Posts by Believe Out Loud
Methodist Minister On Trial: Rev. Schaefer Responds
Rev. Frank Schaefer was found “guilty” of performing his son’s wedding to another man by the United Methodist Church on November 19. He was given a 30-day suspension, at the end of which he was given the choice to either completely renounce his ministry to the LGBT community and pledge to never perform another same-sex…
Read MoreIs Attending Church Worth The Risk?
Visit our Welcoming Church Map to find a welcoming & affirming church near you. “Church starts at 9:30,” my dad yells into my room. I immediately text my wife, Oh god! Dad wants me to go to church with him! I don’t know if I can do this. I really don’t want to—should I go…
Read MoreSharing Our Nativity Stories
We each have our own “nativity story.” Mine is that it was a difficult birth, a prolonged labor, my mother turned blue, my father told the doctor she needed oxygen, I was born feet first, my legs were crooked and doctors wanted to put braces on them, but my mother resisted, choosing another therapy: massaging…
Read MoreHoly Days In Barren Places
Each Thanksgiving and Christmas during college, I returned to the home of my childhood, the stable-turned-summer-cottage where my parents had begun their family together. My first chore on arriving would be to empty the Tupperware of refrigerated fuzz and discard the rolled oats webbed with meal moth larvae. Edible food was scarce in that house,…
Read MoreLoving Trans People As Ourselves
Debates over California’s AB 1266, which is scheduled to go into effect in California in January 2014, are bringing out troubling arguments against transgender students in California. AB 1266 restates existing state and federal laws that ensure transgender students can fully participate in all school activities, sports teams, programs, and facilities that match their gender identity.…
Read MoreMary Ann Barclay Reinstated In Methodist Ordination Process
Mary Ann (Kaiser) Barclay, a candidate for ordination in the United Methodist Church who was preemptively removed from her ordination process after she married a woman, will have the opportunity to continue pursuing ordination. In June 2013, Barclay as removed from her ordination process by the Southwest Texas Conference Board of Ordained Ministry. Barclay was…
Read MorePope Francis & Edie Windsor Honored By Time Magazine
Pope Francis was named today as Time magazine’s Person of the Year 2013, while “unlikely activist” Edith Windsor was featured as the runner-up. Honored for his “voice of conscience” and “focus on compassion,” Pope Francis’ unconventional style has revolutionized the way many view the Catholic Church. In a hopeful reflection, blogger Joseph Amodeo asked in…
Read MoreAdvent: The Practice of Active Waiting
When I was a child, the run-up to Christmas was much more churchy than it is today. Every year we started an Advent calendar on December 1 with a picture of the holy family, the shepherds, the kings on camels, the star with glitter glued to it. We opened the doors day by day, so…
Read MoreLove Makes A Family: Queering The Nativity
In 2009, I created my own gay and lesbian nativity scenes for the Christmas season. One had two Marys at the manger with the baby Jesus, and the other featured two Josephs with the Christ child. I put Mary with Mary and Joseph with Joseph—just like putting two brides or two grooms on top of…
Read MorePFLAG: A Spiritual Experience
Rejection, shame, and loneliness are common feelings many of us in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community have experienced, especially after coming out. These are feelings we have encountered from people’s reactions in our churches, families, and circles of friends. What would be the opposite? The tangible answer is Parents, Families, & Friends of…
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