Posts Tagged ‘Jesus’
Does Your Church Welcome LGBTQ People?
I hold the church personally responsible for any LGBTQ person who walks away from God and Christianity. Every week, I get emails from individuals all across the country who are full of desire to be a part of a church. They want to go on the church-wide mission trip, join the choir, serve in the…
Read MoreBecause You Are, Therefore I Am
“Because you are, therefore I am,” was the greeting that Dr. Ezra Chitando from Zimbabwe expressed to our amazing group of African scholars, theologians, faith leaders, activists and students at the Thorn Tree Lodge, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Dr. Chitando’s words to us were more than a greeting as they are often spoken in the context…
Read MoreBoston’s Cardinal O’Malley: LGBT Church Worker Firings “Need to be Rectified”
In a one-to-one conversation following a public speaking engagement, Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley said that the firing of church workers because of LGBT issues is a situation that “needs to be rectified,” becoming the first prelate to speak against this trend. Earlier in the evening, the cardinal publicly spoke positively of the need to include and minister to the…
Read MoreMy Faith. My Mississippi.
I am Denise Donnell. I am an ordained elder in the Mississippi Conference in the United Methodist Church. I have been a member of the clergy for the last eight years of my life. I wish I could tell you that I have always been a friend of the LGBT community, but that is not…
Read More“I Had No Idea Your Blog Was Gay”
After posting the link to my blog, Progressive Christian Reflections, last week on a number of Facebook pages, I took our dog Hobbes to the park and began to wonder what I would write for my next post. I returned to find an e-mail that simply said, “Unsubscribe me. I had no idea that your…
Read MoreDear Pope Francis, Help Save My Vocation
Dear Pope Francis, In your time as Pope, your commitment to poverty has awakened the world to the evils of globalization, capitalism, and materialism. Many now understand poverty to be a structural sin and social evil. Through your public statements, you have sparked the interest of Catholics and non-Catholics, believers and atheists. The world looks…
Read MoreMaking HIV Medication Affordable For All
When it was evening, the disciples came to Jesus and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”––Matthew 14:…
Read MoreWhere We Go Next
Two weeks ago, I was invited to the White House. I received an email asking me to be present for President Obama signing his executive order banning LGBT employment discrimination by federal contractors. It was an incredible honor to be present for a historical event like that. The whole event went by fast, but I…
Read MoreGay Games 2014: Sponsored By Cleveland’s United Church Of Christ
A generation of young Americans is rejecting Christianity because they widely perceive it to be anti-gay and, as such, “shallow,” “anti-intellectual,” “insincere,” and even “hypocritical.” That wasn’t the finding of some ultraliberal gay group, but rather the conclusion reached by conservative Christian pollsters, the Barna Group, who conducted a groundbreaking study in the mid-2000s and found…
Read MoreIn Honor of Our Lost LGBTQ Children
Ryan Robertson died five years ago this week. In his honor, friends and I have chosen an orange icon on Facebook as it was Ryan’s favorite color. We also honor all the LGBTQ people who have died from rejection, bullying, and ill-fated “therapy”—marginalization, in all its forms. Ryan is one of many LGBTQ men and women who was pushed…
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