Posts by pwsbuilder
10 Ways To Include LGBTQ People In Your Congregation
1. Hire LGBTQ leaders to serve in your congregation: 2. Host small groups conversations on LGBTQ inclusion: 3. Denomination-wide policy changes can lead the way: 4. Organize your congregation to show up at LGBTQ events: 5. A note to LGBTQ people—our presence makes a difference: 6. Believe Out Loud with inclusive language and church-wide statements: 7.…
Read MoreChanging Minds: A Young Seminarian Learning to Love
As a young seminarian in the late 1970’s, I enjoyed being a graduate student on the campus of a major university in the Midwest. The big library and vast intellectual community were a thrill, but the greatest joy was attending Sunday services at the university’s chapel, an elaborate modernist/Gothic building on the edge of campus.…
Read MoreNaomi Christine Leapheart Appointed Task Force’s New Faith Work Director
The National LGBTQ Task Force is pleased to announce the appointment of Naomi Christine Leapheart, MDiv as the organization’s Faith Work Director. “I’m delighted to join the National LGBTQ Task Force as the Faith Work Director. What a joy it is to be able to go to work every day and use my experience and…
Read MoreBeing Trans In An Age Of Violence
Trigger warning: description of transphobia, violence, and physical assault I grew up in Northern Mexico, the Republic of Texas, and learned to think thru my body and not only depend on rational thinking per se. As an always gender non-conforming person who later found a home in naming themselves a non-binary Transgender person, I have…
Read MoreI am Angry, & My Faith Tells Me I Can Do Something About It
I am very angry, and I am usually the consensus builder. The racial tension, violence, and the growing backlash to marriage equality and trans visibility makes the everyday life feels like a powder keg. There needs to be some kind of release from all the pain, anger, suffering and injustice. This summer I reached the…
Read MoreUnited Methodist Church’s “Way Forward” Erases LGBTQI People
Last Wednesday the executive committee of The United Methodist Church Council of Bishops announced that they had sent out invitations to the people they hoped would constitute the special commission formed at General Conference to discuss the vexing issue of whether and how the church will continue to discriminate against LGBTQI people. Lots of people…
Read MoreCatholic & LGBT Advocates Give Mixed Reactions To Pope Francis’ Latest Remarks
Pope Francis’ latest comments on LGBT issues, in which he both called for more competent and case-by-case pastoral care for transgender people and said there was a “world war to destroy marriage,” have provoked strong reactions. You can read a report on the papal remarks by clicking here, and you can find New Ways Ministry’s response by…
Read MorePainting Perpetua & Felicity: Patron Saints Of Same-Sex Couples
In the current political climate, many claim that LGBTQ folks have achieved full equality since same-sex marriage was dubbed legal in 2015. I remember celebrating the Supreme Court’s decision as my wife, toddler, and I packed up our home and set off on a year-long journey volunteering throughout the country. We left the day after…
Read MoreNorth Carolina LGBTQ Faith Organizer Training Postponed
First and foremost, we send prayers of love, comfort, and healing to the family of Keith Lamont Scott and all other families in North Carolina and beyond who have lost loved ones as a result of state-sanctioned violence. As a coalition of LGBTQ affirming people of faith, we are committed to equality and justice for…
Read MorePilgrimage Of Mercy Seeks Equality For LGBTQ Catholics
Greg Bourke and his husband were plaintiffs in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that brought the freedom to marry to same-sex couples nationwide in June 2015. Now the men, who were named Persons of the Year by the National Catholic Reporter, are leading a “Pilgrimage of Mercy” to celebrate and recognize LGBT Catholics—and calling…
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