State of the Organization and Chairman's Message

Report from the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Larry Richman
Delivered Saturday, September 22, 2007 at the 17th Annual Evergreen conference

As is tradition at this awards dinner, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees gives a State of the Organization message to give an accounting of what has happened the past year and also to provide a Chairman’s Message.

Evergreen Organization

Evergreen International, Inc. is incorporated in the State of Utah as a non-profit 501 (c)(3) corporation. Evergreen is governed by a Board of Trustees which has fiduciary and oversight responsibility to ensure that the organization’s goals and objectives are carried out according to the Mission Statement. Trustees serve without compensation. Let me introduce the Trustees to you:

I am the Chairman of the Board
Julie Haws is the Vice-Chairman
The two of us, plus Lee Chambers form the Executive Committee

The remainder of the Trustees are

Dr. Shirley E. Cox
Vera E. Eccles
David Gossner
David Grimley
Elder L. Lionel Kendrick
Elder James O. Mason
Dr. Janet S. Scharman

Evergreen also has two employees:

David Pruden (the Executive Director) and
Rebekah Mohr (the Office Manager)

Evergreen Priorities

The Board of Trustees keeps Evergreen’s efforts focused on three priorities: (1) being a referral service, (2) developing resources, and (3) providing education. I’d like to give an accounting of our results this past year and our plans for the coming year in these three areas:

1. Referral service

We maintain a network of therapists and affiliate groups to whom we can refer people for help. Over the years, we have developed a list of over a thousand resources across the country and in other countries. This is the world’s largest database of this kind. It includes information on therapists who have specific training in same-sex attraction, LDS Family Services agencies, growth and accountability groups, and other organizations that can help.

We answer over 300 phone calls each month and perhaps twice that number of e-mail messages. Perhaps the most important thing we do is just to be there when a young man, or a bishop or a parent calls for help. They don’t know where to turn and we point them to resources and help and give them hope. We have information packets we happily send out upon request.

We also nurture and provide help to growth and accountability groups. We have 28 active support groups, with another 8 beginning to form. We are working with LDS Family Services to provide assistance with many of these groups, especially those which are now forming. We also have various online groups in English, Spanish, and other languages.

2. Resources

The Evergreen Web site, evergreeninternational.org, which contains nearly 600 pages of information, has been visited nearly 600,000 times, with over two million pages viewed. Some of the site is now available in several languages.

The Evergreen site also provides links to related Web sites that have a wealth of information. For example, some Evergreen participants have recently created the Web site samesexattraction.org which has the same philosophy as Evergreen, but rather than being specifically LDS, it uses general Christian values.

Last year, Evergreen converted its paper newsletter into an e-mail list. You can sign up to receive an Evergreen Update e-mail a few times a month. We’ll keep you informed about additions to the Web site, new products in the bookstore, and Evergreen events. We’ll also tell you about things outside of Evergreen, such as news events about same-sex attraction, other Web sites, or requests from others to participate in research studies that we believe are generally positive, even if they are not completely aligned with Evergreen’s philosophy. We’ll let you know about some of these things and let you decide which ones are helpful to you.

We maintain a library at the headquarters office, which you are welcome to use. It has about 500 books, articles, research papers, and audiovisual materials. We recently renamed the library The John and Vera Eccles Library in recognition of their long-time support.

We also maintain relationships with other community and faith-based organizations with goals similar to ours.

In July, we completed a promotional CD about Evergreen—an electronic brochure that gives an overview of same-sex attraction and the services Evergreen provides. We sent out 1,500 in an initial mailing, and within six weeks, we had distributed all 5,000 copies we had. We just got another 5,000 and hope to have all these distributed before too long. We encourage you to get copies of this CD at the bookstore and give them to your bishop and stake president. Perhaps you could hand them a few extras for the other bishops in your stake. Maybe you know of families who could benefit from this information.

3. Education

The 17 annual conferences we have held have been attended by a total of about 6,000 people. The conferences have included major addresses by 12 general authorities, numerous world-renowned speakers, and hundreds of workshops.

Every year, we hold firesides and training meetings.

We maintain close relations with Church leaders and provide training to local leaders upon request. Have your bishop call us if he would like our help in providing training.

We encourage therapist training and development and have helped in training hundreds of therapists.

Another huge resource in the area of education is all the recent Church materials. In the last few months, there have been more Church materials published on the subject of same-sex attraction than perhaps in the previous ten years. For example:

§ The Church booklet God Loveth His Children published in July of this year. We have heard of wards and stakes who are ordering hundreds of this booklet to use in firesides, leadership training meetings, and even in fifth Sunday lessons to teach the correct doctrine on the subject. Even people who aren’t directly effected by same-sex attraction are confused between the lies of the world and the gospel truths.

§ Two Church News articles in July and August.

§ Elder Holland’s 4-page article in the October Ensign.

§ A lengthy interview with Elder Oaks and Wickman on the Church Newsroom site.

§ The Gospel Topics section of LDS.org has an entry on same-gender attraction with links to all the online materials about same-gender attraction. In fact, if you type the Web address samesexattraction.lds.org, it goes directly to that page which will always have links to all the latest Church information on this topic.

So what are we going to do about it? We have prayed for opportunities to share the truth about same-sex attraction. Now we have all these Church materials and we have the Evergreen CD, we need to take advantage and really share them over next two months when they are on the minds of people in your wards and stakes. If we wait too long, the chances may pass us by. Let’s help our fellow Saints to understand this issue a little more so we can collectively be more loving, compassionate, and nurturing of each other.

This coming year, Evergreen intends to step up the pace in finding ways to educate the general membership of the Church and the public. You’ll see us more prominent in the media telling our story that there are positive ways to respond to same-sex attraction. Today, we live in a world where Satan has captured the hearts, minds, and values of many people. His lie is that you are born gay—that this is your true identity. The gospel teaches that you are a child of God with the power to overcome homosexual behavior and live the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to tell that story boldly.

That’s the summary of our three areas of focus. Many people ask us how they can help. Let me quickly mention two ways.

Financial support

Like any non-profit organization, we have to beg for money. We have a few large donors, but we really rely on medium and small donations from people just like you. You can make one-time donations, set up monthly contributions by direct deposit, or indicate “Evergreen International” on your United Way donation form with your employer. Your employer may even match your contributions or make a contribution themselves. You can donate appreciated stock and avoid paying capital gains tax. You can even leave assets to the organization in your will.

Faith and prayers

They have an amazing effect on how this work moves forward. We believe that God wants this work to move forward and that He will bless us as we are ready to make things happen. As an organization, we commit to follow the direction of His prophet without exception.

Chairman’s Message

This has been an amazing conference. Our theme has been from Alma 13:28: "But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering."

We’ve heard from Rich Wyler. We laughed and cried as he related his personal journey and gave us insights into the process. Kristen Johnson shared her experiences and insights on women’s issues. Elder Callister gave us loving, sound advice this morning. And there have been dozens of workshop speakers who have shared their insights with us.

Most of all, I’ve enjoyed being with you. You have come from all across the United States and from Germany, New Zealand, Japan, Costa Rica, and Canada. Every year after a conference, my wife asks me “So how was the conference?” I never know how to answer that question, except with the word “amazing.” I feel the Spirit so strong here. I gain so much strength from each of you. I admire you and the courage you have in struggling with tremendous challenges. Some of you are here in support of someone else. Life is not easy. But I also know that the fight is worth it. And I know you know that the fight is worth it.

President James E. Faust taught: “So where should each of us make our stand? As we demonstrate our devotion to God by our daily acts of righteousness, He can know where we stand. For all of us this life is a time of sifting and refining. We all face trials. Individual members in the early days of the Church were tested and refined when they had to decide if they had the faith . . . to put their belongings in a wagon or a pioneer handcart and travel across the American plains. Some did not have the faith. Those who did traveled 'with faith in every footstep.' In our time we are going through an increasingly difficult time of refining and testing. The tests are more subtle because the lines between good and evil are being eroded. Very little seems to be sacred in any of our public communication. In this environment we will need to make sure where we stand all of the time in our commitment to eternal truths and covenants" ("Where Do I Make My Stand?" Ensign, Nov. 2004, 21).

Some people consider same-sex attraction to be the defining fact of their existence—and people are free to adopt whatever characteristics they want to define their existence. We choose to define ourselves as sons and daughters of a loving God. We know we were born on this earth for a purpose and with a divine destiny, and we won’t let anything get in our way of that.

Elder Richard G. Scott taught us to keep a long-term perspective when he said: “The challenges you face, the growth experiences you encounter, are intended to be temporary scenes played out on the stage of a life of continuing peace and happiness. Sadness, heartache, and disappointment are events in life. It is not intended that they be the substance of life. I do not minimize how hard some of these events can be. When the lesson you are to learn is very important, trials can extend over a long period of time, but they should not be allowed to become the confining focus of everything you do. Your life can and should be wondrously rewarding. It is your understanding and application of the laws of God that will give your life glorious purpose as you ascend and conquer the difficulties of life. That perspective keeps challenges confined to their proper place—stepping-stones to further growth and attainment” (In Conference Report, Oct. 2006, 44; or Ensign, Nov. 2006, 41).

Brigham Young taught: “We talk about our trials and troubles here in this life; but suppose that you could see yourselves thousands and millions of years after you have proved faithful to your religion during the few short years in this time, and have obtained eternal salvation and a crown of glory in the presence of God? Then look back upon your lives here, and see the losses, crosses, and disappointments, the sorrows . . . ; you would be constrained to exclaim, ‘but what of all that? Those things were but for a moment, and we are now here. We have been faithful during a few moments in our mortality, and now we enjoy eternal life and glory, with power to progress in all the boundless knowledge and through the countless stages of progression, enjoying the smiles and approbation of our Father and God, and of Jesus Christ our elder brother’ ” (Brigham Young, in Deseret News (Weekly), 9 Nov. 1859, 1).

After working through issues of same-sex attraction, you won’t be the same person. And thank goodness. You’ll be a better person—more complete, more humble, and more compassionate. And through this struggle, we’ll learn that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real. “And in time we become His tested and strengthened disciples.” (Elder Henry B. Eyring, "In the Strength of the Lord," Ensign, May 2004, 19)

I testify to you that the Lord’s love is real. And with His strength we can face any challenge and become stronger because of it. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Copyright © 2007 Larry Richman. May be photocopied or shared electronically for noncommercial, educational use as long as it is in its entirety and contains this notice. For more information, see www.Evergreeninternational.org.