Posts by Believe Out Loud
Join The Reformation Project To End Homophobia In The Church
When I started coming out in the fall of 2009, I knew that I had a long and uncertain road ahead of me. I was a sophomore at Harvard, and although college offered me a supportive environment, home did not. My conservative church in Kansas took a dim view of same-sex relationships, and I was…
Read MoreWill Churches Be Forced To Marry Same-Sex Couples?
“Religious liberty” is the buzzword of those who are trying to stop the now nearly inevitable legal recognition of same-sex marriage. Recognition of same-sex marriages, they argue, will constitute a real and immediate threat to the religious liberty of people and churches who oppose it. I’m not sure what they think is about to happen.…
Read MoreOut Of Order: A Filmmaker Reflects
Christy Pessagno is a videographer with THEY bklyn working on the independent documentary Out of Order, which follows the journey of three queer members of the Presbyterian Church (USA). I once had someone ask me if I thought of myself as an activist. For a split second I felt ashamed that I couldn’t answer ‘yes’ to this question.…
Read MorePledge To Raise Your Voice
As pastors and church leaders, we are granted special access to the joys and hurts of God’s people. But much too often we abuse that privilege in God’s name, by promoting God’s love with conditions and wrath with fearful living. We unfairly judge people, make them wrong, and exclude them from being shown hospitality in…
Read MoreLove Rising Up, To Break Every Chain
This piece is an excerpt of a sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Sidney Fowler at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C., on Easter Sunday, March 31, 2013. Very early last Tuesday morning, several hundred folks gathered from around the US at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation here in DC. An Interfaith…
Read MoreJesus Loves Me: A Healing Lullaby
In many ways, it was a typical morning. Brothers playing in the sunroom, TV on in the background, a list too long of things to be done. The daily routine interrupted when a playful hug-and-giggle fest led to an unintended crash and burn. Out came my “Mommy the Comforter” hat – a hat which I wear all too often…
Read MoreThe Catholic Activists Behind The Supreme Court DOMA Fight
Millions who watched the news Wednesday undoubtedly saw photos of Edie Windsor walking into the Supreme Court with her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, prepared to challenge the injustices that the Defense of Marriage Act have levied against gay and lesbian couples since it was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996. What most people…
Read MoreResurrected Pieces of the Queer Christ
I no longer have a job. I used to work as a chaplain at a trauma hospital. I didn’t lose my job because of poor performance or lack of ability. I lost my job for following the Queer Jesus and supporting marriage equality. On Palm Sunday, I called my supervisor to ask if I could…
Read MoreFor Those Who Wait
A reflection for Holy Saturday, and for all those who wait. We wait together for the resurrection, having witnessed our Savior’s suffering with the women at the foot of the cross. We wait together for our own healing, having witnessed our Savior’s death at the hands of human failings. Jesus’ very presence on the cross…
Read MoreI Am A Child Of God
I simply cannot pretend to understand as Christian any conversation that includes questions as to whether or not I am an acceptable “way” of being human. I am not a “way” of being human, I am a child of God. For folks who holler about Christians not playing politics, you fundamentally miss the mark. I…
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