From the Center for Health and Hope
CENTENNIAL, Colo., Nov. 25, 2016 | Bishop Karen Oliveto, the first openly lesbian United Methodist Bishop, will receive the 2016 Paul and Paula Murphy Award in Human Sexuality from the Center for Health and Hope at World AIDS Day observances in Denver, Colorado.
Karen Oliveto
Bishop-elect Karen Oliveto
Bishop Oliveto was elected to the episcopacy in July and appointed to serve the Mountain Sky Episcopal Area of The United Methodist Church.
The Murphy Award each year honors those who work in church and society for inclusiveness. In announcing the award, Rev. Dr. Donald E. Messer, Center Executive Director, noted that “Bishop Oliveto has dared to break the sin and scandal of stigma and discrimination that the church has laid upon its members and leaders. By being open about her own sexual orientation, she has demonstrated sexual health and spiritual hope for Christians everywhere.”
Bishop Oliveto will receive the citation and preach at the 7 pm World AIDS Day services Dec. 4, 2016, at Christ Church United Methodist, 690 Colorado Blvd, Denver. A long-time AIDS activist for persons in the USA and Kenya, she will be tested publicly to emphasize the importance of everyone knowing their status.
The Center for Health and Hope supports and advocates for persons infected and affected by HIV and AIDS around the world. The Center’s projects include financially supporting 260 AIDS orphans and countless street children in Kenya, a free clinic for HIV positive women and children in India, AIDS workshops for United Methodist youth and clergy in Rwanda and the Philippines, the Tucson Interfaith AIDS Network in Arizona, and an African-American HIV program in Denver focused on the homeless and persons recently released from prison.
The Murphys were founding members of the Center’s Board of Directors. During their lifetimes, Rev. Paul Murphy served as a United Methodist pastor and District Superintendent in the Rocky Mountain Conference, and his wife, Dr. Paula Murphy, was a professional counselor specializing in human sexuality. He began conducting same-sex unions forty years ago. Together they conducted church workshops throughout the region, encouraging inclusiveness, acceptance, and clergy sexual ethics. An award is given each year in their honor.