Our Story
Protestants for the Common Good (Chicago, IL)
Protestants for the Common Good, founded in 1995, was a progressive, faith-related voice to influence public policy and to set the moral tone for our country, in our state legislatures and in Congress. In 2004, a group of clergy associated with PCG gathered in an independent work-group, later to be named "The American Protestant Union." The purpose of this work-group was to help make a way for seminarians and ministers who lost standing with their faith communities due to their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender presentation.
Our first Ecumenical, "EXTRA-ORDINARY" Ordination
Clergy from several Protestant denominations participated in the first ecumenical "extraordinary ordination in 2005, including current Vice-President Rev. Connie Binilingbing (American Baptist), Rev. Greg Dell (late United Methodist pastor), and other clergy from the UUA, UCC, PC-USA, and other mainline denominations. Among those in the 2005 group of ordinands include our current President, Rev. Dr. Daniel Rodriguez Schlorff.
Our 2011 Vision Session
It was unclear what the Protestants for the Common Good would do in the future when its then Executive Director, Rev. Alexander E Sharp, would resign in 2012. And so, a critical moment in the life of the American Protestant Union was our 2011 Vision Session. Participants, mostly queer ordinands who had ended up finding church positions, cast a vision to become a proper denomination which is recognized by both Church and State within 10 years and to be able to endorse chaplains within 15 years.
Re-Vision 2020
During the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020, Rev. Dr. Daniel Rodriguez Schlorff, the APU President, put before the Board of Directors a harsh reality: The American Protestant Union was going to become a victim of the novel Coronavirus if swift action was not taken. While some Directors came to the end of their lives, others left the board due to burnout. For Schlorff, the choice was to "go big or go home." The Re-Vision of the newly revamped Board included new challenges: (1) helping people who have been wounded by the Church, and (2) helping the Church stop wounding people.
Re-Structure 2020
The Executive Team of the Board of Directors recruited a new batch of Directors and divided into three three work groups to address the two needs of Re-Vision 2020. They also added another board called the Board of Stewards for laity to coordinate operations and resource development.