Ronald Lawson - SDA Kinship

[Asia Joe]

Ronald L. Lawson, an Australian sociologist; scholar of global Adventism, sectarian religions, and urban conflicts; and co-founder of Seventh-day Adventist Kinship International—the Adventist LGBTQ+ advocacy organization—died on August 3, 2026 at his home in Loma Linda, California. Lawson, who had been beset with various health issues in recent years, was 86.....

Lawson was born on January 6, 1940, in Sydney, Australia. After graduating from Toowoomba Grammar School in 1958, he matriculated at University of Queensland, Brisbane, eventually earning a bachelor’s degree in history in 1963, and a PhD in history and sociology in 1970. The following year, he won a Fulbright Travel Grant to New York City, where he became a post-doctoral visiting scholar at Columbia University and studied urban conflicts. 

After teaching at both Columbia and Hunter College, City University of New York, in 1984, he became a professor in the urban studies department at Queens College, CUNY, where he taught until his retirement in 2009. 

It was during his nearly forty years living in New York that he helped found the organization that would eventually become SDA Kinship, after he placed advertisements in the gay magazine The Advocate, seeking to connect with other gay and queer Adventists. Eventually, with these contacts, he organized the first meeting of queer Adventists in the summer of 1980. The gathering led to the formation of SDA Kinship, which continues to hold annual conventions called “Kampmeetings.” 

 

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That explains so MANY things. 

[Hanseng]

I respect what Ron Lawson accomplished as a sociologist. He had a career that some might call illustrious. He is the one most often credited[?] with Kinship's founding; however, a Spectrum or Kinship article, some time back, rightly acknowledged the roll Ben Pickell played in Kinship's founding. Ben was not an SDA when he placed an ad in a gay magazine inviting gay SDA to contact him. Since his connection to Adventism is somewhat sordid, likely a slick PR move for Kinship to upplay Ron Lawson. He had deep SDA ties.

[Gregory Matthews]

Dr. Lawson wqs a very complex person.  For more important information related to hlim, please see my post also in thlis section of CA.  Thanks for ke ping your  comm ents respectful.

[Hanseng]

The homosexual community has established a secure beachhead in Adventism--Kinship.  The denomination made a serious mistake in trying the Kinship issue in secular court. Apparently, they didn't learn much from the Pacific Press case, which they also lost. If the denomination is serious about its disapproval of homosexuality, it could simply disfellowship openly gay members, ban them from church properties, and fire denominational employees. Non-gay partisans should br treated in a similar manner. Problem is that many congregations and some institutions. are in the pro-gay camp. Disfellowshipping takes place in the local congregation, not conference headquarters.  When the Burbank SDA church ran afoul of the local conference over money/ personnel issues, the conference padlocked the church building. A congregation hires an openly gay pastor, the local conference, Pilate style, simply washes its hands. Dr. Lawson will likely go down in SDA history as the man who established the gay/lesbian agenda among SDA, a legacy in which he would take great pride, [pun intended]. I corresponded with him in the past. He was respectful and pleasant. There is a lot about him to admire, including his exposure of Quest. He fought well for a cause he believed in.

[Gregory Matthews]

His eposlurea of quest, on the Internet runs to 43 pages.

Thje power that you suggest. in som,e cases, belongs to the local congregation and not to the  organized  Conference.  To    remove a  total congregation is only done by a vote kot all congregations.

[Gustave]

This group that Nelson was (sort of) credited with starting (the kinship group). What was the real purpose of this group? Was it a group whose goals were to provide better counseling to active homosexuals in an attempt to bring them into a more compliant Christian lifestyle? Or was the groups intention to identify homosexuals to make it easier for them to connect and enjoy homosexual acts? Sort of like the LGBT bumper stickers you see on the back of cars which it appears the primary purpose is to advertise the occupant is friendly to acts of buggery. I honestly don't know about this man but clearly, he appears to have been highly educated and productive in his professional work life. 

[Gregory Matthews]

In my  personal opinion, i believe that one goal of Kinship was to provide spiritual care to a group of people who were not thought to be getting it in Adventism, without asking  them to change their sexuality.