Source: Houston Chronicle, Proud Parenting, Soulforce press release
At a press conference in Houston Wednesday, Jay Bakker, a New York City pastor, issued an open invitation to families from Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church - the largest church in the U.S. -- to share a picnic with LGBT families in Houston’s Levy Park on Saturday, May 10, 2008.

The son of evangelical Tammy Faye Bakker Messner hopes to spend his first Mother's Day weekend since her death at a picnic in Houston with members of Osteen's church and members of Houston's LGBT community.

The proposed picnic is part of a nationwide fellowship effort called American Family Outing that aims to create dialogue between LGBT families and families at six American mega-churches.

But Donald Iloff, Lakewood's chief of communications, said Osteen is not likely to attend.

After Bakker and a lesbian mother who supports American Family Outing delivered an invitation to the church, Iloff told the Houston Chronicle that Osteen wasn't able to meet with Bakker or attend the picnic because he is busy writing his Sunday sermon. It's a four-day process, he said.

Iloff went on to say, "If we met to talk, would this group be satisfied if we agreed to disagree? ... Soulforce wants to use Lakewood to further their agenda."

But with or without Osteen, American Family Outing will hold its picnic 11 am to 2 pm Saturday at Levy Park in Houston. The group welcomes people who attend Lakewood Church, Soulforce spokeswoman Paige Schilt said.

Bakker, a high-profile supporter of Soulforce -- a group that fights religious and political oppression of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders -- wants Osteen to join the nontraditional families at a picnic Saturday and welcome them to church on Sunday.

As the tattooed and pierced Bakker spoke at the Soulforce news conference Wednesday, it was clear his mother was in his thoughts, Houston Chronicle reports. Though she died of cancer last July, she remains a near-legend in the LGBT community.

"I want to celebrate my mother's life," said Bakker, pastor of Revolution New York City, "and help spread the message she lived and preached. We need to stop thinking of ourselves as 'us' and 'them.' We hope the families of Lakewood Church will open their hearts and minds to us and sit down and have a conversation and share a meal. ... Let's put our differences aside and share the love and hope of Christ."

Osteen has been largely silent on LGBT issues.

But for Bakker, "That's as destructive as speaking out against the LGBT community."

Bakker began trying to reach Osteen in December as part of the American Family Outing effort. Letters were sent to the pastors of six megachurches, including The Potter's House in Dallas and Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois.

Organizers asked the pastors to meet with members of the LGBT community over a meal and talk about shared family values.

"We want those Christian brothers and sisters who have read terrible untruths about us to meet us and to know who we really are. We are those children of God who happen not to be straight and their straight allies who, like myself, grieve the fact that those who judge us do not really know us," Peggy Campolo wrote in a statment released by the Family Outing project last month. She is a Baptist author and editor.

Campolo joins Bakker and several other Christian leaders who are helping the Family Outing project reach out to the six churches. Other clergy supporters include Rev. Gil Caldwell, Rev. Phil Lawson, and Rev. Troy Sanders.

Several prominent mega-churches, including The Potter’s House in Dallas, Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois, and Hope Christian Church in Maryland, have agreed to meet LGBT families, but Osteen and one other didn't respond, Soulforce's Schilt said.

After Wednesday's news conference, Bakker drove to Lakewood with a local lesbian mother who is an Osteen fan.

"Families come in all forms," said Kim Beggs, a real estate broker. "God loves us."

They were turned away after a brief wait with the assurance that the letters would reach their destination.

"We remain hopeful that the congregation and staff at Lakewood will extend true Christian hospitality and share a meal and conversation with our families," Jeff Lutes, executive director of Soulforce, said in a statement. "Our faith requires us to reach across the aisle, have difficult conversations with those with whom we might disagree, and take a stand for fairness."

American Family Outing is organized by Soulforce along with COLAGE, the National Black Justice Coalition, and the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches.

Full article: Jay Bakker, son of Tammy Faye, invites Pastor Joel Osteen to meet lesbian moms on Mother's Day | ProudParenting.com
Gay group reaches out to Lakewood | Houston Chronicle
Soulforce Releases Open Letter from Jay Bakker to Joel Osteen | Soulforce press release
American Family Outing Seeks to Dispel Divisive Tactics | Soulforce press release