Posts Tagged ‘LGBT-Affirming Religious Voices’
How Understanding Bisexuality Helps Us Understand God
When I worked as a youth leader, I had the pleasure of having a few of my youth come out to me. Having the chance to minister to them as a supportive, understanding adult was a blessing and a responsibility I did not take lightly. While it was certainly serious business, their coming out also…
Read MoreTransgender Woman’s Ministry Continued Long After She Left Priesthood
If you have not heard of Nancy Ledins, who passed away in July at age 84, her story is very much worth reading if you are concerned with Catholic LGBT issues. Prior to her transition, Ledins was an ordained Roman Catholic priest for ten years. A member of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, she…
Read MoreAn Opportunity For Self-Care
Several years ago, I was pastor of a welcoming and affirming church. As a queer clergywoman, one would think that such a place would be the perfect place to flourish and thrive as a pastor. And yet, because of heterosexist and sexist microaggressions, I found myself anxious, depressed, and in need of physical, emotional, psychological,…
Read MoreAffirming LGBTQ People In The Black Church
Much of the pain and suffering LGBTQ African Americans experience in theologically conservative churches happens in silence and secret. Some LGBTQ congregants do not even recognize the source of their pain, because sexuality, let alone non-heterosexuality, is not discussed or taught in many African American churches. Black LGBTQ people are often unaware that some of…
Read MoreSexual Wholeness As Justice Work
“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8 Pursuing sexual wholeness is a radical act of justice. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the church has…
Read MoreTrans Still Speaking in the United Church of Christ
“…for not with you alone am I making this covenant, but both with those who stand here with us today, before our God, and with those who are not here with us today.” Deuteronomy 29:14-15 The sages say that God gave Torah to the people in the wilderness because, without the teaching, the world is a…
Read MoreThe Role of Churches in Ending Anti-Sodomy Laws
We once again celebrated Pride month and many LGBTQI people and their allies in the global north revelled in the hard-won advances for the recognition of human rights for our communities. But 73 countries across the world still criminalize private same-gender intimacy between consenting adults, with 11 imposing the death penalty. These so-called anti-sodomy laws…
Read MoreHistoric LGBTQ+ Church Leaders to Celebrate 50 Years of Advocacy
The Rolling The Stone Away Conference in St. Louis, October 31 – November 2, 2017, will bring together LGBTQ+ Christian leaders in many organizations including Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Metropolitan Community Churches, and United Church of Christ communities to share stories and celebrate. For over 50 years, LGBTQ+ faith leaders have been breaking ground for full…
Read MoreReconciling United Methodists of Texas Conference Statement of Support for Bishop Karen Oliveto
Reconciling United Methodists of Texas Conference unreservedly supports Bishop Karen Oliveto of the Mountain Sky Area. We pray her episcopacy will be long and fruitful—resulting in many disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We give thanks for vocal disciples in the Western Jurisdiction nominating, electing, consecrating, and assigning Bishop Oliveto. We…
Read MoreIt’s Time to Canonize Fr. Mychal Judge: Seeking Personal Testimony
The time has come to begin the initial research to make Franciscan Fr. Mychal Judge, OFM, a canonized saint in the Catholic Church. We need people like you to spread the word about such a possibility so we can gather evidence about Fr. Judge’s life and ministry. On September 11, 2001, Fr. Judge, who was a chaplain…
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