Posts Tagged ‘Faith and Identity’
An Entire Universe of Life: A conversation with Julie Wood
“Mom, isn’t it amazing that in every “body” is an entire universe of life?” – Ben Wood in “Changing the Message”* Believe Out Loud sat down with LGBT activist and author Julie Wood to discuss how the loss of her son, Ben, to suicide in 2013 led her to dedicate her life to LGBT advocacy…
Read MoreHoliday Emotions While Quarantined: A Queer Reconsideration of Intimacy and Ritual
Believe Out Loud Fridays is a new series of spiritual reflections—pieces that connect our identities and lived experiences with sacred texts and spiritual guidance. In this week’s reflection, Union Theological Seminary students and BOL interns Kimberley Gordy and Sulkiro Song draw on Scripture and ritual to embrace the moments of “wilderness” many of us experience…
Read MoreChurch Beyond Walls
Believe Out Loud Fridays is a new series of spiritual reflections—pieces that connect our identities and lived experiences with sacred texts and spiritual guidance. This week’s reflection focuses on finding communities of belonging and the meaning of church. Earlier this year, when shelter-at-home took effect, a debate arose about what constitutes a church. Both sides…
Read MorePhysical Movement Is A Form of Self-Love
Believe Out Loud Fridays is a new series of spiritual reflections – pieces that connect our identities and lived experiences with sacred texts and spiritual guidance. This week’s reflection focuses on physical exercise as a divinely aligned act of self-love. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him…
Read MoreBeing alone with God: Reflections on The Soul of the Stranger
[Above: Joy Ladin reads at the Intersections office on March 10, 2020] On March 10, 2020, Believe Out Loud and Intersections hosted author and academic Joy Ladin in our New York office for a reading and discussion celebrating her book The Soul of the Stranger: Reading God and Torah from a Transgender Perspective. It was…
Read MoreImitating God’s Heart
I grew up in the Baptist Church and we did not commemorate the liturgical season of the Christian Church. When I became a pastor, it was my church in Sacramento that schooled me on Advent and Lent. I developed a deep appreciation for the spiritual concepts of developing patience (a core part of anticipation of…
Read MoreFaith Journeys: Being True to Who You Are -Bishop Tonyia M. Rawls & Reverend Debra J. Hopkins in Conversation
In this episode, we meet Bishop Tonyia M. Rawls and Reverend Debra J. Hopkins: two LGBT faith leaders based in Charlotte, NC. The long-time friends sit down to discuss the ways their faith shaped the acceptance of their sexuality and gender identity, and how that self-acceptance shaped their ministries. Created by: Ben Ohene, and Victoria…
Read MoreFaith Journeys: Converging Community
In part two of our interview with an LGBT interfaith couple, we explore the open and affirming religious institutions and community spaces where they can express their faith freely. Believe Out Loud accompanied them to an interfaith Iftar, which bridged the spiritual traditions of Islam and Christianity. This interview was recorded anonymously to protect the…
Read MoreFaith Journeys: Coming Out, Together
Believe Out Loud sat down to interview an LGBT interfaith couple about how they met and how their religious upbringings influenced their ability to live authentically as LGBT persons of faith. This interview was recorded anonymously to protect the couple’s identity. Created by: Victoria Anderson and Ben Ohene Background Tracks: Archive.org – Encyclopedia Britannica “Pakistan”…
Read MorePersonal Transformations: Learning to Embrace “The Gay”
Nearly all of our best and most important transformations are prompted by personal connections, when what was once theoretical becomes achingly personal and powerful enough to blast through our preconceived, long-held beliefs. It’s why, with fewer and fewer gay people staying in the closet, more and more of us are being transformed by those personal connections,…
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