and they still appear
to be happily married.
- That was the seed of the first
discussion list which is now called "GLOWFriends." Later we
added the GLAdventist list for specifically Adventist concerns. For
several years only about a quarter to a third of the combined list
membership was Adventist. The proportions are now (in 2010) almost
reversed.
- Since then I've done much more research, met many gay people, and
formulated my own opinions which may not correlate with anyone else's.
The way things have happened over the last twelve years leaves me
confident that God has been directing this ministry. I just have to
make sure that I stay in touch with Him and don't let myself intrude
too much. [back] [top]
- Do you have a family?
- I have been married to Andrew Anderson since 1963. He's a stubborn
Dane, and I'm a stubborn German. We have quite opposite temperaments
and minds that seldom travel the same path, even though we arrive at
similar destinations philosophically. Our relationship has never been
boring.
- We have five married sons, and, as of 2009, we have five
grand-daughters and four grand-sons.
- My family has undoubtedly suffered from neglect these last thirteen
years, and they deserve a lot of credit for their long-suffering.
More than that -- my husband has supported me in public and in private
-- even though he sees the computer as "the other man" --
and our two youngest have given advice freely regarding the web page.
Sometimes they have even helped. ;-) [back]
[top]
- Where do you go to church?
- My husband and I attend the nearest Seventh-day Adventist church. We
are usually heavily involved with church activities. [back] [top]
- What do you do in "real life"?
- I was a high-school English teacher, but I have also taught science,
math, geology, history and computer science at various times. Right now
I'm retired from teaching, and we have a very large garden, among other
things.
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