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The Irwin Phelps Conference Scholarship Fund by Rick Fernández It has been said that we stand on the shoulders of giants and so it is with Irwin Phelps, former executive director of Affirmation who was tragically murdered shortly after the 1992 Affirmation Conference. In response to the pain we felt from his loss, our leaders chose, wisely, to create a conference scholarship fund that would bear his name. I am deeply honored to be asked to share my thoughts on him and the fund. Conference for many of us is the annual high point of our experience in Affirmation. Conference provides us with a singular opportunity to gather in solidarity with each other and thereby gain renewed strength, vision, commitment, and purpose. Creating and expanding on these is what Irwin Phelps ardently worked for in his all too brief association with Affirmation. As the struggling new director of the Affirmation chapter in Phoenix, I benefited immeasurably from his participation in our chapter. His wisdom, counsel, friendship and strength were my mainstays, and he provided them with his distinctive patience and calming influence. His support was there, not just in large matters, but also most valuably in the many small things that always came up. We are weakened because he is no longer physically present with us. However, we are also strengthened to the extent that we keep alive his memory and are thus inspired to continue his good works. Thus, it is fitting and right that his name be associated with the conference scholarship program. Those whose attendance the Irwin Phelps scholarship fund makes possible are chosen not only by financial need but also by their willingness to contribute of their time and resources to Affirmation. It is appropriate that it should be so. Irwin inspired many, including myself, to have the courage to lead when inertia or apathy seemed the easier, if not the wiser, course. The conference scholarship fund in his memory extends and perpetuates that essential work. This is no mere rhetoric. Virtually every chapter has someone, like the Portland chapter to which I belong, who is in leadership and who would not be there had they not been able to come to conference and experience Affirmation at its best. The Irwin Phelps fund continues to foster new courage, new generosity, and new commitment from which all of Affirmation benefits. We can show no greater honor and appreciation towards Irwin than by our own renewed commitment to furthering the work of Affirmation, not only by great works and acts, but by the little acts of daily courage and compassion that transform and renew our communities and our lives. Tax-deductible donations and pledges can be made directly to Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons. Donations can be made by credit card using PayPal (use link on the top left) or by check to the address below: Affirmation c/o Irwin Phelps Scholarship
PO Box 898 Anoka, MN 55303 Or call or send e-mail for more information to our
national treasurer Bruce Maughan: brmaughan (at) dc.rr.com.
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